Poquoson

Poquoson, VA is a small town on the Virginia Peninsula, which is also comprised of the cities of Hampton & Newport News and the county of York. Williamsburg is and/or is not a part of the Peninsula, depending on the context. While the population of Newport News is 180,000, and Hampton is 146,000, York County is scantily populated at 60,000. Poquoson & Williamsburg, at roughly 11,000 each, are small towns in comparison. Like all Hampton roads locales, Poquoson has its own personality. While Williamsburg has a similar sized population, with its constant influx of William & Mary students, tourists, and retirees, it feels nothing like Poqouson. In Poquoson, everybody knows everybody. Before December, my experience with Poquson had been a visit here or there to the pharmacy, which sells novelty items, or to the marina on Messick road, where my mother and aunt go just after sunrise on summer mornings to buy fish fresh off the boat. (scroll to the bottom of this post to view active listings in Poquoson.)

In December, I showed a house in Poquoson to a client. Once inside, I could see that this was no ordinary bungalow. What a creative set up! There were vintage bar stools on both sides of the breakfast bar.

And in the kitchen, a huge mural of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, painted onto the wall!

I thought the welcoming piggy was a great touch as well, and everyone enjoyed the candy.

In spite of the cuteness, if you know anything about the area, the first thing you will ask is about flood insurance and the like. Poquoson and Grandview in Hampton were hardest hit by Hurricane Isabel in 2003. The seller of this home raised the home to 12 ft above sea level after Isabel to ease his own worries and those of future buyers. Here's a sampling of listings in Poquoson. Check out the extra tall foundations of some of the homes: many of them used to sit on lower foundations, and were also raised after Isabel.

The agent on the other side of the transaction was very competent and friendly. She told me that she had moved over from a more populated city on Southside, and that she loved Poquson. She told me about Heidi's point, just down the street, where Heidi Laura Cayouette, an airline and aerobatic pilot and the daughter of a Poquoson resident was memorialized. She told me the park was privately owned by Heidi's mother, but that she had established it as a place open to the public. Of course I had to visit.

The trail to the lighthouse reminded me of the trail to Grandview.
Someone on flickr took a much better picture of the path. Hey, I'm not afraid to give credit where credit's due.

Here is the lighthouse, which my flickr buddy Jerry Gammon took a much better picture of.

And after that, all there is to do is to walk back.

There are lot of these bottle sculptures in Poquoson. I had previously only seen them in the movie "Ray." Maybe one day I will find the meaning.


Here's a sampling of listings in Poquoson. Check out the extra tall foundations of some of the homes: many of them used to sit on lower foundations, and were raised after Hurricane Isabel. Check out the value on 1327 Poquoson Avenue. At $139,000, it is priced $30,000 below the next least expensive home in Poquson, a home priced at $169,900.

Want to buy or sell a home in Poquoson? Email me at athreatt@greggarrettrealty.com or call me at 757-879-5830.

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