Metal Roofs in Arlington, VA: Garden-Apartment Districts
Colonial Village, Buckingham Village and Cambridge Courts are the three garden-apartment complexes on Arlington County's list of local historic districts. Two of them have design-guidelines documents linked by the county, and neither one names metal in its roof section. Here is what the county pages, the guidelines and the National Register nominations say about each roof.
Dates from the papers
When each complex was designated
- December 5, 1978
Colonial Village becomes a local historic district; the National Register listing follows on December 9, 1980 (county page copy).
- June 3, 1993, November 19, 1994, July 23, 2007
Buckingham Village receives local designation in three stages (county page copy), so the dates matter when checking one address.
- November 12, 2003
Cambridge Courts is listed as a contributing resource to the Lyon Park National Register district.
- December 12, 2015 and January 28, 2016
Cambridge Courts is designated a local district and its design guidelines are approved. The review process in them belongs to the local designation.
What the one roof guideline says about replacing shingles
The Cambridge Courts guidelines say the asphalt-shingle side-gable and hipped forms "shall be maintained" and that in-kind replacement of the shingles may occur without approval of the board or staff. A Certificate of Appropriateness or an Administrative one is required when work involves different materials or a different design. Our reading is that metal over asphalt is a different material under that sentence, but the guidelines do not say, so ask staff. Installing gutters needs neither certificate, and building and zoning permits may still be needed afterward.
District by district
Three complexes, three different sets of roof papers
The county's own pages are read here as archived copies, dated in the table below.
- Colonial Village245 buildings, about 1,055 apartments
The 1980 National Register nomination describes a green slate roof with four dormers on one building type, flanked by one-bay flat-roof wings, and fully flat roofs on others. It names a subcontractor for copper flashing, gutters and downspouts, so metal here was trim, not the covering.
The county page copy shows no design-guidelines link, so nothing read tells an owner what counts as in-kind.
- Buckingham VillageBuilt in six phases
The 1998 nomination says most gable and hip roofs were slate, several buildings are flat-roofed, and the wooden roof louvers were first covered in copper. It also notes some slate already replaced with asphalt, and the county says a few roofs were reclad that way.
The county's list of local historic districts links the 1993 Buckingham design guidelines. Their roof rule reads "repair and replacement of original slate is preferred," and any substitute should be of a similar color, shape and size as the original slate. The roof entry itself does not name metal, though the next entry prefers copper roofing on dormers, so ask Historic Preservation whether a metal profile would count.
The county lists 30 buildings lost after 1953, and Wikipedia's summary says only Villages 3 to 12 and the commercial area carry local protection. Ask the county whether your address is inside.
- Cambridge Courts20 buildings, 159 condominium units
The county describes shallow-pitched asphalt-shingle gable and hipped roofs, and a board of owners sits behind every roof decision. It is the one complex whose page links design guidelines.
Those guidelines never name metal in the roof section. The only metal in the document is lighting poles and picket fencing.
Roof shape
Why a pitched wing and a flat wing are different metal questions
The nominations show pitched centers beside flat ends, and the county calls the Cambridge Courts roofs shallow pitched. The model building code sets a minimum slope for standing-seam panels of one-quarter unit vertical in 12 units horizontal, and other panel types need more. Product makers may set their own minimums, so the actual slope of each wing decides the question. Our flat roof page covers membranes on slopes that low, and the metal section of our materials guide covers mixing a new metal with old copper trim.
What the county pages link
Which of the three pages hands an owner a roof document
| Complex | County page copy | Links a design-guidelines document | Other papers linked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colonial Village | November 28, 2023 | No | Designation form, inventory fact sheet, markers |
| Buckingham Village | September 25, 2026 | Not on the page copy; the county's district list links the 1993 guidelines | Designation form, two boundary increases, inventory fact sheet, markers |
| Cambridge Courts | December 30, 2025 | Yes, approved January 28, 2016 | Inventory entry and the guidelines |
Historic Preservation is listed on the Cambridge Courts and Buckingham Village pages at 703-228-3549.
FAQ
Questions from owners and boards in the garden-apartment districts
Does the Cambridge Courts roof section name metal anywhere?
No. It names the asphalt-shingle forms and the in-kind rule, so whether a panel roof could be approved is a question for Historic Preservation staff and the board.
Is Cambridge Courts also on the National Register?
The county lists it as a contributing resource to the Lyon Park district, separately from its local designation. The guidelines belong to the local one.
Why do the nominations mention copper if the roofs were slate?
Copper went on flashing, gutters, downspouts and, at Buckingham, the wooden roof louvers.
Does asphalt count as in-kind where slate used to be?
At Cambridge Courts the guidelines treat asphalt shingle as the existing roof. At Buckingham the 1993 guidelines prefer original slate and allow a substitute of similar color, shape and size, without naming metal or asphalt in the main roof entry, so staff would say what counts. For Colonial Village no roof guideline was read.
Is there a roof guideline for Colonial Village?
The county page copy links none. Ask Historic Preservation before assuming either answer.
Which county permit questions still apply?
The permit office and the three-or-more-unit commercial route are on our Arlington page and our Arlington TPO page.
For another review-driven roof see metal roofs in Alexandria, TPO roofing in Falls Church and our Northern Virginia metal guide.
Sources read (county pages as archived copies, dated above; state historic resources and Wikipedia pages checked October 12, 2026):Talk through the next step
Tell us which complex and which roof shape
Name the complex, how many stories the building has and whether the roof over your unit is pitched or flat. That is enough to say which of the county's papers to read before any panel is discussed.
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