Madison Village

Penn Laird, Virginia offers a slower pace of life in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Just minutes from your home in Penn Laird, you can enjoy national parks and forests, mountains, vineyards, caverns, shops, restaurants, and conveniences like plenty of job opportunities and proximity to Harrisonburg and Charlottesville. D.R. Horton offers a variety of houses for sale in Penn Laird, VA, featuring spacious, open floorplans, new appliances, and smart home technology, allowing you to settle into your new home in the Shenandoah Valley with ease.

Why live in Penn Laird, Virginia?

Penn Laird, Virginia is a great location for anyone looking for a quiet home life without sacrificing modern conveniences. Located in the Shenandoah Valley, Penn Laird and the surrounding Rockingham County offer tons of outdoor activities, like hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, and even spelunking. With just a 20-30 minute drive to major outdoor attractions like the Shenandoah National Park, George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, several caverns open to the public, and more, Penn Laird is an ideal place to live for those who love the outdoors.

As a suburb of Harrisonburg, Penn Laird also provides easy access to many shops, markets, and restaurants, so residents can choose to enjoy a peaceful day at home or a day out just a few minutes away.

Community life in Penn Laird, Virginia

Penn Laird, VA and the surrounding Rockingham County offer a peaceful, laid-back atmosphere. Residents can attend seasonal events like bike races or Oktoberfest, but the real charm of the area is found in its restaurants, breweries, farms, and wineries.

Only about five minutes from Penn Laird, the White Oak Lavender Farm is a family-owned and operated farm, winery, and brewery. Their tasting room, called Purple WOLF Vineyard, offers beer and wine flights; wine, beer, and cider by the glass; wine slushies; wine by the bottle; and cheese and crackers. The farm has plenty of ways to relax and enjoy the atmosphere, with outdoor and indoor spaces featuring fire pits, a waterfall, a dance floor, and plenty of seating. There is also a packed calendar of events like annual festivals, live music on weekends, classes, and more.

Located in the Shenandoah Valley, White Oak Lavender Farm is far from the only farm or vineyard within reach, with five other wineries, nearly 10 breweries, and two cideries in Rockingham County alone. Rockingham County is also consistently listed as the top-producing agricultural county in all of Virginia, so there are tons of farms to visit or purchase goods from. Several local farms even host seasonal events or allow you to pick your own produce.

If you’d rather visit a farmers’ market than a specific farm, there are plenty of those in the area as well. An area favorite is the Harrisonburg Farmers Market, about seven miles from Penn Laird. The market has been running since 1979, and you’ll find a wide selection of fresh produce, meat, dairy, flowers, and baked goods for sale. It’s open year-round on Saturdays, and from April through November, it also operates on Tuesdays. While in Harrisonburg, you can check out one of over 200 restaurants, visit the arboretum or planetarium, or check out a local museum before heading home.

If you’re seeking community fun that’s a bit more adventurous, you can check out the Massnutten Resort, just over 10 minutes away from Penn Laird. The mountain resort offers an indoor waterpark, ziplines, mountain biking, winter activities like skiing and sledding, a day spa, and golf. You can also enjoy free events like movie nights, karaoke, concerts, festivals, and more year-round at the resort.

Outdoor adventure in Penn Laird, Virginia

Penn Laird, Virginia offers easy access to all the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley, so you’ll never have a shortage of beautiful views or places to enjoy the outdoors. Rockingham County’s largest park is located in Penn Laird and features a playground, a one-mile walking path, four baseball or softball fields, four multi-purpose fields, and an 80,000-square-foot indoor recreation center. The indoor recreation center houses a collegiate-level track, four indoor courts, and three classrooms.

Just under 15 minutes away in Harrisonburg, Purcell Park is another popular location for play and exercise. The 67-acre park features three baseball or softball fields, three tennis courts, two pickleball courts, a walking trail, and a castle-style playground. In 2025, the playground was redesigned for maximum fun, now featuring slides, climbing equipment, hammocks, net bridges, swings, a zipline, a toddler area, and so much more. The city even considered children’s requests through drawings, incorporating play equipment that area kids wanted to see into the design.

If you’d rather dive deeper into nature, Shenandoah National Park is only about 20 minutes away. The park is approximately 200,000 acres of gorgeous wooded areas, vistas, fields, and waterfalls and straddles the Blue Ridge Mountains, a sub-range of the greater Appalachian Mountains that are known for their seemingly blue coloring. Shenandoah National Park offers just about every outdoor activity imaginable, like hiking, backcountry camping, wildlife viewing and birdwatching, fishing, horseback riding, biking, stargazing, and more. With over 500 miles of trails, you can visit the park over and over again and still experience something new. If you’re a nature-lover but not in the mood for a hike, the 105-mile Skyline Drive is famous for its stunning views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley. It runs the entire length of the national park and has 75 overlooks to stop and admire the beauty along the way.

If you’re more intrigued by the natural wonders underground, there are three popular cavern tours near Penn Laird. Just over 15 minutes away, the oldest continually operating show cave, Grand Caverns in Grottoes, VA, offers daily walking tours and spelunking adventures ranging from easy to extreme difficulty. Above ground, Grand Caverns also has over 100 acres for hiking and multiple canoe or kayak launch points. About 30 minutes from Penn Laird, Shenandoah Caverns offers hour-long, guided cavern tours. Roughly 40 minutes away, Luray Caverns in Luray, VA offers wheelchair accessible self-guided tours and guided tours that explain the caverns’ discovery. Above ground, you’ll find history exhibits, a large, half-mile garden maze, and a ropes course.

Whether you decide to enjoy the beautiful views from a hiking trail or from your own backyard in your new home in the Shenandoah Valley, Penn Laird is a great place for nature lovers.

Businesses and economics in Penn Laird, VA

As an unincorporated community, Penn Laird’s economy is largely rooted in the county as a whole. The local economy thrives on its agricultural presence, with Rockingham County consistently listed as the top-producing agricultural county in all of Virginia. However, the area’s top employers are more diverse, representing a wide range of industries such as education, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, and hospitality.

The county’s largest employers are located within 10-20 minutes of Penn Laird, making commuting to work simple. Some of the major employers and their industries include Cargill, food manufacturing; James Madison University, higher education; LSC Communications, printing manufacturing; Marshalls Distribution Center, distribution; Massanutten Resort, recreation and hospitality; Merck, pharmaceutical manufacturing; Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, food manufacturing; Sentara RMH Medical Center, healthcare; and Tenneco Automotive Inc, vehicle part manufacturing.

If you’re willing to commute a bit farther for work, Charlottesville, VA is just over an hour away, providing additional employment opportunities in industries such as healthcare, biosciences, technology, business and financial services, defense and national security, and more.

New construction homes in Penn Laird, Virginia

Penn Laird, Virginia is a great location for anyone looking for some peace and quiet, beautiful views, and modern conveniences. Browse our online listings of new homes in Penn Laird, schedule a tour, or contact us today to learn more about becoming a homeowner.