An incorporated town of about 4.4 square miles inside Fairfax County — its own council, its own zoning code, its own permit review, and the W&OD Trail running straight through the middle.
Vienna is a leafy town of tree-lined streets and mid-century and newer homes, known for the W&OD Trail and a genuine small-town atmosphere just minutes from Tysons and the Beltway. What most listings leave out is the part that actually governs what an owner can do with a house here: Vienna is an incorporated town, not an unincorporated Fairfax County community. Incorporated in 1890 and covering about 4.4 square miles, as of August 2026 it has its own mayor and council, its own police department, its own water utility and its own zoning ordinance. That means a Vienna owner answers to two governments — and it means the Metro station named for the town sits outside the town line.
Vienna is one of only three incorporated towns inside Fairfax County — the others are Herndon and Clifton — and the practical consequence is that residents deal with two layers of government rather than one. Residents incorporated the village in 1890 in order to improve its public schools and roads, and elected Orrin Hine the town’s first mayor. Today the town covers about 4.4 square miles and runs a council-manager government with an elected mayor and six council members. As of August 2026 it operates its own police department and its own water system, and the town’s water and sewer service page puts that system at nearly 5,600 residential and commercial customers, about a third of them outside the town limits — its own small illustration of how little a Vienna mailing address tells you. As of August 2026, town crews handle refuse and recycling collection, leaf collection and snow removal on town streets, and the town runs its own parks and recreation department out of the Vienna Community Center at 120 Cherry Street SE. Because the town provides those services, Vienna property owners pay a town real estate tax in addition to the Fairfax County real estate tax; the county tax does not go away. Fairfax County Public Schools, county libraries and county courts still serve Vienna addresses. Both rates are reset every budget cycle, so ask the town and the county for the current figures rather than relying on any figure you find published, including here.
This is the part that catches renovating owners, and it deserves a straight answer. The Town of Vienna’s Department of Planning and Zoning runs its own review process. It accepts town permit applications, and, working with the departments of Public Works and Parks and Recreation, it reviews site plans and Fairfax County building permit applications for compliance with the Town of Vienna zoning code (Chapter 18) and other town regulations. As of August 2026 the town instructs that where a Fairfax County permit is required, the county submission goes in first and the town application follows. In practice a project can satisfy county code and still be stopped at the town counter, or the reverse. Inspections split along the same seam: as of August 2026, inspections related to electrical, mechanical, structural, fire or health are completed through the appropriate Fairfax County office, while town inspections are requested separately through the town’s IDTPlans portal. Smaller work that owners assume is unregulated frequently needs a town zoning permit. As of August 2026 the town publishes separate checklists for driveways, fences, patios and sport courts, and its residential patio checklist calls for a site plan drawn by a licensed surveyor showing existing lot conditions alongside the proposed work. Vienna also limits how much of a lot may be covered by the house, accessory structures, driveway, parking, sport courts, patios and terraces. Those limits were revised in the October 2023 code rewrite, so confirm the current numbers for your specific lot and district with Planning and Zoning before an architect draws anything.
Maple Avenue is State Route 123 where it runs through the middle of town — a VDOT-maintained state highway rather than a town street — and it has been the center of Vienna’s land-use argument for more than a decade. From 2014 to June 2020 the town ran the Maple Avenue Commercial zone, known as MAC, which offered developers additional height and density in exchange for amenities along a corridor built for driving rather than walking, with unconnected surface parking lots and narrow sidewalks. The resulting projects were contested enough that the council suspended new MAC applications in 2018 and then repealed the ordinance outright on June 1, 2020 by a 4-3 vote. The replacement arrived on October 23, 2023, when the council adopted a new zoning code — the first comprehensive rewrite of Vienna’s land-use regulations since 1969. It created an Avenue Center district on Maple Avenue between Lawyers Road and Glyndon Street and a Gateway South district at Park Street and Cedar Lane; raised the maximum height in those districts to 42 feet, up from 35, while requiring any part of a building within 95 feet of a residential property to drop back to 35 feet; and allowed townhouses three full stories rather than two and a half, inside an unchanged 35-foot height limit. Those are the figures as adopted in October 2023, and as of August 2026 the town had not replaced them. A Comprehensive Plan update has been moving in parallel: the Planning Commission draft was dated February 25, 2026, and the Town Council’s written-comment window closed May 11, 2026. As of August 2026 the town had not announced adoption — check the town’s plan-update page for current status rather than assuming what the corridor will allow.
