Lake Anne Village Center

Nice, hidden place in the community. Go during fairs/​events and you’ll easily find entertainment. Don’t like the crowd and noise? Go early morning and take a walk around the lake. The entrance is a little sketchy, and the parking lot can get crowded but worth the wait for a spot. Beautiful place for a relaxed date with your significant other! ;)

Kind of dilapidated looking area. The parking lot that greets you is kind of rundown with a shady looking convenience store. Inside you’ll find some grungy looking stores and a lot of concrete structures. Has a few graffitied up rough concrete play areas for the kids. The lake is nice though, but I think this area has seen better times.

A friend invited me to an event here awhile back and that’s how I came to know of Lake Anne Village Center.
I was immediately drawn to the pretty lake, geese, and different kind of ambiance. The free pizza event was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the live music. There are mom and pop shops all around. You can do some shopping and grab a bite to eat, while supporting local businesses. They also have a Farmers Market here on Saturdays, which I love. Plenty of fresh veggies, fruits, baked goods, arts, crafts, handmade soaps, ice cream, popcorn, BBQ, jewelry, etc.
There is a beautiful church here as well. If you are looking for a church home, I highly recommend Washington Plaza Baptist. Everyone is incredibly friendly. All are welcome!
They have artistic and musical events at Lake Anne as well. You can also rent a paddle boat, kayak or canoe. There are plenty of benches around so you can just sit, relax, and enjoy the ambiance.
I love the chill vibe of this place.

I just love the atmosphere and architecture of Lake Anne. It also changes so much each season. This is a place with a lot of architectural history too. I love to stroll along the trails through the different clusters and check out peoples homes and little playful architectural follies. The pedestrian and bike trails through the woods are such a nice change from streets It has such a cozy feeling (even though there is a lot of concrete!) and truly unique. I’ll admit, I do not like the over commercialization of our country, so I really appreciate the LOCAL shops around the Lake. From the great book store to the great little restaurants and the drug store with in-​house lunch counter! …A must visit place if you live in the greater DC area!

Got here late, but there were many nice shops an a great shot of the lake. Seems like a nice place to chill out and get the local vibe.

This is place is nice. I came here for Dogtopia’s Charity Dog Wash with some friends and had a lot of fun. Only downside, there aren’t a lot of places to sit or much shade on hot sunny days. I felt bad for the dogs hiding under the three benches in one corner of the plaza area.

Built in the late 60s, Lake Anne Village Center is the first of 5 village centers in the planned community of Reston. (5 village centers and 1 town center) I really like the spirit of community and small, family owned businesses and services that cater to the surrounding housing and enjoy the communal vibe permeating the lakeside air.
The website states that the architects who designed the village center were inspired by Portofino and wanted to recreate that ambience framing the man made lake and fountain. The grey concrete is more reminiscent of Soviet era architecture than what i remember of the colorful Italian coastal town but its lines have character. Small but strategically placed balconies of the condos overlooking the brick paved walkway lend their charm to the overall feel of the place. I could imagine peacefully enjoying coffee on one each morning, looking out over the placid water early in the day before facing the drive into the city for work.
Several stores really capture the retro atmosphere, such as vintage and consignment baby clothes and accessories, an apothecary with a dining counter, and a small but cute florist shop. Lake Anne also has an art gallery, several restaurants, a coffeehouse, the Reston Historic Trust Museum, a nail salon, independently owned shops like the used bookstore and the community center
May through September, the village center is aswarm with activity as farmers market stalls loaded with colorful produce and vendor kiosks burgeoning with crafts and sundries draw families out into the open air as several groups of musicians croon and strum at various points along the way. There are canoes for rental during warm months and seniors often take their remote control sailboats out for regatta at midday, providing plenty to see and enjoy.
LAVC is a nice place to spend a weekday afternoon picnicking by the water’s edge or a weekend day people watching or giggling at the babies and toddlers who play in the fountain in sunny weather. Yes the sign says «no pets or children in fountain», but nobody cares and the kids’ antics provide high entertainment for all.

Love the look of the place. Love the lake. But don’t think I would ever come back. We tried to eat outside on a nice spring night and listened to kids in bathing suits (?!) yelling and screaming — yep, not laughing having fun type stuff, yelling — in a beautiful fountain as if they were at a beach. Really parents, can’t you take them to a pool or a park? Reston has a ton of them! Don’t think I would come back. It seems like they don’t know what they want to be… dining, kid playground. And lots of empty stores it seems like. Sorry. But I do agree with another poster. The farmers market is great. Just don’t try to come for a nice dinner.

This review is of a Lake Anne Trail that starts at the Lake Anne Village Center.
Trail luv!
Well, it’s not really a trail; it’s more of a scenic path with views of distinct and interesting looking houses/​architecture from the 1960s, and quaint vignettes. This would be a great running trail for those who get bored easily, or it can serve as a romantic and relaxing walking path.
The 1.5 mile trail begins at the Lake Anne Village Center and wraps around Lake Anne and then loops through two housing developments. You can only see the lake from certain vantage points while on the trail. There are some small playgrounds along the way, which makes it great for kids (dogs too). Note: there may be a «no bikes» sign on the main visitor center property.
Here is a map:
. It’s easy to accidentally veer onto the wrong path if you don’t follow the map CLOSELY and have a dedicated navigator to keep you on track.
There are other paths listed on the same website, but we liked the Lake Anne path so much that we haven’t tried any of the others. We tried following the map backwards for a change of pace but we like the path the map suggests best.
The end of the trail drops you off at the starting location where there is a fountain where kids are usually splashing away. There are also places to purchase food or ice cream.
Parking is plentiful.
The Lake Anne trail is definitely worth a try on a lazy day, especially if you live in Reston/​Herndon.

