If These Walls Could Talk

BY MARY ANN BARTON

You can’t pack much more history into the Georgian-style brick house that stands at 210 Duke St. in Old Town Alexandria.

Built in 1787, it was a place where Dr. James Craik lived and practiced medicine (his office was located in the front of the house and he lived in the back and upstairs portion of the house).

It was also frequently visited by his good friend, George Washington. Craik was one of the few people at Washington's side when he passed away in 1799.

A smaller “flounder” house, 208 Duke St., to the left of 210 Duke St., was built in 1794 and was later added to the house. The flounder house gets its name due to its windowless side wall that takes its name from the eyeless side of a flounder fish.

In yet another historic connection, it was the residence of George Coryell, whose family owned the ferry on the Delaware River where Washington made his Christmas crossing in 1776. The crossing led to a major victory in a pivotal American Revolutionary War battle.

Through the years, Craik became friends with Washington, with Craik ultimately becoming Washington’s personal physician. Craik, a Scottish doctor, first got to know Washington in 1754, when Craik became a surgeon for the Virginia Provincial Regiment, which Washington led as a lieutenant colonel.

Fast forward 45 years. On Dec. 13, 1799, an enslaved person from Washington’s estate, Caroline Branham, was dispatched to fetch Craik at 210 Duke St., to bring him to Mount Vernon, eight miles away, to attend to the dying former president. Craik and other doctors did all they could to save Washington’s life.

Craik was one of a small group of people including Martha Washington and Tobias Lear, Washington’s personal secretary, who were in George Washington’s bedroom when he died, according to an account by Lear in the National Archives:

About ten minutes before he expired (which was between ten & eleven o’clk) h[is] breathing became easier; he lay qu[i]etly; he withdrew his hand from mine, and felt his own pulse. I saw his countenance change. I spoke to Dr Craik, who sat by the fire; he came to the bed side. The General’s hand fell from his wrist—I took it in mine and put it into my bosom. Dr Craik put his hands over his Eyes and he expired without a struggle or a sigh!

Coryell served as a bier-carrier at Washington’s funeral. (A bier is the piece of furniture underneath the casket.)

Craik lived on Duke Street until 1808 and died Feb. 6, 1814 at his mansion, Vaucluse, in what was then Fairfax County (later the West End site of Alexandria Inova Hospital). He is buried in the Old Presbyterian House cemetery, located at 321 S. Fairfax St. in Alexandria.

His Duke Street medical office and home has gone through several iterations over the centuries.

“Before a local couple bought it, it was an apartment building for many years,” said Realtor Babs Beckwith, who recently listed the five-bedroom, four-bath home for sale for just under $5 million.

The couple worked with a local architect and a renovation that began in 2004 took several years to complete, she noted. The home was renovated in consultation with the state Department of Historic

Resources in Richmond and the historic foundation in Alexandria.

The house retains its original heart pine floors, windows and eight fireplace mantels, all protected by preservation easements.

One of the more unique historic aspects of the home is a “horse alley.” “There are very few of those in Old Town,” said Beckwith. Handmade gas-lit copper lanterns, not original to the house, offer a welcoming glow 24 hours a day in the alley.

The double lot features a heated swimming pool, a garden with large magnolia and oak trees as well as roses and hydrangeas. Completing the picture for outdoor relaxing and entertaining is a Wolfe grill and outdoor furniture. The pool light, which turns on automatically each night, illuminates the surroundings.

Present-day conveniences also include two laundry rooms (one upstairs and one in the basement) three zones of air conditioning (each with its own thermostat), a steam shower in the master bath, a Lacanche stove and a pot filler located just above the gas burners and much more. The kitchen was designed by Lobkovich, a Tysons-based kitchen design firm.

One of the more enviable amenities that anyone who tries to park in Old Town will immediately recognize as priceless: Dedicated parking. Remote-controlled double gates swing open, from South Lee Street, to your own private space.

The addition to the home, 208 Duke St., where George Coryell once lived, currently serves as a home office. Above the office is part of the master bathroom suite. A stairway leads down to the office.

“I believe that this house really is a historic anchor for the entire city of Alexandria,” said Beckwith. “It’s amazing it has lived through these centuries.”

5 Bedrooms, 4 Baths, a pool, garden, horse alley, orginial heart pine floors, 8 mantels.

Offered at $4,985,000

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Saturday, September 23, 2023

Cocktails, Dinner, and Dancing along the Potomac River