Clarendon-Courthouse Neighborhood
Section: NVA Neighborhoods
Author: Susan Isaacs, Washington DC Real Estate Strategist
If you’ve ever wished for a place with the energy of a city and the soul of a small town where your dog is as welcome as your friends, Clarendon-Courthouse can grant it.
About Clarendon-Courthouse
The area’s premier “urban village,” Clarendon-Courthouse is an almost-perfect blend of cosmopolitan buzz and laid-back, canine-friendly charm. You can grab a craft latte, shop for designer sneaks, or catch a pickup soccer game, all without ever needing to get behind the wheel. Clarendon and Courthouse blend together along the Wilson/Clarendon Boulevard corridor, but the neighborhoods are like two personalities sharing one address.
Clarendon
Clarendon is the social butterfly; a place where patios overflow, people hop from coffee shops to cocktail bars, and the air feels electric on Friday nights. You’ll find flagship stores like Apple, Crate & Barrel, Williams-Sonoma and Lululemon at the 10-acre open-air shopping destination The Crossing Clarendon, which also hosts The Arlington Artists Alliance nonprofit’s events, programs, classes, studio space, and monthly art shows at its 1k SF gallery located in the breezeway. Food shopping is easy in Clarendon, with numerous grocery store options, including Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Safeway, and an April to December farmers’ market in the one-acre Clarendon Central Park, adjacent to the Clarendon Metro station.
Tree-lined residential streets are the norm in Clarendon, framing a combination of single family homes and townhouses. Architectural styles include bungalow, ranch, Cape Cod, farmhouse, and contemporary. Many old homes are being rehabbed or replaced with new builds in popular styles like modern farmhouse and Arts And Crafts. High density residential such as apartments and condominiums can be found lining the main corridors of Clarendon and surrounding the Metro station. The list includes Clarendon 1021, The Phoenix,The Residences at Station Square and Clarendon 3131. The Clarendon Park townhouses are located two blocks from the Metro station.
Just behind The Crossing Clarendon is the 11th Street Park, a compact, 1-acre green space featuring accessible concrete walkways, mature shade trees, native pollinator plantings, and comfortable Adirondack seating.
Clarendon Dog Park caters to the four-legged with a fully enclosed, community dog park with a canine water fountain.
Courthouse
Just a few blocks away, Courthouse dials things back a notch. This side of the neighborhood is home to Arlington’s civic hub. It houses the Arlington County Government offices, law enforcement, county courts, and administrative facilities.
It’s not all serious business in Courthouse, however. The neighborhood boasts a popular Saturday morning fresh-farms market held in the county parking lot and the Georgetown Flea Market, held every weekend. The AMC Courthouse Plaza 8 is a multi-screen movie theater located in the center plaza.
Courthouse is also home to a large, dog-friendly outdoor beer garden, complete with a dedicated K9 menu, Ireland’s Four Courts: A neighborhood institution serving traditional Irish pub fare for decades.Ragtime Restaurant: A cozy gastro-pub with a unique New Orleans twist, live acoustic music, and a large covered patio.
The Courthouse neighborhood’s housing market is heavily rental oriented. Nearly 80 percent of its residents lease rather than own their homes. Single-family detached homes are rare. Instead, you’ll find an architectural split between mid-century garden-style communities and 21st-century modernism. The neighborhood is anchored by Colonial Village, a 50-acre Colonial Revival complex listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It features low-rise brick buildings and courtyards framed by winding sidewalks and mature oak trees. The neighborhood’s core is characterized by steel, glass, and concrete architecture such as the Tellus apartments. Multi-level townhomes can be found on the outside edges of the neighborhood, as well as the classic mid-century duplexes that appear along the northern boundary of Courthouse as it transitions into Lyon Village and near Arlington Boulevard heading toward Lyon Park. Streets like North Taft Street, North Wayne Street, and 12th Street North feature “missing middle” post-WWII brick twin-homes and side-by-side duplexes. They feature minimalist Colonial Revival style, often with symmetrical entryways, pitched roofs and small front stoops. In these pockets, the streets are lined with mature oak trees, driveways are common, and backyard fences enclose small private gardens.
Outdoor recreation facilities in Courthouse include its direct entry points to the Custis Trail for long-distance biking and jogging. Rhodeside Green Park is a quiet, tree-lined pocket park ideal for a lunchtime escape or reading. Rocky Run Park is 2-acre community space featuring an artificial turf soccer field, dual basketball courts, a dedicated outdoor fitness area, and two separate age-grouped playgrounds.
Living in either neighborhood means giving your car more days off than you ever thought possible. With a Walk Score of 92 - 93, and Metro stops on both the Orange and Silver lines, almost everything you need is a quick stroll or a ten-minute train ride away, including downtown DC.
Schools In Clarendon-Courthouse
Clarendon Public Schools
Arlington Science Focus School Public Grades K–5
Dorothy Hamm Middle School Public Grades 6–8
Washington-Liberty High School Public Grades 9–12
Courthouse Public Schools
Arlington Science Focus School Public Grades K–5
Thomas Jefferson Middle School Public Grades 6–8
Yorktown High School or Washington-Liberty High School Public Grades 9–12 *Courthouse is heavily split block-by-block between these two high schools depending on address.
School assignment across the Clarendon-Courthouse corridor does not strictly follow neighborhood civic lines. Because the Arlington Public Schools (APS) boundary map splits cleanly through different blocks of the same neighborhood, assigned schools depend heavily on exact street address.
Disclaimer
We are not attorneys, legal experts, investment counselors, or CPAs. The content on this channel is presented for informational purposes only and derived from reliable sources, but should not be considered legal, financial, investment, transaction or real estate practice advice. Susan Isaacs and Compass, their principals and/or representatives, do not guarantee or warrant its accuracy, completeness, or applicability to any specific real estate transaction. Homebuyers should read applicable D.C. law and code as part of their due diligence, and seek help from licensed, qualified professionals for interpretation and application to their specific transaction.