HISTORIC HOMES

Where Are Alexandria’s Oldest Homes?

BY SARA DINGMANN

Alexandria is fortunate to have many historic properties. Here are five of the oldest known historic homes in Alexandria.

PHOTO BY BETH LAWTON

Carlyle House

121 N. Fairfax St.

John Carlyle purchased the most expensive lots for sale in 1794 when Alexandria was first being formed. These lots, located between the Potomac River and Market Square at 121 N Fairfax St., are the site where Carlyle built his stone mansion.

Carlyle, one of the founders of the town, moved in on the building's completion in 1753 and the same night his first wife, Sarah Fairfax Carlyle, gave birth to their first son, according to a NOVA Parks History of the Carlyle House. During the Civil War, high-ranking Union officers lived in the house. A hotel on the property, which has since been torn down, served as a hospital.

Much like the Ramsay House, the Carlyle House was in rough shape in the mid-1900s. Restoration of the property by NOVA Parks began in 1970, and the house was opened for the public in 1976 in honor of the country’s 200th birthday.

Colonel Michael Swope House

210 Prince St.

This home at 210 Prince St. is named for Colonel Michael Swope, who was a Revolutionary War Battalion Commander. Swope, along with almost 3,000 others, was taken prisoner by the British on November 16, 1776 at the battle of Fort Washington.

Eventually released, he and his family moved to Alexandria in 1784 when construction on the house began.

The house is said to be haunted by Swope’s ghost. Stories of Swope’s appearances are chronicled in The Ghosts of Alexandria, by Michael Lee Pope. Pope documented sightings from tour guides and tales from house guests. The ghost was reportedly spotted in full Revolutionary War uniform going into the music room on the third floor, Swope’s favorite floor of the house. This spirit is reportedly friendly, unless you are British.

For more information on these plus five more homes, go to alexandrialivingmagazine.com/ home-and-garden.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA

Murray-Dick-Fawcett House

517 Prince St.

The Murrary-Dick-Fawcett House is famous locally for being the oldest unaltered house in Alexandria, and possibly in all of Northern Virginia. The house was built in three separate parts, in 1772, 1784 and 1797.

“With roof trusses fastened with handwrought nails, the original pine floor and batten doors, privies and a smokehouse, all showing the wear and tear of people living lives mostly out of the limelight of celebrity,” according to city records. Some notable features of the house include five chimneys, gas powered light fixtures and a bell system to call servants. The house is named after the first owner, a blacksmith named Patrick Murray, and a later owner, physician Elisha Cullen Dick. Dick was the doctor who saw to George Washington at his death.

The house was later sold to John Douglass Brown in 1816, and stayed in possession of Brown’s descendants for 184 years. During this time, very few alterations were made to the property. Lewis Fawcett is the descendant of Brown who opened the house in 1936 to be documented in the Historical American Buildings Survey.

Ramsay House

221 King St.

The oldest home in Alexandria is the Ramsay House located at 221 King St. which is now home to the Alexandria Visitor Center. The Ramsay house was the residence of William Ramsay, one of the Scottish merchants who founded Alexandria in 1749. The Alexandria Historical Society suspects the house was built between 1695 and 1751.

The house was expanded throughout the years, and was once used as a cigar factory. Most controversial, it served as a brothel during World War II for the workers at the torpedo factory. A destructive fire in 1942 and subsequent deterioration from the weather left the house in shambles. Eventually, the home was renovated in the style of a Williamburg Colonial home and designated as the Visitor Center in 1973.

Benjamin Dulany House

601 Duke St.

This house, located at 601 Duke St., has the claim to fame that Marquis de Lafayette used this doorstep to address the town when he visited Alexandria in 1824. He was staying in a house nearby, but the steps at this location were much higher.

Benjamin Dulany, who built the house in 1785, was a close friend of George Washington. Dulany hosted George and Martha Washington at the residence, according to Historic Alexandria.

Other notable owners of the house included Edward Stabler, who operated a town apothecary, and a notable town attorney, Robert Taylor.