Free previewStop 5 of Old Town Alexandria Walking Tour: Duke Street to the Waterfront
Two Staircases and the Man at the Door
You're on North Fairfax Street, just a block from Gadsby's, looking at the grandest house in Old Town. Notice first what it's made of. Everything around you is brick. This is stone, the only eighteenth-century stone mansion of its kind in Alexandria. Now find the front door: the arch over it, the bold keystone at the top, and the dressed stones stacked at the corners of the house.
It was built by John Carlyle, a Scottish merchant who came to Virginia to trade and stayed to help found this town. When the new lots of Alexandria were auctioned in 1749, Carlyle bought in. Two years later he started building, and by 1753 the house was finished, facing a waterfront where his ships came and went.
Here's the dry part. Town rules said houses couldn't waste space on front yards. Carlyle sat on the board of trustees that made those rules.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 5 of Old Town Alexandria Walking Tour: Duke Street to the Waterfront (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
