Plantation shutters in Reston
Homes in Reston
Reston has an unusually large share of townhouses and other attached houses: 30% of its 30,485 homes, beside 20% detached houses and 50% apartments.
The biggest building period was 1950 to 1979, which accounts for 41% of homes standing today; 23% are from 2000 or later. The median home dates from 1984. 61% of homes are lived in by their owners.
Of the 16 Virginia cities we have census figures for, Reston has the third-highest share of apartments. In nearby Centreville, 9 miles away, 11% of homes were built before 1980, so Reston's windows are on the whole older. Nationally, Reston's homes are newer than those in 62% of the 881 US cities we have census figures for.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024. Estimates carry margins of error.
Townhouses
30% of homes share a wall with the next one. Their front windows face the street side by side with the neighbours', so many owners pick a louver size and a white or off-white finish that sit well beside the houses on either side. Bay windows on townhouses usually need a separate panel set for each face.
Apartments and condos
50% of homes are in buildings of two or more units. Balcony and patio doors suit bypass or bifold panels rather than hinged ones, which need floor space to swing. Check what your HOA or building allows to show from outside before you order: most rules are about the colour seen through the glass.
Replacement windows
41% of homes went up between 1950 and 1979, and most of them have had their original windows replaced since. A replacement window often sits further into or out of the wall than the old one, so the depth you have for an inside mount may differ from window to window in the same house. Measure every opening rather than copying one.
A whole house in Reston
The most common home in Reston has two bedrooms: 30% of homes. Three-bedroom homes make up another 28%. The median home has 5.3 rooms.
Apartments are the most common kind of home here. Across the US, the middle home among apartments in buildings of five or more units has 3 to 5 windows (EIA, 2020). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $900 to $2,000. For scale, that's about 0.2% of the median home value here, $642,000 (owners’ estimates, 2020–2024).
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 (bedrooms B25041, rooms B25018, value B25077); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, Table HC2.1 (windows). EIA RECS 2020, Table HC2.1
A typical home3–5 windows
All of them shuttered$900 to $2,000
Every window priced as a 36 × 48 in opening in our basic build (flat moulding, paint stage 1, 3½ in louvers), before tax and shipping. Your windows will differ; the designer prices each one.
Price your own windowsWorking from home
34% of workers here worked from home in the 2020–2024 survey years, more than in 98% of the 881 US cities we have figures for. Glare on a screen comes from direct sun and bright sky behind or beside it. Louvers tilted up throw daylight at the ceiling instead, so the room stays bright and the screen stays readable; wider louvers give the clearest view when you open them.
Older homes, high values
Owners here value their homes higher than in 81% of the 881 US cities we have figures for, and 41% of homes were built before 1980. If an older house still has good wood shutters, repair them before you replace them; if not, poplar painted to match the trim suits original casings.
Ages (B01001), working from home (B08301) and value (B25077): U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates, 2020–2024. Rankings compare the US cities we have figures for.
Reston weather and your shutters
At Vienna, VA (5 mi away), July averages a high of 83.8°F and January a low of 23.4°F. Average lows sit at or below freezing from December to March.
About 13 days a year reach 90°F, 99 nights fall to freezing and 46.6 inches of precipitation falls, spread fairly evenly through the year.
That's more freezing nights than in 67% of the 881 US cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 14 h 54 min on the longest day to 9 h 26 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 74° above the horizon in June and 28° in December.
Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Vienna, VA (temperature) and Herndon 3.3 S, VA (precipitation, 2 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42.3°F | 23.4°F | 3.1 in |
| Feb | 45.3°F | 24.3°F | 2.8 in |
| Mar | 53.3°F | 31.6°F | 3.9 in |
| Apr | 64.8°F | 41.2°F | 3.5 in |
| May | 71.6°F | 52.1°F | 4.6 in |
| Jun | 79.5°F | 61°F | 4.4 in |
| Jul | 83.8°F | 66.6°F | 4.7 in |
| Aug | 82.4°F | 64.9°F | 3.8 in |
| Sep | 75.9°F | 57.1°F | 4.6 in |
| Oct | 65.4°F | 45.2°F | 4.3 in |
| Nov | 55.8°F | 34.6°F | 3.3 in |
| Dec | 46.2°F | 28.3°F | 3.6 in |
Cold winters
With 99 freezing nights a year, warm room air meets cold glass for months. Shutters closed tight overnight hold that air against the window, so condensation can collect on the sill: tilt the louvers open in the morning, and wipe the sill on windows that often run wet.
Wet months
46.6 inches of precipitation a year keeps the air damp for long stretches. Steam and condensation are hard on any joint, so in kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms keep the air moving and wipe water off the sill before it sits.
Fitting them in Reston
Shutter Boys shutters are made for you to fit yourself: an inside or outside mount takes a drill, a level and our step-by-step guide. If you'd rather hire someone, a finish carpenter or blinds installer can fit them; ask on your quote and we'll tell you if we know one near you. You arrange and pay the installer directly.
Near Reston
- Centreville 9 mi
- Bethesda 12 mi
- Rockville 14 mi
- Arlington 14 mi
- Gaithersburg 16 mi
- Germantown 16 mi
More about shutters in Reston
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Reston’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Reston
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Reston can sell or refer Shutter Boys shutters: dealers buy at trade pricing with a protected area; referral partners earn a fee on each client they send. No fee to join.
Price your windows
Pick your look once, add every window, and see each one drawn and priced. Send it to us and we reply with your quote.