Best Farmers Market (Saturdays 8 – 2 during spring and summer) in the area. The only other places I frequent here are Reston Used Book Store and The CupCake Ladi. The kids like to play in the fountain (even though it says not to) and walk around the dock.

I have driven by this place many times and never given it a second look, until last week.
I was riding my bike around Reston and decided to take a shortcut on the Blue Trail and got hopelessly lost. After first finding myself in the middle of a golf course, I found myself staring at a strange cubist staircase that lead to nowhere, at the top I surveyed my surroundings.
Concrete as far as the eye could see. I felt like I was in a 1960’s comic book portraying Portofino in the future. «How do I not know about this place?», I asked myself. This place is seriously cool. The sculptures and fountains are far-​out, There are apartments and townhomes designed by legendary contemporary architects like Charles M. Goodman, even the aging concrete gives it a hip, dystopian feel. As I pedal around, I see a drug store with exploded castings of various apothecary items on the exterior. I stop inside to find a bottle of Boylan’s soda. A few doors down, I order sushi at a spot that is so tiny, you feel like you are actually ordering take-​away in Tokyo. With my sushi and microbrew soda, I sit at a table and take in my surroundings.
I see a stunning example of mid-​century modern architecture and a mixed-​use shopping center/​housing complex built over 40 years ago that doesn’t look completely irrelevant and dated. What I can’t figure out is how this place hasn’t been taken over by a hip, young crowd. I half-​expected to see trendy bars with fixies chained outside and hipsters painting and playing music in the square.
This place has serious potential, this place could easily be reclaimed as an alt epicenter; Reston’s Billyburg, perhaps. This is the chic, retro yang to sterile Reston Town Center’s yin, all it needs is the right group of people to make it cool.

Wow… never knew this place existed until we came here for someone’s bridal party at one of the restaurants. I really dig this place because it’s like no other place I’ve seen in this area. One reason I don’t like NoVA is because of the uninspired buildings and architecture… everything is so cookie-​cutter and everything lacks character.
It totally feels like it’s got a bit of that small rustic European vibe as Barbara already mentioned. According to wiki, Lake Anne Plaza was designed to emulate the Italian coastal town of Portofino. Holding true to it’s design, this community emphasizes local living, so you won’t find any chain stores or restaurants here.
While we were there, a group of hobbyists were racing remote sailboats on the late. I was really hoping I could rent one and chill out, but they weren’t for rent. It was very reminiscent of NYC’s Central Park.
Definitely looking forward to checking this place out again.

I would like to see this plaza get an updated look so that it doesn’t look so dilapidated. There are some nice little restarants at this plaza as well as some other businesses but if the plaza wants to attract more customers/​business, they’ve got to really update the place. Since this is already an out-​of-​the-​way place, they need to do more to appeal to people because at first glance I think it appears a bit sad and run down and I think this has the potential to turn in to a hip spot with some money invested in the appearance of the plaza.

A vestige of what Reston tried to be, this place would be great — if there were decent restaurants here that you could count on sticking around for more than a few months. As it is, it’s just a sad reminder that Reston failed. People didn’t go to stores and restaurants that they couldn’t see from the roads, and as a result, the idea of having a shopping center that wasn’t of the strip mall variety simply didn’t work.
It’s not a bad spot to go sit on a nice day or a nice night, but I mean, what isn’t a nice spot to go sit on a nice day or a nice night?

We live near Lake Anne and love walking over to any of the restaurants for lunch or dinner. It’s stress free, relaxing and beautiful plus we can let our son play by the fountain and he almost always runs into friends there, too. It makes you feel like you’re on holiday just to leave the car and troubles home!

A nice place to just sit and hang around to relax. They have little shops if you want to grab a bite. Nice view of the lake too.

I’m bummed that it seems I’ve missed farmer’s market season, but I still have plenty of reasons to come back and look around. The statue sitting on the bench by the water gives you a bit of a start the first time around, but the overall atmosphere is nice. Concrete pond or not, I think the different shops give the place a very communal feel. I think I’d like it a lot more in warmer weather.

A great place to hang out with fun restaurants, Tavern on the Lake for tapas is the highlight.

Lake Anne Village Center in Reston is also known as the «old» or «original» Reston Town Center. (The new Reston Town Center is now all anyone in the DC metro area thinks of when someone mentions Reston.) The focal point is, of course, the huge man-​made lake and fountain. During warm months you can rent kayaks or canoes by the hour. The lake is surrounded on three sides by housing and paths, and on one side by a plaza reminiscent of a european city. The plaza is dotted with condos, shops, and restaurants. During the summer you’ll often find kids splashing in an interactive fountain in the center of the plaza, or in the concrete rowboat art sculptures.
From May through October you’ll find a farmer’s market each Saturday, where you can purchase fresh locally grown fruits and veggies, fresh flowers and baked goods, kettle corn, and more. It’s easy to spend a Saturday morning browsing the farmer’s market with a cup of coffee, listening to whatever live music is playing that day.

Concrete themed sculptures and structures flank Lake Anne, a «concrete pond» of sorts. I used to think the place was ugly. But it’s what we got. As a friend said, «It grows on you.» A winding trail leads you past trim community ‘scapes, including a loveseat swing and a Monet-​style bridge.