If a real estate agent tries to sell you a home with “attractive nuisances”—the legal term for potentially dangerous structures and features children find irresistible, like pools, ponds and swing sets—proceed with your eyes wide open. Attractive nuisances can quickly become liabilities.

For example, your real estate agent rattles off the special features of the dream house he wants to show you: it’s a two-story Colonial with landscaping that includes a tiny fountain and frog pond, and the great swing set in the backyard conveys with the sale. Oh, and your school-age kids will have lots of playmates in the neighborhood!

This property is full of attractive nuisances, and even if you have no children of your own, these features leave you liable if curious neighborhood children wander over and injure themselves.

While Virginia law limits a homeowner’s liability, your insurance rates are still greatly affected by these pretty but potentially fatal attractions. The insurance premium for a swimming pool, for example, can add an additional several hundred dollars annually to your homeowner policy.

Some attractive nuisances are obvious, like a swimming pool. But watch out for some subtler ones:

• Machinery and equipment, like tractors and riding mowers 

• Ponds and fountains, even shallow ones 

• Holes or construction zones 

• Pastures with horses or cows next to a road 

• Stairs and paths 

• Playgrounds or swing sets 

• Power lines 


The benefits of an attractive nuisance may outweigh the drawbacks for your family. Just be sure to discuss your liability coverage with your insurance agent so you are properly covered.