Every six months or so, I find myself enamoured by the idea of refurbishing one of those $1 houses in Italy. A ramshackle villa where I don’t know the language and have no responsibilities other than DIY-ing my way to a dream home is the perfect escape from this dreary weather. And while there may or may not be a Pinterest board already dedicated to such a project, I do have a life I love in the DMV, and I’m newly obsessed with the fact that I can turn a little closer to home to fulfill my HGTV fantasy. 

Fairfax Country’s Resident Curator Program is possibly the coolest thing I’ve encountered in the DMV’s sustainability space lately. (Shout out to Magpie bestie Melissa Holo for bringing it to my attention!) The program has been around since 2014, but it’s new to me and incredibly tempting. Instead of letting historical properties weather away and sit underutilized, the Fairfax County Park Authority is leasing them out rent free. Seriously. Rent free to anyone who commits to rehabilitating the property and maintaining them to historic preservation standards. 

In exchange for being the live-in steward of a piece of American history, you’ll take on the responsibility of restoring the property and giving the public an opportunity to visit. We’re talking about places like the Ellmore Farmhouse, which now provides adults with disabilities a place to work and learn life skills, and the Dranesville Tavern which is currently accepting applications. These aren’t just houses, they’re stories with walls.

This is Sustainability at its finest.

Here’s the thing, sustainability isn’t just about composting or stalking your Buy Nothing Group for something you might not actually need, although I obviously love doing both of those things. Real sustainability is about keeping the big things in use. It’s about recognizing that the most eco-friendly object is the one that already exists, that the greenest building is the one that doesn’t need to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. 

The Resident Curator Program gets that. Rather than spending public money to demolish or perpetually maintain neglected structures, Fairfax is inviting the community to be the solution. Preservation-minded nonprofits and neighbors are stepping up to give these structures a second life. That’s the kind of sustainably stylish thinking that we love to see!

Magpie Reclamations exist because we believe that beautiful things shouldn’t be wasted. Old doesn't mean obsolete, and every piece we source, restore, and style has a history worth honoring. Being Sustainably Stylish isn’t about aesthetics alone. It’s about intention, and the Resident Curator Program is the large scale embodiment of our ethos.

So catch me saving my pennies and starting a new Pinterest board for a colonial era bed and breakfast. Because as fun as a $1 house in Italy sounds, keeping things local is where it’s at in 2026.