Recently I took the Architectural Walking Tour of Alexandria, and for the first time I have to express some reservations about a local activity. From arrival in the city to the extent of information, I found the experience lackluster. Some people, however, enjoyed the "Haunted House Tour" of Alexandria, which I thought was more sensationalized than interesting, so I will sort out some facts for the reader in hopes that s/he enjoys the Architectural Tour more than I did.
Arrival in Old Town Alexandria
First of all, as any local knows, parking is difficult in Old Town, particularly with so many tourists around. The Lyceum Visitor Center, on South Washington Street, has very limited free parking. Otherwise there is street parking which is typically either metered or free for up to 3 hours; or garage parking. I managed to park in the Lyceum Visitor Center (
http://oha.alexandriava.gov/lyceum/)
After parking my first stop was the Alexandria Visitor Center, to discover tour times and other information. Although the staff was very nice, they are definitely more equipped to handle out of town visitors than residents. The employee in charge knew more about the ghosts that were "bothering her" in the Visitor's Center for "not mentioning them to people" than she did about some of the additional tours I wanted to take of my home town. So my first advice for locals is to skip that stop unless you're looking for a particular map. You can just show up for any tour outside the Visitors Center at designated times. To find out scheduled tour times, just call them at (703) 838-4200. Although I was handed the Architectural Walking Tour narrative, I was not told when the tour would leave. I figured I had all the information a guide would have in my hands, so I went out on my own.
The Tour
The first building of this tour was the Friendship Firehouse, which was built in 1774. Now a museum, the building itself looks brand new. It has "1774" in two places on the exterior. The guide would tell you that the original firehouse burned down and was rebuilt in 1855.
The next buildings on the tour are houses currently occupied by Alexandria city residents. According to the tour, they are built in Federal style in 1803. Perhaps they are among the best conserved homes from that era, which is why they are on the tour, but to me they resembled many other homes in Old Town. Just a few houses up, you see two townhouses that are mirror images of each other and painted in a different color. they were built in 1895, and are higher and wider than the first two homes seen. The architectural style of these townhouses is Romaesque.
Alexandria was having a house & garden tour the same day I went through my own tour. In fact, I meant to get a ticket but the event information was not specific enough to indicate that it is for one day only, and went from 10AM - 4 PM. However, the next house on my tour, one of Italiante style, was also on the home & garden tour. It was built in 1855 and is quite large. Just across the street from this house is one of supposedly the same architectural style, although it looked quite different to me. This house was also on the house & garden tour, and is made of all brick and the shutters are painted in a brick color. It was built just five years earlier than the other Italiante house, by a Rector.
I strolled by a couple of buildings mentioned in the tour without finding them very interesting, and looked next at a Queen Anne style house. This house gave a sense of authority. It had a very formal appearance, with a front gate and walkway going through a tidy front yard to the front door. One of the early 19th century owners was a local businessman. Although no more information is given about the businessman, you get the clear sense that he wanted his house to impress his neighbors.
Across the street from this house is a gorgeous house that the tour says went through a variety of owners from 1803-1870, who used different styles for various parts of the house. Also, the house was used for many different purposes before it returned to its use of being a home, as it is now for local Alexandrians.
By this time, I was getting tired and frustrated by wanting to see the inside and knowing more about who built the homes, so I decided to see just a few more homes. I followed the street I was on to a pair of Italiante homes which the tour presents together because of their similarity. I noticed, however, that one was twice as wide as the other, and the wider one also had a small faux balcony over the front door. It made me wonder about who owned each house, and how the income disparity for home owners of such similar homes played out in their day-to-day lives.
The last house brought the diversity of the 19th century city to mind because it was a farmhouse dating back to 1775.
(Tour information collected by http://oha.alexandriava.gov/archaeology/)
I stopped after that house, because the information received on the tour seemed very light to me, and it involved a lot of walking. It really made me wonder more about the interiors of the homes, the lifestyle of the original owners, and the city life of Alexandria. But, you could only see certain interiors on the one day of the home & garden tour, if you paid for a ticket, and the tour certainly doesn't provide much historical information.
For the curious, I'd say skip this tour. For the idle tourist who wants something to do and just ate a lot, go for it! Alexandria has a lot more to offer, so stay tuned for blogs of more impressive things to see.
First of all, these home have owners who hired both architects and decorators. The architects are hired to make the most of very little space, so you will see homes in which two small rooms are combined for one big parlor, a home with a small balcony to provide a study or music room, and many extensions onto the back of the house for something like a bigger kitchen. You can believe that the decorators are real professionals, tying together furniture, artwork, and carpeting from different European countries and various centuries past.
Delicious Tea Afterwards
