600 Little Neck Road
Little Neck's Kings Grant
www.600LNR.com

We had been anticipating the party for weeks now, an outdoor barbeque in Little Neck’s Kings Grant community. As we drove north on Little Neck Road, the fall temperatures seemed to drop a few degrees….as did our blood pressure….it must be the calming influence of the quiet, private peninsula, I thought.

With St. Nick’s Catholic Church, Kings Grant Presbyterian, Kings Grant Baptist, Little Neck Swim & Racquet Club, and VBFD’s Station 20 – our neighborhood first responders – up ahead, we turn right on N. Lynnhaven Road then right on Johnson Street. On the drive here, we had talked about all the wonderful times we had had in the great Kings Grant community, all the friends we had met and made. We were really looking forward to the cookout and seeing the cozy cottage at 600 Little Neck Road.

Parking under the nearby shade trees out front, we walk up to the front door of this quaint cedar sided cottage … we were almost expecting chocolate gingerbread!

We enter at the front door and are warmly welcomed into the main living area with its hardwood floors. The dining area is straight ahead and beyond is the family room.

We peek into the highly efficient kitchen with its stainless steel refrigerator & gas range. Looking out at the bright sunny stone patio in back, we see more friends and walk outside to meet them. The sunlight angles through the trees and shrubs. The outside is full of activity and the grill is smoking! Children are playing and dogs are romping in the large fenced back yard.

Wanting to check our hosts’ recent decorating activity, we sneak up to the master suite on the second floor …. a perfect getaway, I think. We head back to the party on the first floor, refill our glasses, and then to see the new décor visit the three first floor bedrooms and full bath. “What a great floor plan and excellent use of space,” I think out loud.

Rejoining the celebratory activities throughout the first floor, we reengage with our new and old friends. In the recesses of my mind, I keep asking myself, “Why didn’t we buy this house when Claudia had it on the market? Such a great home. Such a great neighborhood.”

Once again, Claudia Sold Little Neck!


Additional Information

LITTLE NECK. It’s a weird name to start with. But let’s look at LITTLE NECK’s history first….

Thousands of years ago, back in 13000BC – 8000BC, Paleo-Indians dwelled in our area. No one knows where they went. Then the Algonquin tribes were here from about 8000BC to 500AD; these too were lost to history. But in the early 17th century, John Smith and the Jamestown settlers wrote about the Chesopeians, members of the lost Algonquians. The tip of Little Neck was referred to as a trading point, where the Indians and setters traded. Thus Trading Point Lane got its name.

An early Jamestowner wrote about the banks of what’s now the Lynnhaven River “that God never fashioned a better place for man’s habitat”. Was he ever right!

As more folks came to the colonies, land grants were given, farms were developed, fishing and oystering began in earnest. Common names then were the Keelings, Woodhouses, Strattons, Wilkinsons. A trip to Norfolk then could be an all day affair!

Then in the 1920s, automobiles and paved roads opened Little Neck to summer visitors from Norfolk. Summer cottages were developed. In the 30s there were oyster houses catering to tourists: off W. Little Neck Rd, on Keeling Cove, at the end of Hurds Rd, and at Poplar Cove. There were potato farms where Sea Breeze is now. Oysters, jonquils, and chickens were harvested near Dix Inlet. Redwood may have housed a dairy farm. Secretive stills were nestled away in the woods. Kids romped through what is now Middle Plantation hunting.

Post World War II, development picked up in earnest with the beginning of Kings Grant. Hundreds and hundreds of affordable homes inched north from Virginia Beach Boulevard. Tree lined Little Neck Road spawned developments like Sea Breeze Farm, Redwood Farm, Middle Plantation, and Bishopsgate well into the late 80s and early 90s. Little Neck was pretty much built out at that point, with only a few small areas suitable for building. LITTLE NECK had become a magnet attracting professionals, medical care specialists, executives, managers, and military officers and civil servants.

LITTLE NECK today is one of the most popular and sought after neighborhoods in Virginia Beach, and by default in South Hampton Roads. It is a haven from the commercialization that has consumed so much of the rest of the area. Aside from the 7-11, a Little Necker has to drive 3-4 miles to shop. There is no through traffic since we are the LITTLE NECK PENINSULA; this is a destination, not a stop along the way.

A very family oriented community; we are home to six churches representing most of the main line denominations. There are public parks scattered throughout with tennis courts, swings, and so on for all ages. The Little Neck Swim & Racquet Club is a year round tennis facility and a seasonal mecca for swimmers and sunners of all ages. A bike bath & sidewalk combination can take one from the Boulevard all the way to the end of Little Neck Road, nearly 5 miles. Bikers, runners, and walkers are seen constantly. Station 20 – home of our first responders – houses our local firefighters and EMTs right on Little Neck Road.

We are blessed with two top notch elementary schools, Kings Grant which serves southern Little Neck kids, and nationally recognized Kingston which serves the rest. Students matriculate up through Lynnhaven Middle and First Colonial High, both highly ranked members of Virginia Beach’s excellent school system.

While our LITTLE NECK peninsula is quiet, tranquil, non-commercial, family oriented, and safe, we are only minutes from Town Center, the Interstate, the Norfolk airport, the oceanfront, Home Depot, Harris Teeter, and Lynnhaven Mall. A quick retreat back to LITTLE NECK is always welcome after a foray into the busy side of Virginia Beach.

If it’s an urban life style you need, then head to Norfolk or Town Center. If it’s a busy road bounded by strip malls and gas stations, head to Great Neck. If it’s the ocean, beach, tourist traffic, and expensive homes, head to the north end gold coast. If it’s new homes, small lots, few trees, and 9 foot ceilings, head to southern Virginia Beach or Chesapeake.

But if it’s family values, security, serenity, peace, quiet, good neighbors, great quality of life, excellent public schools, and a perfect lifestyle, then LITTLE NECK is fundamentally your best choice….and it could be your only choice.

Become one today. A LITTLE NECKER!

Our thanks to Pete Costenbader for his historical research!