Located in McLean, Northern Virginia, the Marie Butler Leven Preserve protects a wooded landscape and provides visitors with trails through forested areas, meadows and ravines. Stepping onto the narrow dirt paths of this leafy retreat, visitors hear oak leaves rustling, pollinators humming, and native birds singing as the trails descend from the Kirby Road entrance through wooded ravines, meadows and mature tree canopies. It is a setting suited to slow afternoon strolls and quiet reflection, with a backstory that helped preserve a piece of regional forest from development.
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The Marie Butler Leven Preserve Master Plan , prepared by the Fairfax County Park Authority, outlines the preserve's history and preservation guidelines. According to the official record, the property was originally a private estate known as Anoria, owned by economist Maurice J. Leven. When Leven died in 1962, his will devised the estate to the Fairfax County Park Authority on the condition that it be used exclusively as an arboretum and nature preserve, named the Marie Butler Leven Preserve, and operated for the benefit of the general public as an educational and demonstration project.
A legal gift designed to protect native flora
Leven’s bequest included conditions governing how the property could be developed and used, reflecting his intention that the estate remain an arboretum and nature preserve for public benefit. The master plan also notes a reversion clause in Leven’s will: if the conditions attached to the gift were not followed, the property could revert to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. These legal conditions gave the 1962 transfer a defined public purpose and established what would happen if that purpose was not maintained.
The Fairfax County Park Authority’s master plan describes the preserve as occupying the slope of a roughly 90-foot hill and identifies mature trees and wooded areas among its natural features. Over the years, the Fairfax County Park Authority and Earth Sangha, a local volunteer organisation focused on environmental restoration, have worked together to support the preserve’s ecological goals and regional plant conservation. Together, they maintain a native plant nursery, while labelled trees across the property help visitors learn about native flora.
A peaceful suburban retreat for mindful living
For residents, the preserve offers a quiet place to enjoy the changing seasons, from spring wildflowers to summer shade and autumn colour. The dirt footpaths pass historic stone ruins, open pastures and ravines near streams, and connect to the broader regional trail network, including the Pimmit Run Trail.
The management plan calls for controlling invasive species, maintaining native vegetation and managing trails to protect the property’s natural character. According to the master plan, the management approach is intended to protect the habitat while allowing public access. The preserve still reflects the purpose of Leven’s 1962 bequest: to protect the property as a public arboretum and nature preserve.
