A Potomac-front Fairfax County community just south of Old Town — 1920s streets platted around a golf course, 1950s garden condominiums, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway at the door.
Belle Haven is the riverfront community immediately south of Old Town Alexandria, and despite its Alexandria mailing address and 22307 ZIP, it sits in Fairfax County — not the independent City of Alexandria. The census-designated place runs from Richmond Highway (U.S. 1) east to the Potomac, with tidal Hunting Creek as its northern edge, covering about two square miles of land, plus roughly another square mile of the Potomac itself, since the boundary runs out to the Maryland state line in the river. Inside that footprint are three genuinely different housing markets: the 1920s Belle Haven subdivision around its country club, the 1950s Belle View condominium community, and New Alexandria on the streets closest to the water.
Every address here carries an Alexandria mailing address, but Belle Haven lies outside the independent city. Its northern boundary follows tidal Hunting Creek, which is the Alexandria city line, and the entire census-designated place is unincorporated Fairfax County (U.S. Census FIPS 51-05928). That distinction is not cosmetic. Assessment and real estate tax are administered by Fairfax County, stormwater and refuse are county services, permitting runs through Fairfax County, and the area is zoned to Fairfax County Public Schools — Belle View Elementary at 6701 Fort Hunt Road, then Sandburg Middle School, then West Potomac High School. Attendance boundaries are set by FCPS and can change, so verify the current assignment for a specific address with the FCPS boundary locator before relying on it. A buyer comparing a Belle Haven listing against one in Old Town is comparing two separate jurisdictions with separate tax rates, separate permit and inspection processes, and separate school systems. Confirm jurisdiction on the tax record, not the mailing label.
The neighborhood that gives the area its name began in the early 1920s, when Alexandria civil engineer David Howell bought a tract that had been the West Grove Plantation and set up two corporations — one to build a golf course and clubhouse, the other to plat a residential subdivision. The club land was deeded on September 1, 1924, and the first house went up in 1928 at 6041 Woodmont Road. What followed was built out over several decades: brick Colonial Revival and Georgian, Tudor-influenced stone and stucco, and mid-century houses that have since been expanded or replaced, generally on wide lots along curving, rolling streets rather than a grid. Belle Haven Country Club — private, 18 holes, par 72, fully redesigned by golf architect Arthur Hills in 2002-2003 — still anchors the plat, and Fort Willard Circle preserves the earthworks of an 1862-63 Union fort built by the 34th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the southernmost work in the Civil War defenses of Washington and now a Fairfax County Park Authority site.
Belle View Condominium is the largest single community in the area: roughly 980 units across 56 landscaped acres, built in the early 1950s as low-rise garden buildings with a smaller group of townhouse units, predominantly one- and two-bedroom flats, with pools, tennis courts, and an administration office at 1204 Belle View Boulevard. A few blocks away on Wakefield Drive, River Towers is a different product entirely: roughly 525 units in three nine-story elevator buildings completed in 1963 on about 26 acres — built as rental apartments and converted to condominium in 1981 — with floor plans from studios to three bedrooms. Fee structures, reserve funding, pet and rental rules, and flood history differ sharply between the two, so the resale disclosure package deserves a careful read rather than a skim.
New Alexandria traces to 1888, when investors formed the New Alexandria Land and River Improvements Company; by 1892 the company had assembled roughly 1,600 acres including about three miles of Potomac River frontage. The speculative city they platted never materialized, and the neighborhood that exists today was built out over the following decades — Cape Cods, brick colonials, and mid-century ranches on modest lots, many since expanded, with scattered infill and teardown-rebuild construction. These are the streets closest to Belle Haven Park and the river, and they also sit lowest. The neighborhood has an active citizens association that publishes flood studies, elevation references, and insurance material covering New Alexandria and Riverview — a primary source worth reading when evaluating a specific block here.
This is the most important homework in 22307, and it is documented by the county rather than left to rumor. Fairfax County identifies Belle View, New Alexandria, and River Towers as having a history of significant structural flooding, and its record of Hurricane Isabel in September 2003 counts 160 homes and 60 condominium units flooded in the area. The county operates the New Alexandria Tide Gate and the New Alexandria Pump Station, which together protect upstream properties against storm surge on roughly the scale of a 25-year event, and it deploys mobile pumps when heavy rainfall coincides with high tide. Fairfax County also publishes a Belle View / New Alexandria tidal inundation map, runs Riverwatch — a Fairfax Alerts list for Potomac-side neighborhoods — and administers a Flood Mitigation Assistance Program that partially reimburses qualifying property-protection work. Before going under contract on any low-lying parcel here, pull the flood zone for that exact address, ask for an elevation certificate, and get a written flood insurance quote rather than a verbal estimate.
