People may first think of the Murray-Dick-Fawcett House on 517 Prince Street as the oldest home in Alexandria, but it isn’t exactly. Built in 1775, the Murray-Dick-Fawcett House is the oldest unaltered house in Alexandria, but not the oldest.
Learning this sent us on a quest to find out which houses really are the oldest in the City of Alexandria. These 10 homes were all built before 1800.
Ramsay House – 1695-1751
The oldest house in Alexandria is the Ramsay House, now the Alexandria Visitor Center, at 221 King St. The Ramsay house was the residence of William Ramsay, one of the Scottish merchants who founded Alexandria in 1749. It is said that the house was built in Dumfries, VA and brought to Alexandria on a barge, but some family has claimed the house was built in Alexandria. There are not records dating back far enough. The Alexandria Historical Society suspects the house was built between 1695 and 1751.
William Ramsay married Ann McCarty Ball, George Washington’s cousin. Washington and his wife frequently dinned at the Ramsay house after Sunday mass, according to The Romance of Historic Alexandria by Rev. Eugene Jackson.
Image via Library of Congress
The house was expanded throughout the years, once used as a cigar factory. Most controversial, it served as a brothel during World War II for the workers at the torpedo factory.
In 1950 the Ramsay house was in shambles as a result of a destructive fire in 1942 and deterioration from the weather. It took years finish the renovation, delayed by funding issues and proposed road projects, according to an Out of the Attic article written by the City of Alexandria and Historic Alexandria.
Although there was some disappointment that the build was renovated in the style of a Williamsburg Colonial home, not matching the historic style of Alexandria. The Ramsay house was designated as the visitor center in 1973.
It has also been reported that some friendly spirts haunt the house. HauntedHouses.com has found reports of manifestations looking out the second story windows out towards the river and even turning on the coffee pot for staff in the morning.
Carlyle House – 1753
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., is the site where Carlyle built his stone mansion.
Carlyle, one of the founders of the town, moved in on the build’s completion in 1753 and the same night his first wife, Sarah Fairfax Carlyle, gave birth to their first son, according to NOVA Parks History of the Carlyle House.
Carlyle’s house was the site of a conference between five colonial governors and the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America fighting in the French and Indian War. This conference was one of the earliest events showing tension between the colonies and Britain, as Braddock called the governors there to talk about paying for the war.
This was not the only time the Carlyle House was used for military operations. During the Civil War, Union troops high ranking officials 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 house was opened for the public in 1976 in honor of the country’s 200th birthday.
Murray-Dick-Fawcett House – 1775
The Murrary-Dick-Fawcett House is famous locally for being the oldest unaltered house in Alexandria, and possibly in all of Northern Virginia. “With roof trusses fastened with hand-wrought 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 the city.
Some notable features of the house include five chimneys, gas powered light fixtures and a bell system to call servants.
Located at 517 Prince Street, 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 the George Washington at his death.
The house was later sold to John Douglas Brown in 1816, and stayed in possession of Brown’s descendants for 184 years, according to an Out of the Attic article. During this time few alterations were made to the property. Lewis Fawcett is the descendent of Brown who opened the house in 1936 to be documented in the Historical American Buildings Survey.
The Murray-Dick-Fawcett House has been called by historians a “fascinating microcosm of the complete single-family dwelling, containing in addition to the usual living, dining and bedrooms a kitchen, a necessary, rooms for slaves or servants and storage rooms, all under one roof.”
The city gained possession of the property in 2017, and the house is occasionally open to the public during various events – pre-COVID – throughout the year.
Benjamin Dulany House – 1784/1785
This house, located at 601 Duke St., has the claim to fame that Marquis de Lafayette came to visit Alexandria in 1824 that he used this doorstep to address the town. He was staying in a house nearby, but the steps at this location were much higher.
Benjamin Dulany who built the house, was a close friend of George Washington. Dulany hosted George and Martha Washington at the residence, according to Historic Alexandria. There are copies of letters between Dulany and Washington available through the National Archives.
Other notable owners of the house included Edward Stabler who operated a town Apothecary, and a notable town attorney Robert Taylor.
Colonel Michael Swope House – 1784/1786
Colonel Michael Swope was a Revolutionary War Battalion Commander. Swope, along with almost 3000 were taken prisoner by the British on November 16, 1776 at the battle of Fort Washington.
