If You Lived Here
Old Town Alexandria
Season 1 Episode 3 | 28m 41sVideo has Closed Captions
Christine and John explore Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia to tour three homes.
Series hosts John Begeny and Christine Louise join realtor Susie Klein to tour three rowhouses on Alfred, Wilkes and Prince streets in the historic Virginia community. Local architect and historian Al Cox joins in to spotlight Alexandria.
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If You Lived Here is a local public television program presented by WETA
If You Lived Here
Old Town Alexandria
Season 1 Episode 3 | 28m 41sVideo has Closed Captions
Series hosts John Begeny and Christine Louise join realtor Susie Klein to tour three rowhouses on Alfred, Wilkes and Prince streets in the historic Virginia community. Local architect and historian Al Cox joins in to spotlight Alexandria.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship♪ ♪ JOHN: Hi, I'm John.
CHRISTINE: I'm, Christine.
We're producers at WETA and best friends, and we love living in the DC area.
JOHN: But finding a place to live here is tough.
CHRISTINE: Join us as we go house hunting and explore neighborhood options across the region.
JOHN: And find out what it would be like....
BOTH: If you lived here!
(doorbell).
CHRISTINE: Here we are, across from the Potomac River from Washington DC, in Historic Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia.
JOHN: Founded in 1749, just a few miles South of the nation's Capital, Old Town is DC's oldest neighborhood and considered the heart of Alexandria.
CHRISTINE: Filled with restaurants, boutiques, antique shops and museums, Old Town has something for everyone.
JOHN: And you know, Tina, the waterfront is a place for exercise, relaxation, and even transportation to and from DC.
CHRISTINE: Old Town neighborhoods feel historic, charming, and super walkable.
JOHN: And it's on those streets that we'll find our three houses.
CHRISTINE: We're going to tour 3 properties at 3 different price points.
JOHN: And try to guess the listing price without going over.
CHRISTINE: Alright, so what are we waiting for?
JOHN: Uh, let's go get our Old Town on!
CHRISTINE: Alright!
Which way should we go?
JOHN: Should we follow the signs?
CHRISTINE: I think so.
JOHN: Okay.
(doorbell).
JOHN: Hi there.
You must be Susie Klein.
SUSIE: I am.
Welcome to Old Town, Alexandria.
CHRISTINE: Thank you.
JOHN: So what makes Alexandria so special, Susie?
SUSIE: I love Old Town because it's so charming and it's so walkable, but it's also a great place to live because it's a very easy commute into DC.
John When was this house built?
Susie Well, this house will be considered a new house.
It was built in 1984.
JOHN: That is new for Old Town.
SUSIE: It is, I think you're really gonna like it.
CHRISTINE: Can we take a look?
JOHN: Let's take a look!
CHRISTINE: Okay... JOHN: All right.
First stop in the Old Town.
This is nice.
CHRISTINE: The whole room is just so welcoming.
You just want to sit down and relax.
JOHN: It's not just like a shotgun box.
This kind of pops out at you because of the angle.
And it adds dimension to this room.
Very nice.
CHRISTINE: So dining area.
JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: And you know what I love is that your eye is just drawn to that wonderful garden space.
JOHN: That garden looks beautiful.
CHRISTINE: It does.
It does, but I have to point out this extra additional cabinet storage.
JOHN: We love storage!
CHRISTINE: We do love storage.
JOHN: Oh, this is so nice.
CHRISTINE: Oh, spaces like this are really kind of hard to come by.
JOHN: But you know, it's what everybody wants when you move to Old Town.
This is like turnkey garden, right?
You move into this home, you don't have to do anything.
The current owner has done like just a perfect job.
CHRISTINE: You know, you have a very spacious kitchen area.
JOHN: Nicely redone, new cabinetry.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, and you know what?
The style of the cabinets and the poles reminds me of that real farmhouse look.
Right now, it's really super popular, but I have to point out, I love the penny tile.
JOHN: Nice addition.
And this is... CHRISTINE: Oh, it's a nice little powder room.
JOHN: Powder room.
And upstairs we go!
CHRISTINE: Sounds good.
JOHN: All righty.
Looks like bedroom Number one, or office number one.
CHRISTINE: Right, also an exercise room, which I think is genius because you're sitting here and you're riding your bike and exercising next to this window.
And you know, with all those little birds, like your little cheering section.