Vienna’s housing spans updated mid-century ramblers and split-levels, traditional colonials, and a steady stream of new construction replacing older houses on established lots. The bones of the town were laid in the postwar subdivisions of the 1950s and 1960s — which is why so much of the inventory is ramblers, split-levels and colonials on generous, flat, wooded lots. Those lots are what drives the rebuild activity: on a street of 1950s and 1960s houses, an infill builder is often buying the parcel rather than the structure. Two things follow that are worth understanding before writing an offer on a rebuild candidate. First, a Vienna teardown is not a clean slate: the town’s tree conservation ordinance, in Chapter 17 of the town code and adopted by the council on April 29, 2024 (effective July 29, 2024), requires a project that disturbs 2,500 square feet or more of land to cover 10 to 25 percent of the site with tree canopy measured 20 years out, with the percentage set by zoning district — as adopted, 25 percent in the RS-16 and RS-12.5 districts, 20 percent in RS-10, and less in the multifamily and commercial districts. Vienna has had 20-year canopy standards since 2014; what the 2024 ordinance added was a duty to try to preserve existing trees before replacing them, and a cash contribution to a new Tree Preservation and Planting Fund for developers who fall short. Second, the town has opened a narrow path to a second unit — see the accessory living unit rules below — but it is narrower than most owners assume.
Vienna’s Town Council adopted an amendment to Chapter 18 of the town code — the zoning code — on December 9, 2024, effective December 30, 2024, permitting accessory living units attached to single-unit detached houses in the RS-16, RS-12.5 and RS-10 residential districts. The Planning Commission held its public hearing on the measure on November 13, 2024. The ordinance is written around attachment: the unit must be part of, or attached to, the principal house, and must contain living, sleeping, food preparation and bathroom areas — so a freestanding backyard cottage is a different and harder question in Vienna than it is in some neighboring jurisdictions. As adopted, a unit at or below the smaller of 800 square feet or 40 percent of the main house can be approved administratively, while a unit larger than 800 square feet and no larger than 1,000 square feet goes to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a conditional use permit. The adopted rules also cap the unit at two bedrooms, require an additional on-site parking space for each bedroom on top of the parking required for the principal house, bar rentals shorter than 30 days, and let the zoning administrator or another authorized agent inspect the property at renewal every two years, with a week’s notice, or 48 hours’ notice if a violation has been reported. That last provision is the one people react to, and it is the reason to read the adopted text rather than a summary. Confirm the current standards directly with Town of Vienna Planning and Zoning before budgeting a project around them. There is also a state law worth putting on the calendar. Virginia enacted a statewide accessory dwelling unit law in 2026 — Code of Virginia § 15.2-2292.4, from Senate Bill 531, signed April 13, 2026 with a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027 — which defines an accessory dwelling unit to include a detached one and treats such units as a permitted accessory use in single-family residential districts. Subsection I of that section provides that nothing in it applies to a locality that adopted an ADU ordinance before January 1, 2026, and Vienna adopted its accessory living unit rules in December 2024, so on the face of the statute Vienna is exempt. The narrower open question is whether an attached-only accessory living unit ordinance counts as an ADU ordinance under a statute that defines the term to include detached units. That is a question for the town attorney, not for a website. Ask before you assume a detached cottage becomes available in 2027.
Based on information from Bright MLS for July 1, 2026 through July 31, 2026; data is reliable but not guaranteed.
One Vienna neighborhood carries a layer of review that none of the others do. The Windover Heights Historic District, in the northwest part of town, is overseen by the Windover Heights Board of Review, which reviews new construction and major exterior alterations in the district for compatibility with the historic architectural character of the surroundings. As of August 2026, exterior work inside the district requires a Certificate of Appropriateness from that board before the town will issue a building permit or a zoning permit, and the reach is broader than owners expect — it extends to additions, material changes and fences, not only to whole-house projects. There are carve-outs, including work not visible from a public street and like-for-like repair, but review is the default. It is not a formality. A dispute that began with a February 2003 application to the board for a certificate of appropriateness to erect a fence in the district worked its way through the Fairfax County Circuit Court and was decided by the Supreme Court of Virginia as Covel v. Town of Vienna on June 10, 2010. If a listing sits within Windover Heights, the renovation you have in mind should be tested against that board’s standards before you go under contract, not after. Elsewhere in town, as of August 2026, appeals of the Zoning Administrator’s decisions, variances and conditional use permits go to the town’s own Board of Zoning Appeals rather than to a county body.
Vienna’s public life runs along two lines that cross near the middle of town: Church Street and the W&OD Trail. The trail is the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park — 45 paved miles from Shirlington to Purcellville along the old railroad roadbed, managed by NOVA Parks — and it marked its 50th anniversary in 2024. As of August 2026 its posted hours are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, year-round, across all 45 miles, a single schedule NOVA Parks standardized in May 2026. Vienna’s stretch functions as the town’s spine rather than an amenity at the edge: it crosses Maple Avenue at a signal in the middle of the commercial district, the former train depot sits at 231 Dominion Road NE, and the restored red caboose stands nearby where Dominion Road meets Church Street. A short walk away at 131 Church Street NE, the Freeman Store and Museum occupies a building constructed in 1859, added to the Virginia Landmarks Register on September 22, 2011 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012; as of August 2026 the town owns it and operates it jointly with Historic Vienna, Inc. The Vienna Farmers Market runs Saturday mornings, roughly 8 a.m. to noon, May through October in the Vienna Community Center parking lot at 120 Cherry Street SE, hosted by the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna; the 2026 season opened May 2, 2026. The town’s street-event calendar runs year-round: ViVa! Vienna!, the Rotary Club of Vienna’s Memorial Day weekend festival around Church, Dominion and Mill Streets, which ran May 23 to 25 in 2026; the Halloween Parade on Maple Avenue, which the town has hosted since 1946; and the Church Street Holiday Stroll on the Monday evening after Thanksgiving, which in 2025 closed the street to traffic between Lawyers Road and Mill Street. Dates, hours and street closures are set season by season, so check the town’s events calendar before planning around any of them.
