Jared Stiegelmeyer
Charlottesville Managing Broker
Charlottesville37.7900° N 78.8800° W
Nelson.
14,775 residents across 474 square miles, seated at Lovingston.
One of 9 areas our Charlottesville team works.
At a glanceLovingston
The publicrecord.
What the county and the census hold on Nelson — quoted, not estimated.
Rural, with no incorporated towns anywhere in the county, and an economy built on tourism and craft beverage production along "Nelson 151" — the stretch of Route 151 running past 30-plus wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries.
Wintergreen Resort anchors the county both economically and geographically — 11,000 acres developed since 1972, now owned and operated by Pacific Group Resorts.
Also carries the first roughly 30 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, from its zero milepost at Rockfish Gap — though Shenandoah National Park itself, despite bordering the county, does not actually extend into it.
- Type
- County
- County seat
- Lovingston
- Population (2020)
- 14,775
- Land area
- 474 sq mi
- Communities we cover
- 7
- Established
- 1807
- Real estate tax rate (FY2027)
- $0.56 per $100
Figures from Wikidata, population as of 2020. The tax rate is published by the county and set annually; check the current year before budgeting.
Where it is37.7900° N 78.8800° W
Where isNelson?
The nearest of our other Charlottesville areas is City of Waynesboro, 19 miles off.
30 mi
Central Charlottesville
south-west of center
84 mi
Richmond
east
102 mi
Fredericksburg
north-east
119 mi
Williamsburg
east
Distances are straight-line, not driving.
Getting around.
One interstate crosses the county at its most dramatic point, and the airport is under 40 miles away.
I-64
Crosses at Rockfish Gap on the Afton Mountain interchange, the Nelson/Augusta line.
Blue Ridge Parkway
Begins at milepost zero right here, running about 30 miles through the county.
Route 151
The spine of the Nelson 151 craft-beverage corridor.
Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport
Under 40 miles by the county's own figure.
Inside the county7 communities
Every communitywe cover.
7 of them have homes on the market today. Each figure is live, and opens that search.
- 2LovingstonSee the homes
The county seat since 1809 — like every community in Nelson, it has never been an incorporated town.
- 17NellysfordSee the homes
A Virginia Main Street community and hub of the Nelson 151 craft beverage trail.
- 7ShipmanSee the homes
Grew up as a rail stop in 1859 after the Lynchburg line came through; its historic core of stores, churches and schools survives largely intact.
- 1ArringtonSee the home
Home to Lake Nelson, a 40-acre reservoir with electric-motor-only boating, and to the annual LOCKN' music festival.
- 8RoselandSee the homes
Home to Devils Backbone's Basecamp Brewpub, one of the anchors of the Nelson 151 beverage trail.
- 15AftonSee the homes
Sits at Rockfish Gap on the Augusta county line — milepost zero of the Blue Ridge Parkway — and home to Blue Mountain Brewery.
- 1Massies MillSee the home
Once the economic center of the county, and the hardest-hit community when Hurricane Camille's 1969 floods killed 22 people here alone.
Living here6 reasons
The case forNelson.
The figures above read plainly, and what they look like day to day. Where something is a trade-off, it says so.
Space
31 people to the square mile.
Nothing else we work in Charlottesville is more open: of the 9 areas we hold both figures for, Nelson is the least crowded. If room is what you are buying, this end of the market is where it is.
Scale
14,775 people, as of 2020.
The 2nd smallest of the 9 Charlottesville areas we hold a count for. Fewer houses change hands here in a year, and that cuts both ways — less to choose from, less to compete with.
The line that matters
Nelson, seated at Lovingston.
In Virginia the county sets the rate, runs the school division and maintains the roads — and the lines do not follow the place names, so two houses a mile apart can sit under different rates and different schools.
No towns, real places
Nelson has no incorporated towns at all.
Every community here — Lovingston included, the county seat since 1809 — is unincorporated. Governance runs entirely through the county rather than through any town hall.