JOHN: "You can do it, Tina."
CHRISTINE: Okay.
So we have a full bath.
JOHN: So we're up to one and a half baths here.
Very nice.
Oh, and I love this skylight.
CHRISTINE: I didn't even notice that.
It was right when I walked in, but you always notice those things.
JOHN: Did you think it was my personality?
CHRISTINE: Always!
JOHN: All right, let's go to bedroom number two.
This is the owner's bedroom.
All right.
Well, really nice serene space right?
CHRISTINE: Nice layout in this room.
JOHN: And I usually don't comment on decorations in the house, but I love this wallpaper.
CHRISTINE: Actually, That's not wallpaper.
This is hand stenciled.
JOHN: That is so cool!
CHRISTINE: It is so well done.
It is really hard to tell.
JOHN: Look behind you, there's a cool storage there.
CHRISTINE: Probably linen closet.
Oh my gosh.
Look, it's shoes!
JOHN: Shoe storage!
CHRISTINE: Now this, this is a little find!
JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: More shoe storage!
JOHN: Okay.
CHRISTINE: Okay I'm sold.
JOHN: All right.
Into the owner's bathroom.
Very nice.
CHRISTINE: What I absolutely love is the floor to ceiling tile.
JOHN: Me too.
It's dramatic.
Big shower, marble vanity.
Well, this was a charmer.
CHRISTINE: It was a Charmer.
JOHN: This is the first eighties home I've seen in Old Town.
CHRISTINE: Ya know, I think we focus so much on... JOHN: Ye Old Town homes, Right?
CHRISTINE: Yeah, Historic.
More historic homes.
JOHN: Ah, here is Susie in the back.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
JOHN: Well, Susie Klein, this was a great place to start.
SUSIE: I'm glad you liked it.
What was your favorite part?
JOHN: Uh, we're standing in it.
So I definitely love these walled gardens, the one in front and this one, we're here in a bustling part of Old Town, but it's a little haven, right?
And I love just walking into the house and the visual interests of the fireplace and the way it's positioned.
It just was very unique.
CHRISTINE: Okay, so I did like the remodeled bathrooms and the kitchen as well, but can I give a shout out for what my favorite feature was?
JOHN: I know what that would be.
CHRISTINE: It was the shoe closet!
JOHN: Shocking!
CHRISTINE: I guess cause it was unexpected and you can never have enough room for shoes.
So I'm going to put a little star beside that one.
JOHN: So why don't you run through the stats of the house for us?
SUSIE: So this home has two bedrooms and two and a half baths.
It's a newer home because it was built in 1984.
Has 1,260 square feet.
And everything's been remodeled.
One thing I haven't mentioned is that also comes with a parking spot.
CHRISTINE: Okay, well that's always a plus here in Old Town.
JOHN: Absolutely.
SUSIE: So are you ready to guess the price?
JOHN: I am ready to guess.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
So now remember whoever comes closest is a winner, but whoever goes over, isn't.
JOHN: All right.
You know, I'm a little familiar with the area.
So I am going to just cut to the chase Susie, and I'm going to make a guess of 725,000.
CHRISTINE: That's what I was going to guess!
JOHN: Great minds think alike.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
I'm going to go just a little bit lower so I don't go over.
So I'm going to go in at 699,000.
SUSIE: The actual list price is 748,900.
CHRISTINE: Okay, congratulations.
JOHN: This is a really fabulous place, Susie.
SUSIE: It is fabulous, but just wait till you see the next two.
I've got some very special homes to show you.
JOHN: We're looking forward to it!
I'll tell you what, how about if we meet you at the next place, because we're going to go hit the streets of Old Town and explore.
CHRISTINE: Great.
SUSIE: I'll meet you over there.
JOHN: We can go shopping.
We can get lunch.
CHRISTINE: You can buy me coffee.
JOHN: We can go for a walk by the water.
CHRISTINE: You and I both love Queen Street here in Old Town.
This is my most favorite block in the city because I love these row houses.
JOHN: Me too, It's like out of a painting.
CHRISTINE: It is!
but you know, the row houses, you know, they're all pretty similar and they're all pretty much kind of cookie cutter.
They did that because for the builder, it was just easy to build.
JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: And at the time when a lot of people were coming in, that's a quick way to get a home up.
JOHN: And looking up at all these homes, they have one thing in common.
