ADU Pass
Purcellville
No County portion
Also in: Clarke County · Loudoun County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Purcellville, No County, Virginia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
Purcellville permits ADUs under its town zoning ordinance. The town sits at the western edge of Loudoun County in the heart of Virginia wine country (Loudoun Wine Trail) and equestrian country. Old Town Purcellville has a small but active historic district; new construction across town faces design-guidelines review. SB531 (July 2027) preempts SUP requirements for detached ADUs on SFR lots.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 300 | $1,900 | $117,000 | $118,900 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,200 | $252,000 | $254,200 |
| midpoint | 600 | $2,200 | $252,000 | $254,200 |
| maximum | 900 | $2,500 | $396,000 | $398,500 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental permitted on Purcellville SFR parcels with ADU. NoVA commute corridor and Loudoun tech / wine-industry workforce drive sustained year-round rental demand.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Purcellville STR ordinance applies; permits required. Strong seasonal STR demand — Loudoun Wine Trail (50+ wineries within 15 minutes), equestrian events, and proximity to Harpers Ferry / Blue Ridge attractions.
- Office rental: no ADU must remain a dwelling unit under Purcellville zoning.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted under town standards.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio / workshop use permitted as a normal accessory use; common pattern on equestrian and wine-country parcels.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Limited within town; AR-1 and surrounding county AR districts allow significant agricultural activity. Equestrian use is common just outside town limits.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU is permitted; canonical Loudoun multi-generational pattern.
Incentives
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Town of Purcellville Department of Public Works (Hirst Reservoir / Catoctin Creek system) · 30d connect · $8,500
- Sewer: Town of Purcellville Department of Public Works (Basham Simms Wastewater Treatment Facility) · 35d connect · $10,000
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia (most of Purcellville); some outlying parcels on NOVEC · 30d connect · $2,200
- Gas: Washington Gas (limited service in Purcellville); many parcels use propane · 35d connect · $1,900
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 10mo · worst 15mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
VA-7 and US-340 handle modular delivery; rural Loudoun roads typically accommodate standard module widths.
Financing
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Mix of older Old Town parcels (no HOA) and newer subdivisions on the south/west edges of town (Mayfair, Locust Grove, etc.) with active HOAs. Verify covenant text before committing to ADU plans.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- historic-district
Purcellville's town center retains historic character; NRHP-listed structures within Old Town. Design-review guidelines apply for visible exterior changes. - flood-zone
Limited flood-zone exposure along North Fork Catoctin Creek (which bisects Purcellville). Most residential parcels are outside SFHA. - other
Parcels at the western edge of town and adjoining unincorporated Loudoun fall within Mountainside Development overlays affecting slope, drainage, and viewshed.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Town of Purcellville Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 25 of Town Code), as amended through Ord 15-11-01, adopted 1952-01-01, last amended 2015-12-08
- 1952-01-01 — Purcellville Zoning Ordinance — original adoption (city-ordinance)
Original Purcellville zoning ordinance adopted in 1952; established the baseline residential and commercial district framework.
Effect: Foundation of town zoning; subsequently overhauled in 2015 under Ord 15-11-01. - 2015-12-08 — Purcellville Ordinance 15-11-01 — comprehensive zoning rewrite (city-ordinance)
Town Council adopted comprehensive zoning district and use changes amending Chapter 25 of the Town Code. Updated ADU treatment by zoning district.
Effect: Current operating Purcellville zoning framework as of 2026-05. - 2026-04-14 — Virginia SB531 signed — statewide by-right ADU mandate (state-law)
Effective July 1, 2027: by-right ADU in SFR zones, $500 permit-fee cap.
Effect: Purcellville's existing ADU framework qualifies for grandfathering (pre-Jan 2026 adoption); $500 fee cap takes effect 2027-07-01.
Known issues (2)
- policy-review — Purcellville Town Council has periodically reviewed STR and ADU treatment in connection with affordability discussions. SB531 (2027) is widely expected to drive a follow-up local code update.
- other — Town water and sewer capacity is a recurring planning topic; ADU connections counted against the town's allocation. Confirm capacity with Public Works during pre-application.
County: no attribution (synthetic bucket)
No county
This city sits in the state's "no county" bucket — its ADU rules derive directly from state law and city ordinance without a county intermediary. No county-level sections apply.
Virginia state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
Virginia has NOT enacted a statewide ADU preemption law. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state — localities possess only those powers expressly granted by the General Assembly — and the statutes granting zoning authority (Va. Code § 15.2-2280 et seq.) leave ADU regulation to local ordinances. ADU permission, setbacks, parking, size, and owner-occupancy rules therefore vary by county, independent city, and town. Virginia is unique in that it has 38 independent cities that function as counties (neither in nor subordinate to the surrounding county), meaning 'the county' for any given Virginia property may be an independent city rather than a true county. Several ADU preemption bills have been introduced in recent General Assembly sessions (2022 through 2025) without enactment; none have advanced past committee as of the Assembly's 2026 regular session adjournment.
State financing programs
Virginia does not operate an ADU-specific statewide loan, grant, or forgivable-loan program. Virginia Housing (formerly the Virginia Housing Development Authority, VHDA — rebranded 2020) administers general first-time-homebuyer, down-payment-assistance (DPA), mortgage-credit-certificate, and rehabilitation products that can be applied to ADU-adjacent purchases or improvements when eligibility criteria are met, but none target ADU construction as a distinct product. The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) administers federal HOME and CDBG pass-through funds that local jurisdictions can direct toward ADU-adjacent rehab, but there is no state-level ADU-dedicated line item. Federally available products (FHA 203(k), Fannie Mae HomeReady and HomeStyle Renovation, Freddie Mac CHOICERenovation) remain the primary ADU financing path for Virginia homeowners.
State housing programs
Virginia does not run a state-level pre-approved-ADU-plan catalog, statewide impact-fee-waiver statute for ADUs, or streamlined-review mandate. State-level programs that touch ADU-adjacent policy are coordinated primarily through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and Virginia Housing, and act by funding or assisting local jurisdictions rather than by preemption. Local ADU activity — Arlington County's Accessory Dwellings program (detached ADUs permitted since 2008, liberalized 2020), Alexandria's accessory-dwelling ordinance, Fairfax County's accessory-living-unit program, and Charlottesville's 2021 zoning-code changes — is authorized under the localities' Va. Code § 15.2-2280 zoning authority, not by state mandate.
- DHCD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program — Federal CDBG funds administered by DHCD to eligible non-entitlement Virginia localities for community-revitalization, housing-rehab, and infrastructure projects. Not ADU-specific. Participating localities can direct CDBG funds toward housing-rehab projects where local policy supports ADUs.
- DHCD HOME Investment Partnerships Program — Federal HOME funds administered by DHCD to Virginia participating jurisdictions and non-profits for affordable-housing acquisition, rehab, and new construction. Not ADU-specific; can be directed to ADU-adjacent rehab at local discretion.
- Virginia Housing Commission — Permanent advisory commission of the General Assembly that studies housing-policy questions and recommends legislation. Has periodically studied ADU preemption and missing-middle housing without recommending statewide enactment as of 2026-04-21.
- Local ADU ordinances under Va. Code § 15.2-2280 authority — Not a state program — listed here because Virginia ADU policy is executed entirely at the locality level under the § 15.2-2280 zoning grant. A homeowner seeking to build an ADU consults the zoning ordinance of the specific county, city, or town where the parcel is located.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Code
- 20134
Post Office
- 220 N Hatcher Ave, 20132