While it is said that Swope was exchanged for New Jersey Governor William Franklin, the loyalist son of Benjamin Franklin, that's not certain. Regardless, the exchange did go through. He was not released until January 1781, according to National Archive documents. He and his family moved to Alexandria in 1784 to the property at 210 Prince St.
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 spirt was reportedly friendly, unless you were British. It appeared that Swope was still angry at the British from his time spend as a prisoner. HauntedHouses.com recounts one incident where a British woman was touring the house and the spirit of Swope prevented her from being able to enter the third floor.
“She told the realtor that she had psychic abilities, and the entity of Swope told her he didn’t like her because of her British roots and didn’t want her to buy his townhouse,” the site says.
Fairfax-Moore-Montague House – Mid-1780s
The Fairfax-Moore-Montague House was built by John Harper, a sea captain from Philadelphia. The house was built on land that was originally owned by George William Fairfax, the son of William Fairfax who acted as a land agent for his cousin Thomas Fairfax who owned the property. George William Fairfax was a friend of George Washington and arranged for him to survey the land Thomas Fairfax owned, included in this area was would become Alexandria.
Although George William Fairfax did not construct the house that now stands at 207 Prince St., his name was still associated with the property.
The property is named after Charles Beatty Moore and his wife Gay Montague Moore, who lived in the house from 1919 – 1988. Montague Moore was a historian and preservationist who preserved the house. She is credited in part for helping the historic district of Alexandria be named a National Historic Landmark in 1966, according to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
The house was commonly referred to only as the Fairfax-Moore house, as it wasn’t until 1991 that Montague Moore was directly credited for her restoration efforts. A common historic houses reference book, Historic Alexandria Virginia Street by Street, by Ethelyn Cox refers to Montague Moore as Mrs. Charles Beatty Moore.
It was when the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 that the name was changed to include Montague Moore.
Lee-Fendall House – 1785
This is one of a few homes in the area with connection to the Lee family. Now a private museum, the Lee-Fendall House sits on property once owned by Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, who went on the become governor of Virginia. Henry Lee is also the father of Robert E Lee, a Confederate general.
The land was sold to Philip Richard Fendall, another friend of Washington, who built the home at 614 Oronoco St. The house went on to have several famous residents, including John L. Lewis, “one of the most powerful and controversial labor leaders in American history,” according to the museum website.
It was after Lewis’s death in 1969 that the house was eventually purchased by the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation. It opened as a museum in 1974.
You can now visit the house and see many Lee family artifacts.
Potts-Fitzhugh House – 1795
This twin house at 609 and 607 Oronoco St. is famously know for the eastern half, 607, being Robert E. Lee’s childhood home.
Other significant residents include Ada Hitchcock LacLeish, who helped establish the United Nations.
Robert E. Lee’s childhood home was once owned by the Lee-Jackson Foundation, a Civil War preservation group, but was sold in 2000 for $2.5 million. The foundation had been unable to pay for the upkeep of the house and felt it was in best interest of the property to sell it, according to an article from the New York Times.
The house was put on the market again in 2018, and sold for $4.7 million in July, almost half the original asking price of $8.7 million.
Lloyd House - 1796
This house at 222 N Washington St. was build by John Wise and is another home with Lee family connections. Charles Lee, the brother of Henry Lee and not the same Charles Henry Lee who was a general in the Revolutionary War as referenced in Hamilton, lived here.
Charles Lee served as Attorney General under the Washington and Adams administrations. After returning to private practice he even argued on a key Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison, which instilled the Supreme Courts powers of judicial review – a check against Congress.
The house is named after the Lloyd family, who owned the property from 1833 to 1918.
In the 1940s the house was used to house female Navy reservists who worked at the torpedo factory, according to Historic Alexandria.
Like many homes on this list, the Lloyd house was in need of restoration in the 1950s. It was at one point slated for demolition, but the Historic Alexandria Foundation bought out the demolition contract. The Alexandria Historical Restoration and Preservation Commission purchased the house in 1966 and completed much of the restoration.
The Lloyd House is now home to the administrative offices of the Office of Historic Alexandria.
Correction: In the May/June print edition of Alexandria Living Magazine, the photo of the Swope house is incorrect. The correct photo is above.