CHRISTINE: They all have their historic plaques on them.
JOHN: Rightfully so.
CHRISTINE: Well, I mean, the history goes back so deep in this town.
AL: Alexandria is a mercantile town.
Everything about this town was practical.
One of the things that as an architect, I really love about Old Town is the diversity of the houses.
architecture shows the economic diversity of the city because you have large three story houses next to two story houses that would have been very modest at the time.
You'll see houses that have larger panes of glass.
Larger panes of glass were more expensive.
So buildings were always mixed use here.
It wasn't until later 20th century that everything became single use.
So this is such a terrific example of what obviously was a grocery store.
In fact, you can see the ghost sign painted still on the second floor.
You can see where windows were closed up and the large glass windows on the front.
people would have sold out of the first floor.
they would have lived on the second floor and the attic could be used for additional warehouse and storage space.
One of the things that the board of architectural review has asked people to preserve in these buildings is that patina of age.
It's what gives the town, its character.
The Japanese have a term for that.
It's called Wabi Sabi.
and the character of that natural material, the cracks in the grain, the way it shows that's not a brand new building that's been there awhile.
and the spirit of that building has stories to tell about who lived there and what the building was used for before... And what it's used for today.
Alexandria is not a museum, but in fact, it's a living, breathing town.
As an architect, living and working here, it's like being a kid in a candy store.
You can't turn around without seeing another beautiful house.
So no matter what your personal taste is, you can find something you like.
(doorbell).
CHRISTINE: Such a great neighborhood.
JOHN: Susie.
CHRISTINE: Hey Susie.
SUSIE: Hi, John And Christine!
Glad you made it.
JOHN: To house number two in a very familiar neighborhood to me.
I used to live here many years ago.
Just, like, the best.
It's very quiet.
South side of Alexandria.
And my favorite thing was like walking to King Street to meet friends for dinner.
And there's not one bad route.
Everything is, it's just a lovely walk every time.
CHRISTINE: Well, the minute you walked through the gate, this home is so cute and inviting.
JOHN: Adorable, yeah.
SUSIE: Can't wait to hear what you think!
JOHN: Okay, Susie.
It's got this great little Crepe Myrtle here too.
BOTH: Oh, wow.
JOHN: What an entry.
CHRISTINE: I was not expecting this at all.
JOHN: So smart.
Look at this.
Look up.
CHRISTINE: Oh my gosh.
Wow, does that open the space up.
JOHN: What a great entry.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And the whole floor.
CHRISTINE: Nice seating area.
Oh, and I love the dining table there.
JOHN: This house is adorable.
Look at this spiral staircase, how cool is this?
Hello?
Wow this was like custom built.
CHRISTINE: It's a great space saver, that's for sure.
JOHN: And it looks good, too!
I don't know if that's for everybody.
And... CHRISTINE: Okay.
So we have a half bath here.
JOHN: Half bath, Nice.
I love the tile.
It's like 1970.
CHRISTINE: I do like that.
Okay.
Nice kitchen.
JOHN: Oh, my gosh.
CHRISTINE: You got the subway tile, the glass... JOHN: Those quartz countertops are beautiful.
CHRISTINE: You know, another feature I have to point out are these cherry cabinets.
Cause you know, my family, we were in the lumber business.
JOHN: Oh yeah.
CHRISTINE: And I would save all these pieces with these really neat imperfections.
And I would hide those pieces from my dad because I wanted to save them for my own project.
I'm so glad that they use them in here because these really make these cabinets one of a kind.
JOHN: Yeah, oh, one more thing on this other side, I love this coffee station too.
CHRISTINE: They thought of every little use that they use.
They have a spot for it.
JOHN: And then this, Oh my gosh.
Look at this.
CHRISTINE: Oh what an amazing space!
JOHN: Oh, okay.
I'll take it.
This is like everybody's dream in Old Town to have.
CHRISTINE: In Old Town.
I think it's, everybody's dream to have a space like this.
JOHN: Very nice.
Oh my God.
Look up!
CHRISTINE: You know, with those balconies and this outdoor space, it actually feels like you're in France.
JOHN: Well, double French doors, you know.
CHRISTINE: That's right.
JOHN: It's very French.
The doors.
CHRISTINE: Hey, let's go try that spiral staircase and go Check out the next level.
JOHN: Oh Man.