The eastern edge of the community is National Park Service land. The George Washington Memorial Parkway runs its full length, and Belle Haven Park — picnic areas, restrooms, and parking — sits directly on the Mount Vernon Trail, the 18-mile paved path the Park Service built in the 1970s and 1980s between Mount Vernon and Theodore Roosevelt Island. Immediately south is Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, 485 acres of tidal marsh, floodplain, and swamp forest that the Park Service describes as one of the largest remaining freshwater tidal wetlands in the Washington metropolitan area, reached by the three-quarter-mile Haul Road Trail; Belle Haven Marina has the boat ramp and rentals. Day to day, the Safeway-anchored Belle View Shopping Center (about 182,000 square feet on roughly 16 acres, originally built in 1959), Martha Washington Library at 6614 Fort Hunt Road, and the Fairfax County Park Authority's Mount Vernon Rec Center at 2017 Belle View Boulevard — reopened June 9, 2025 after renovation with two NHL-size ice rinks, a climbing wall, and a two-story fitness center — cover most errands within about a mile.
Huntington is the nearest Metrorail station — the southern terminus of the Yellow Line at 2701 Huntington Avenue, under two miles by car from Belle View Boulevard, with about 3,600 parking spaces including a 1,424-space garage and an incline elevator built into the hillside, the only one in the Metrorail system. It opened December 17, 1983 as the first Metro station in Fairfax County and the first beyond the Capital Beltway. Northbound, the Yellow Line runs Eisenhower Avenue, King St-Old Town, Braddock Road, Reagan National Airport, Crystal City, Pentagon City, Pentagon, and L'Enfant Plaza. Fairfax Connector Route 152 links Belle View directly to Huntington via Fort Hunt Road and North Kings Highway. By car, the GW Parkway runs roughly two miles north to Old Town and about five miles to Reagan National before reaching the 14th Street Bridge, while Richmond Highway (U.S. 1) forms the western boundary and is the corridor for Fairfax County's planned median-running bus rapid transit, The One — 7.4 miles and nine stations from Huntington Metro to Fort Belvoir, which entered the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Grants engineering phase and is targeted to open in 2031.
Browse current listings, or reach Artur directly for private and off-market opportunities.
Fairfax County. The 22307 ZIP carries an Alexandria mailing address, but Belle Haven is outside the independent City of Alexandria — the city line follows tidal Hunting Creek along its northern boundary. Real estate taxes, permitting, stormwater service, and public schools are all Fairfax County. Always confirm jurisdiction on the tax record rather than the mailing address, because the two systems assess, permit, and school very differently.
They are three neighborhoods inside one census-designated place. Belle Haven proper is the 1920s subdivision around Belle Haven Country Club, made up of detached houses on larger lots. Belle View is the early-1950s garden condominium community of roughly 980 units along Belle View Boulevard. New Alexandria, platted in the 1890s and built out over the following decades, occupies the lower-lying streets closest to the Potomac. The names get used interchangeably online, and they should not be — they are different products at different price points.
Several distinct product types sit inside about two square miles: brick Colonial Revival, Georgian, and Tudor-influenced detached houses from the 1920s through mid-century in Belle Haven proper, plus custom rebuilds; Cape Cods, colonials, and ranches in New Alexandria; garden-style flats and townhouse units at Belle View; and nine-story elevator-building condominiums at River Towers, built in 1963 and converted to condominium in 1981. Artur can pull current comparables for the specific sub-area and product type you are targeting.
Parts of it have. Fairfax County names Belle View, New Alexandria, and River Towers as having a history of significant structural flooding, and its account of Hurricane Isabel in September 2003 records 160 homes and 60 condominium units flooded in the area. The county operates the New Alexandria Tide Gate and Pump Station, which protect against roughly a 25-year surge event. For any address here, pull the flood zone, request an elevation certificate, review the county's Belle View / New Alexandria tidal inundation map, and get a written flood insurance quote before removing contingencies.
Belle Haven is served by Fairfax County Public Schools, not Alexandria City Public Schools. The base assignment for most of the area is Belle View Elementary School at 6701 Fort Hunt Road, then Sandburg Middle School, then West Potomac High School. Attendance boundaries are set by FCPS and can change, so verify the current assignment for a specific address with the FCPS boundary locator before relying on it.
Browse current Belle Haven listings below, or contact Artur Guney directly at (703) 402-7500. Belle Haven, Belle View, and New Alexandria trade as distinct markets with different price points and different due-diligence checklists. Tell Artur your budget, the property type you want, and your flood-risk tolerance, and he will send listings in every sub-area that meets them.
