St. Johns Wood

I love this place! My husband and I have lived here since August of 2014. It’s quiet, pretty, safe and close to the Reston Town Center. We re-​signed our lease for another year. Our rent was increased more than other places in which we’ve lived, but it’s a small price to pay for safety and peace of mind.

Just moved in a month ago. We moved from Tysons and are very happy with the location. It is tucked away off Reston Parkway so it is very quiet with a lot of mature trees and walking trails. The property is well kept and the leasing office staff has always been kind and attentive to our needs. We are just across from the North Point shopping plaza which is very convenient. Would definitely recommend SJW!

I love my complex I think it’s really great area and very lovely people I have been living here one year I really like it. It’s pretty quite area I really recommended

I see there are no reviews of this property in almost three years so I guess I’ll put in my two cents. I moved here about a month ago, albeit still in the honeymoon phase, but enough time to get a first impression: it was both positive and favorable. Property Staff: very professional, responsive, communicative and accessible (hope that’s not part of the honeymoon phase, too!) Was even treated like a «resident» during the inquiry/​tour stage of the process. Property/​Grounds: super clean, well maintained, totally surrounded by beautiful trees (they don’t call it St Johns Wood for nothing!) Garbage/​recycle center makes this a ‘green’ property. Maintenance: so far, so good. I’ve had same day responses to minor issues. Location: right off Reston Pkwy. My main reason for selecting SJW was its close proximity (2.5miles) to Metro (Wiele/​Reston station). Major retailers within 5 miles of community (Home Depot, Giant, Harris Teeter, Container Store, Whole Foods, Target and the entire Reston Town Center); lots of restaurants and Wolf Trap is only 12 minutes away. Community: surprisingly quiet; if I hadn’t actually seen some of my neighbors, I wouldn’t know anyone lived here! Seems to be a mix of singles, couples and a few families w/​kids; lots of dogs! (There are no play areas I don’t think this property is targeted toward families with small children although Buzz Aldrin Elementary is a couple blocks away.) Plenty of parking, well lit at night and safe: no need for secured access buildings or roving security guards like my former community in south Alexandria. Apartment: Quietest apartment I’ve EVER lived in, very well soundproofed walls, floor and front door. One of the main reasons I chose SJW was their unique floor plan for the 1bdr w/​closed den; being a long term apartment dweller, I was so tired of living in the standard, ho-​hum «box or rectangle» and this floor plan offered some unique angles as well as access to the outside space from both the living room and the den. I love to cook and hated to trade gas for electric, but the flat top cooking surface as well as the other updated appliances are working for me. The only issue in the kitchen is lack of drawer space, one of which you can not fully open because it’s blocked by the oven door handle. The laundry room has enough space for a 5-​shelf pantry storage unit. The outdoor living space is huge at 14′ x 7′; they call it a balcony but I have friends with houses with decks that aren’t that big. The storage closet connected to the balcony is an added bonus. Special touches were the move in amenities; paper towels and dish liquid in the kitchen, Bozutto water bottle and coffee container on the counter, small box of Tide on the washing machine, M&Ms, Pringles and water in the refrigerator and new white towels, toilet tissue and a rubber ducky in the bathroom! As the rating indicates, «Yay! I’m a fan.

My fiancé and I lived at St. Johns for a little over a year. The apartments were OK, but the walls were so thin you could hear EVERYTHING. We were on the 1^st floor and we had two college aged smokers above us who would be out on their patio almost every night until 2 or 3 am smoking and talking. We eventually had to go out and buy ear plugs because there was literally nothing blocking the sound. We also had another neighbor who’s son would play their baby grand piano daily. And, at last, another who had a sound system that would be so loud it would shake our walls. In addition to the noise, we had a 2 bedroom and the guestroom/​office was so cold we’d have to wear our coats and gloves in there! We asked maintenance several times what we could do and their response was that «the windows are old and don’t have any installation, but we can put plastic wrap over the sliding door and windows in the room.» Plastic wrap! We paid way to much in rent for that and of course, it didn’t even help. Our family and friends wouldn’t come stay with us when it was cold because the didn’t want to sleep in a freezer. I’m just glad we didn’t have any small children or someone who needed to sleep in their consistently. The maintenance staff was OK, but would skimp on things and do it the fastest, cheapest way instead of the right way.

Garbage pickup? A joke. Maintenance is prime time for petty thievery; they will lodge a complaint against you without your consent (not the Democratic process).
Management is stuffy, particularly with a «Nurse Ratchet» (taken from ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) property manager who is feared by the staff.
I see a lot of things, and I know when things are right and I know when they are wrong; with this said, there’s a bunch of «Monkey Business» going on here. The rules seem only to apply as a, «on-​the-​fly» type of rule. Which, of course, is unfair.
There is no closet space: it is designed this way for a reason: no children long term, as children grow. Kids have stuff. You have stuff, I have stuff, too. The closet space is minimal (I’m using my dress closet as a linen closet. I’m a minimalist and still, there is not enough room).
The landscaping — if you care, is not great. The maintenance blows the leaves, sure, but the grass line is poor. It would be nice to plant new seedlings — you probably don’t care about this, that’s fine.
Not for the physically challenged, not for children; better for one guy, one girl, maybe both, but not with more than one pet.
What is a positive? I want to be fair.
It is quiet and it feels safe. The bus system is very good, you can get to West Falls Church and then Metro very easily. The walking trails are great if you have a dog. You will not necessarily need a car.
Don’t sign for more than a year’s lease as you will be sucker-​punched.

We’ve been living here for about 5 months now and couldn’t be happier. Not once have we heard our neighbors, which was not the case in the last two apartments I’ve lived in. Lot’s of people have dogs here but I can honestly say I haven’t seen any «leavings» about. Everyone seems to pick up after their dog. Rent is very reasonable for the area and the location is great. Just a few minutes drive from the Reston Town Center. Everyone in the leasing office is great, especially Donna, she has been very helpful. The maintenance team also responds quickly to problems. Overall I would definitely recommend living here.