CHRISTINE: Hey John, you know what?
JOHN: what?
CHRISTINE: If You lived here, You wouldn't need a stair master.
JOHN: If I lived here, I'd put an elevator in.
CHRISTINE: But you know what, what you have is well worth coming up to see this room.
JOHN: Yeah how open this is.
CHRISTINE: This is great.
JOHN: That was so smart.
CHRISTINE: You just walk up to great views, bright light.
And this is a great room with a fireplace.
JOHN: Another fireplace, great place for an office.
Obviously what they're using it for now.
CHRISTINE: Office, the sitting room.
JOHN: Yeah.
Storage.
And we have a full bathroom.
CHRISTINE: That's nice.
JOHN: Nice, the beams, look up.
This is the 'look up house' CHRISTINE: I know, I have to keep looking up.
Keep noticing cause it's only going to help me in my price listing.
JOHN: Look at this room.
Oh my Gosh.
CHRISTINE: Now this is what I envisioned for Old Town.
This room is like the quintessential checklist.
So you have exposed beams...
BOTH: Check.
CHRISTINE: Exposed brick...
BOTH: Check.
CHRISTINE: Built-ins... JOHN: Check, check.
CHRISTINE: And French doors... JOHN: French doors overlooking that gorgeous... CHRISTINE: Overlooking that gorgeous courtyard, yeah, so that gets like a triple check.
JOHN: I love this house.
CHRISTINE: I do too.
JOHN: I'm serious.
CHRISTINE: I love this room.
This is my room.
JOHN: Okay.
That's fine.
But we haven't seen what's upstairs yet.
CHRISTINE: Alright, next level.
Okay, let's see The bath.
So this must be like the owner's suite floor, right?
JOHN: Suite floor.
CHRISTINE: Yeah it... JOHN: I called it!
CHRISTINE: Exposed brick, light and bright.
And look at... JOHN: No, Look up.
Look at these crazy skylights.
CHRISTINE: I'm gonna have to walk into every room now and just look up.
JOHN: It is such a cool feature.
CHRISTINE: I actually thought there was a physical light turned on because it was so well... JOHN: well, it is a physical light.
It's called the sun.
CHRISTINE: Okay, thank you, ha-ha, very funny.
JOHN: What a great space with this exposed brick, once again.
CHRISTINE: Fireplace.
JOHN: And they put in these armoires here and there just right.
They look like they belong here.
CHRISTINE: But there's also one item yet to check out on our checklist.
JOHN: Oh yes.
The grand view of the courtyard.
And look, here's Susie.
Hold on.
Hey there!
SUSIE: Hey John!
JOHN: Well, I think I've seen enough to win the game, so we'll be down in just a minute.
SUSIE: Come on down.
CHRISTINE: He's not going to win.
Okay, you ready to do the spiral staircase one more time?
JOHN: Yes ma'am.
CHRISTINE: I've got my number.
Let's go talk with Susie.
JOHN: I've got my number.
There she is.
Susie.
CHRISTINE: Hello again.
JOHN: This is an adorable house.
We're going to call this the "Jewel Box".
CHRISTINE: So what were your favorite parts?
JOHN: Definitely the entry.
From the moment we walked through the door, we were like, wow, look up, you know, look how they blew this floor out.
CHRISTINE: And you're down to the tiny details.
I love like the little hardware and the doors to make it look like was back from the 17th, 18th centuries.
But I was wowed by the back here.
I love an outdoor space.
So I would have to say this whole area is my favorite, but can I throw a nod to those cherry cabinets?
JOHN: Very unique.
Not your run of the mill.
CHRISTINE: No, no.
JOHN: Get it, Run of the mill, cause?
CHRISTINE: Clever, clever.
SUSIE: You have any questions?
CHRISTINE: So what's the parking situation?
SUSIE: So this home is street parking only.
CHRISTINE: And how about the Metro?
SUSIE: So the Metro is probably about a mile away, which is walkable, CHRISTINE: That's not too bad.
Unless it's a hot day like today.
JOHN: Yeah, you're not gonna wanna walk a mile.
Can you hitch?
SUSIE: You can hitch a ride!
You can walk over to King Street and ride the free trolley.
JOHN: Right!
Okay.
We'll take that.
SUSIE: So this is our a mid-level home in Old Town.
We've got two bedrooms, two and a half bath.
Everything's been updated.