The station is called Vienna, and it is not in the Town of Vienna. Vienna/Fairfax-GMU opened June 7, 1986 as the western terminus of Metro’s Orange Line, a position it still held as of August 2026, and it sits in the median of Interstate 66 at Nutley Street — State Route 243 — with an address of 9550 Saintsbury Drive, Fairfax. That is Fairfax County land outside the town limits, south of the town’s Church Street core; the station provides access to the nearby Town of Vienna rather than sitting inside it. The distinction cuts both ways: a home within walking distance of the platform is almost certainly a county address, taxed by the county alone and governed by the county zoning ordinance, while a home inside the town line is a drive, a bus ride or a bike ride from the platform. Dunn Loring–Merrifield, the next station inbound, is likewise outside the town. By car, Maple Avenue is Route 123 through the middle of town, I-66 runs along the southern edge with access at Nutley Street, and the Capital Beltway is a short drive east.
Browse current listings, or reach Artur directly for private and off-market opportunities.
A mix of updated mid-century ramblers and split-levels, traditional colonials, and new-construction homes replacing older houses, often on generous, tree-lined lots. Much of the town was subdivided in the postwar decades, so a single street can hold a 1950s rambler and a house finished last year.
No, and it is the first thing to check. The incorporated town covers about 4.4 square miles, while the Vienna mailing ZIP codes — 22180, 22181, 22182, 22183 and 22185 as of August 2026 — reach well beyond it into unincorporated Fairfax County. An address outside the town line pays no town real estate tax, is governed by the county zoning ordinance rather than the town’s, and receives county rather than town services. Confirm the boundary against the town’s official zoning map and Fairfax County parcel records before relying on either set of rules.
Both, and as of August 2026 they are two separate reviews. The Town of Vienna’s Department of Planning and Zoning reviews site plans and Fairfax County building permit applications for compliance with the town zoning code, and issues town permits for work such as driveways, fences, patios and sport courts. Fairfax County handles the building permit and the electrical, mechanical, structural, fire and health inspections, while town inspections are requested separately through the town’s IDTPlans portal. Where a county permit is required, the town instructs applicants to submit to Fairfax County first and to the town afterward. Budget time and drawings for two reviews, not one.
Vienna addresses are served by Fairfax County Public Schools. On January 22, 2026, the Fairfax County School Board approved its first comprehensive boundary plan in roughly four decades, with changes phasing in grade by grade beginning with the 2026-27 school year. Town of Vienna students were kept at Madison High School. Much of the Wolf Trap area and one Dunn Loring area moved from Marshall to Madison, which ended split feeders at Wolftrap and Vienna elementary schools, and part of Kilmer Middle’s area moved to Thoreau. Because assignments have just changed and are still phasing in, do not rely on any published pyramid list — including this one — and check the specific address in the FCPS boundary locator.
Vienna’s Town Council adopted an accessory living unit amendment to its zoning code on December 9, 2024, effective December 30, 2024, permitting units attached to single-unit detached houses in the RS-16, RS-12.5 and RS-10 districts. As adopted, a unit at or below the smaller of 800 square feet or 40 percent of the main house can be approved administratively; a unit larger than that and up to 1,000 square feet goes to the Board of Zoning Appeals; the unit is capped at two bedrooms; an additional on-site parking space is required for each bedroom; rentals shorter than 30 days are barred; and the town may inspect at renewal every two years. Because the ordinance is written for attached units, a freestanding backyard cottage is a separate question. Confirm the current adopted terms with Town of Vienna Planning and Zoning.
Browse current Vienna listings below, or reach Artur Guney at (703) 402-7500, current as of August 2026, for a tailored search — including a check on whether a given address sits inside the town line, which changes the taxes, the services and the rulebook you build under.
Which schools serve an address in Vienna, how the feeder structure works, and the district's own boundary locator.
Schools serving Vienna →Independent day schools serving Vienna, where the campuses are, and which run buses — the one part of private schooling that depends on your address.
Private schools in Northern Virginia →The parks, trails, shopping and recreation around Vienna — every venue confirmed open as of August 2026.
Parks, shopping & recreation in Vienna →Each has its own plat history, lot pattern and association rules. 9 covered in detail:
