THE STORY
A Village Built From Scratch
Old Trail is what happens when a developer sets out to build a whole village rather than a subdivision. Spread across roughly 800 acres on the west side of Crozet, it was designed on new-urbanist principles — Albemarle County’s “Neighborhood Model” — around an 18-hole golf course and a walkable Village Center where apartments sit above ground-floor shops and restaurants.
That ambition wasn’t universally welcomed. When the project was rezoned in 2005, downtown Crozet merchants worried that a competing commercial center would pull life away from the historic core. Two decades on, Old Trail has filled in as the most amenity-rich and architecturally varied corner of Crozet — and the debate over how much commercial Crozet can support has never fully gone away.
Today Old Trail offers the widest housing mix in the area — estate homes, single-family, townhomes, cottages, condos, apartments, and The Lodge community — sitting directly across Route 250 from Western Albemarle High School.
TIMELINE
Old Trail Through the Years
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~2004–2005
The Old Trail golf course opens.
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September 2005
The Old Trail Village rezoning is approved, amid concern from downtown Crozet merchants about retail competition.
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February 2016
The minimum unit count is reduced to 1,000 (buildout projected around 1,200).
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2024
A new block of roughly 52 homes begins near the Route 250 / Old Trail Drive entrance.
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Today
A maturing new-urbanist village with the broadest housing and amenity mix in Crozet.
CHARACTER
What It’s Like to Live Here
Architecture: The widest range in Crozet — estate homes down to cottages and condos, plus apartments and The Lodge. Homes span roughly 1,400 to 6,500+ square feet across the village.
The Walk: A walkable Village Center with restaurants, a coffee shop, a spa, and shops over which people live; a golf club, community pool, ACAC fitness center, and a trail network. This is the most amenity-dense address in Crozet.
The Vibe: Active and walkable — a village designed so you can walk to dinner, to shops, and to school. Western Albemarle High is directly across Route 250.
By the Numbers
There were 66 closings in the 12 months ending August 16, 2026, at a median of $724,950 and a range of $345,000 to $1,550,000. Over 24 months: 148 closings, median $724,950, identical to the 12-month figure. About as flat and stable a read as the local MLS produces anywhere.
MLS closed sales, all statuses Sold, compiled by Jim Duncan. Updated August 2026.