JOHN: That's for sure.
SUSIE: Three levels of living.
It's a little under 1400 square feet at 1392.
JOHN: It seems a lot bigger.
SUSIE: Well, especially with this beautiful outdoor space, it's almost like having another living room.
JOHN: Why don't I go first this time since, uh.
I know a little bit about the neighborhood.
Um, I love, like I said, everything about this place.
If there's one little thing that would make me adjust my price is the staircase.
It's not for everybody.
So, that in mind, I'm going to give a semi-educated guess of... $805,000.
SUSIE: Christine.
CHRISTINE: I agree with you on the spiral staircase.
JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: But this one really did have a lot of wow factors.
So I'm going to go higher.
JOHN: Okay.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
So I'm going to go, um, I'm going to go with $825,000.
JOHN: Okay.
SUSIE: So the rules of the game are whoever gets the closest without going over.
so I have to say, sorry, John.
Christine is closest.
CHRISTINE: Yes, yes.
So what's the listing price?
SUSIE: Listing price is 849,000.
CHRISTINE: Oh my gosh.
I was originally going to say 850,000.
JOHN: Well, you would have gone over.
CHRISTINE: Slightly, slightly, but it would have been right on target.
JOHN: Well, it's good that you revised.
So congratulations.
SUSIE: Those are both great guesses.
but you need to know the market in Old Town under $1 million goes really fast.
This house will sell in four or five days.
So that really can drive the price up.
CHRISTINE: Well, it is a spectacular home and I'm not surprised that it will sell in just a matter of days.
JOHN: Yeah, this is a dream house.
It's great.
SUSIE: Well you've got one more chance.
JOHN: One more chance house number three.
SUSIE: Yep.
We're going to head over to Prince Street and it is spectacular.
You're going to love it.
CHRISTINE: How about we meet you there?
SUSIE: All right.
JOHN: Thank you.
You know, when you live in Old Town, it's all about the outdoors.
And Tina and I cannot let a beautiful day like this go by without a walk down by the waterfront.
Talk about a glorious day in Old Town.
CHRISTINE: Oh, do you hear the kids playing, and the families?
You know, we see so many bikers and walkers.
You know, looking at these buildings now, it's really hard to imagine that it wasn't all that long ago, that this was an area that was really run down.
And we've talked to a lot of people over the years, who've lived here and they said it was a lot of abandoned warehouses.
And this was an area that you didn't come down to.
JOHN: Oh no.
Right here on Union Street There was train tracks that ran the whole length.
CHRISTINE: Right.
Well, because there was a lot of industry down here at one time.
JOHN: Sure enough.
CHRISTINE: You know, you really get a good image of Alexandria's history.
You have the old warehouse from the industrial period, and then you have these historical homes, JOHN: These gorgeous homes on Captains Row.
CHRISTINE: You know, this is Captain's Row for a reason because a lot of the ship captains had their homes here because it was so easy to get to the water front.
JOHN: You're just a block away.
CHRISTINE: You are.
JOHN: This is a great block, but we're also headed towards Gentry Row.
CHRISTINE: And we are going to be looking at a home there.
So you know, it is going to be spectacular.
JOHN: Well, almost time to meet Susie.
CHRISTINE: Mmm-hmm.
Shall we go?
(doorbell) JOHN: Hey, Susie, CHRISTINE: Hey Susie, SUSIE: Hey, you made it!
Welcome to Prince Street.
JOHN: We just had a nice stroll up Captains Row down from the water.
So I think we should say 'ahoy' to you today.
CHRISTINE: I think so.
And I, I have to say, I am so excited to see the inside of this home.
We're history buffs, and we just love this area.
JOHN: More like history nerds.
CHRISTINE: Pretty much.
To be able to peek inside one of these homes is such a treat.
SUSIE: Being such history buffs, you really need to check out the portrait in the dining room.
It's of Mordecai Miller.
He was the second resident of the home.
JOHN: We certainly will!
CHRISTINE: Because we're going to explore every nook and cranny of this home because we don't get many opportunities like this.
JOHN: So let's do it.
CHRISTINE: Let's do it.
Hey Susie, this might take a while.
JOHN: Come back next Tuesday.
CHRISTINE: Oh, this is a lovely room to greet guests.
JOHN: Yes.
And look, there's a little hat stand from my... CHRISTINE: Perfect place to hang your hat.
