Reston (just 2,5 miles from Herndon), founded in 1964, embraced the Garden City Movement which promoted self-sustaining communities with a mix of green spaces, residential neighborhoods, and commercial development. Robert E. Simon, the town's founder, aimed to revolutionize post-WWII land use and suburban development.
In 2018, Money Magazine named Reston the Best Place to Live in Virginia, citing its beautiful parks, lakes, golf courses, and bridle paths, as well as the vibrant shopping and dining choices in the Reston Town Center.
Reston is part of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a land grant from King Charles II to Lord Thomas Fairfax that extends from the Potomac River to the Rappahannock. The Fairfax family kept the land until 1852 when it was sold to Carl A. Wiehle and William Dunn.
They purchased 6,449 acres of land in northern Fairfax County along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad line and split the acreage, with Wiehle taking the land north of the railroad. Wiehle aimed to create a town with a hotel, parks, and a community center, though he only built a few homes before he passed in 1901.
The land changed owners several times before it was bought by the A. Smith Bowman family who used it to build a bourbon distillery. By 1947, the Bowmans had acquired the former Dunn tract south of the railroad, totaling over 7,000 acres (2,800 ha).
In 1961, Robert E. Simon purchased most of the land, aside from the 60 acres (240,000 m2) where the Bowman distillery stood until 1987.
Simon founded Reston on April 10, 1964, his 50th birthday. He based the town on seven guiding principles that focused on the quality of life, and emphasized the importance of the individual, with beauty both structural and natural.
Simon's motto for the Reston community was "Work, Play, Live," encouraging residents to stay in the community to work, play, and live, and to share common grounds and scenic beauty regardless of income.
Simon also intended for Reston to be a model for clustered residential development, which emphasized the protection of open spaces and wildlife habitats. Reston was the first 20th-century private community to incorporate natural preservation into its planning in the United States.
