What the Broadlands Association asks for
Broadlands Association, Inc., at 21907 Claiborne Parkway, keeps the community's exterior rules, and Loudoun County's own list of community associations links to it. Under Article 7, Section 7.5(a) of its declaration, any addition, alteration or improvement to a lot that can be seen from outside it waits for the Covenants Committee's prior written consent, and the association puts it plainly to owners: approval comes before the project starts. Its Modifications Subcommittee reviews the applications.
The association publishes its guidelines in the open: a Design Guidelines overview, General Requirements listing the documents an application generally carries, and a guideline for each kind of project, among them decks, patios, porches, major additions and alterations, and trellises and arbors. A separate sheet adds the detailed documents for decks, screened porches, major additions and sheds.
The overview makes the subcommittee the sole interpreter of its guidelines, which it revises from time to time, so applicants are asked to check with the office of the Secretary to the Subcommittee before submitting, both with questions and to confirm that a guideline is current. Where a guideline says shall or must, it states a requirement; where it says should or preferred, it gives direction, and following it does not oblige the subcommittee to approve the design.
The Trellises and Arbors guideline
Broadlands has no guideline named for pergolas. The nearest is Trellises and Arbors, dated November 2023, and we draw a pergola to it, confirming with the association's office that the subcommittee will read it that way. The guideline wants the structure to suit the house in style, character, scale, materials and colors. Its preferred place is on the rear deck, tied into the deck in looks and in structure; a freestanding one should stand in the rear or side yard and suit the yard as a whole. Size, height, materials and color should be in proportion to the lot and in keeping with the house, deck, patio and fence. On attached housing, a white structure on a deck must be white vinyl or composite, rather than painted or stained white.
Its submission list asks for the signed and dated application form, a description of the project, the site plan with the house, deck, patio, fencing, outbuildings, notable plantings and property lines drawn and the pergola's spot marked, photographs of the house and of that spot, and drawings to scale with a plan, elevations, materials and colors. A kit pergola adds its catalogue photo or the maker's cut sheets, with dimensions, materials and colors, and new planting adds a planting plan. The General Requirements also ask for samples or photos of each material in its color, and any light needs a photo of the fixture with its wattage and placement.
Trees come into it as well. Broadlands requires approval to remove any tree, dead or alive, whose trunk measures 4 inches or more in diameter, so a pergola set where a tree now stands carries that removal on its application. Owners may trim their own trees and vegetation without asking.
Aiming for a Broadlands meeting?
Say when you would like the pergola up, and we will time the drawings to the Wednesday deadline before it.
How the Modifications Subcommittee works
A complete submission holds the association's two-page Modification Application form with the documents its guidelines ask for. It goes to the association by email, by mail or into the drop box at its administrative office. From March through October the subcommittee meets twice a month, on the first and third Wednesdays, starting at 7:00 pm, and an application is due by noon on the Wednesday a week before the meeting. The result letter is sent to the email address given on the application.
Broadlands and the county permit
Broadlands is a community within Loudoun County rather than one of its seven incorporated towns, so whether a pergola needs a county permit is a question for the county's Department of Building and Development; our Loudoun County page covers the county's rules.
How we plan a Broadlands pergola
Our shop on Gum Spring Road is about 9 miles from Broadlands, measured straight across. We read the house and lot against the Trellises and Arbors guideline first: tied into the deck or freestanding, the color, and on a townhouse whether white means vinyl or composite. Then we draw the pergola to scale, mark it on the site plan, gather the photos, samples and cut sheets the General Requirements list, and send the package in time for a Wednesday deadline. How the posts, beams and rafters go together is on our pergolas page.
Broadlands projects we also take on
- Paver patios and fire pits beneath a pergola
- Outdoor kitchens and seating walls
- Three-season rooms and composite decks