Nelson 151
Thirty-plus wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries on one road.
Route 151 through the county has become a genuine craft-beverage destination — Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton, Devils Backbone in Roseland, Veritas among them.
Camille, and what it left
A single night in 1969 killed 22 people in one village.
Hurricane Camille's remnants dropped 31 inches of rain in hours, and the flash flooding and mudslides devastated Massies Mill worst of anywhere in the county — a history still present in how the community talks about its rivers.
SchoolsNelson County Public Schools
Schools andcolleges.
A small division of four schools and about 1,500 students, served by a community college well outside the county's neighbor to the north.
Nelson County Public Schools
Two elementary schools, one middle and one high school.
Piedmont Virginia Community College
Serves Nelson. Blue Ridge Community College, despite being closer geographically, does not — its service area stops at Augusta, Highland and Rockingham counties.
Outdoors4 of them
Where theweekends go.
The first stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway and one of the East's tallest waterfalls are both here — Shenandoah National Park itself is not.
Wintergreen Resort
11,000 acres, 30-plus miles of hiking trail, 27 ski runs across five lifts.
Crabtree Falls
A 1,200-foot drop over five cascades — the tallest vertical-drop waterfall east of the Mississippi.
The Blue Ridge Parkway
Roughly its first 30 miles run through the county from Rockfish Gap.
The James River and George Washington National Forest
Form the county's southern and western edges.
On the market92 in Nelson · live
Homes on themarket now.
On the market in Nelson right now.
Live from search.hogangrp.com, refreshed hourly.
All Nelson listingsSearchsearch.hogangrp.com · Live MLS
Homes inNelson.
The search opens already filtered to Nelson — set a price and a bedroom count here and they travel with you.
See matching homes
Opens search.hogangrp.com in a new tab
Your team17 in Charlottesville
People who livewhere they sell.
The Charlottesville team covers every one of these areas.
Matthew Cathcart
Associate Broker
Stephanie Alibakhshi
REALTOR®
Ricky Applegate
REALTOR®
Justine Beckham
REALTOR®
David Blackstock
REALTOR®
Bryan Board
REALTOR®
Clayton Butler
REALTOR®
Teresa Cason
REALTOR®
Kaylie Henry
REALTOR®
Danny Hugus
REALTOR®
Danielle Krumholz
REALTOR®
Lynsie McKeown
REALTOR®
Mary Beth Moran
REALTOR®
Karen Payton
REALTOR®
Rebecca Schuster
REALTOR®
Cathy Wiggin
REALTOR®
Nearby8 more in Charlottesville
The rest ofCharlottesville.
Same team, same standard, 8 other places — nearest first.
Questions5 answered
What peopleask us.
Asked often enough by people moving to Nelson to be worth answering in writing.
Rural and outdoor-oriented, with no incorporated towns anywhere in the county. The Route 151 corridor has become a real craft-beverage destination, and Wintergreen anchors the mountain side of the county.
$0.56 per $100 of assessed value for FY2027, down from $0.65 the year before.
No — despite bordering the county and the Blue Ridge Parkway running through it, Shenandoah National Park's eight counties do not include Nelson.
Nelson County Public Schools — about 1,500 students across four schools. Piedmont Virginia Community College serves the area; Blue Ridge Community College's service area stops short at the Augusta County line.
Wintergreen Resort for skiing and hiking, Crabtree Falls for one of the East's tallest waterfalls, and the Route 151 corridor's wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries.
Sources · checked September 14, 2026
Tax rate · School division · Wintergreen · Shenandoah NP boundary · Massies Mill / Camille · Shipman · Arrington
Thinking of selling
What is your Nelson homeactually worth?
Mike Hogan founded the brokerage on knowing the county rather than the listing. Ask what that means for this street — or take a cash offer from a local investor and skip the showings entirely. Neither route commits you to the other.