JOHN: Wow.
Very nice entry room.
CHRISTINE: I say Let's start the tour right through this archway.
JOHN: That archway is fantastic.
CHRISTINE: Oh wow.
This dining room is spectacular.
JOHN: Yeah, very dramatic.
CHRISTINE: I love the chandelier.
It's gorgeous.
And here's our friend Mordecai.
JOHN: Ah yes, our old friend Mordecai Miller.
Gentlemen of the house.
Hello Mordecai.
That's really nice.
CHRISTINE: So, really, really stunning dining room.
JOHN: On to the next room, it's a doozy.
CHRISTINE: Wow.
JOHN: Hello, dream kitchen.
My goodness.
CHRISTINE: This is a dream kitchen and I don't even cook.
And it's a dream kitchen.
JOHN: Where do we start?
CHRISTINE: The cabinets, the cabinet space in this kitchen is phenomenal.
And look at this stove.
JOHN: A Thermador.
CHRISTINE: Wow.
JOHN: Six burner stove.
CHRISTINE: Oh my gosh.
This table.
JOHN: And the great skylight above.
CHRISTINE: Oh, and there's two skylights, but the light coming in, look at this patio.
I mean, your eye is just drawn the whole way down.
JOHN: This is an entertainer space for sure.
CHRISTINE: Oh it is.
JOHN: And You have a fireplace.
And then you have a TV, which it seems like, well, it's culinary school for you.
CHRISTINE: Well, it is since you know, I'm not the best cook in the world.
I can just sit here and watch a cooking show and try to make something.
JOHN: That would be amazing.
CHRISTINE: It might even be edible.
BOTH: I doubt it.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
So I need to find the most important appliance, cause I call it the hidden dishwasher.
Well, I know this is the fridge.
JOHN: Yeah, but that's pretty much a hidden fridge.
CHRISTINE: It is.
It is.
It's gorgeous with the panels, but I need to find the hidden dishwasher.
Cause you know, I've got to have a dishwasher.
JOHN: What do you mean, You don't do dishes CHRISTINE: But that's why I have to find this dish washer.
It's hidden, it's hidden so well, JOHN: That's a drawer.
It's gotta be gotta be uh, well, uh, CHRISTINE: Voila!
okay.
The kitchen is complete now that I've found the dishwasher, I can spend all day watching TV, eating, and then you can do the cooking.
JOHN: This is the heart of the home.
And uh, this is where I would live all the time.
CHRISTINE: I can't wait to check out the downstairs.
JOHN: Let's do it!
going down through my favorite part of the house is beautiful stairwell with this dramatic wallpaper and the skylight.
And Wow.
Look at these floors.
CHRISTINE: I bet these floors are original to the home.
JOHN: Oh yeah, for sure.
CHRISTINE: And it goes on.
JOHN: And on.
CHRISTINE: And on.
JOHN: It's a lot of storage.
CHRISTINE: It is.
If the downstairs looks this great.
I cannot wait to see the rest of it.
JOHN: What does that look like?
CHRISTINE: Let's go take a look.
Okay, so let's go upstairs.
Oh this is a cute room.
JOHN: Yeah, not big, but cute.
CHRISTINE: And you know, I love the white accents with the rafters.
JOHN: Yeah me too.
CHRISTINE: But look at this patio space.
JOHN: Shining star.
CHRISTINE: This is amazing.
JOHN: Talk about it, yeah, another great living space.
You can just chill out up here, CHRISTINE: But you know what I love even more?
Cause you know, I love my gardening.
JOHN: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: You can have these gorgeous baskets and then you overlook the beautiful garden down JOHN: And you can play putt-putt at the same time.
CHRISTINE: We could!
This garden, this patio space is absolutely stunning.
JOHN: Yeah.
But I think we have seven more levels to check out.
CHRISTINE: Oh boy, let's go back in the house.
Okay.
The tour continues.
JOHN: Yeah.
But take a look at this...
This is actually where the original part of the house would have ended.
And this was all the addition that was put on later.
So we're about to go into the original property.
CHRISTINE: They did a great job of combining the new with the old it blends right in.
Wow.
Look at the shower.
JOHN: Very nice.
CHRISTINE: Very nice finishes.
Huge, nice size.
But look at this soaking tub.
JOHN: Wow.
CHRISTINE: Oh that is nice.
You can soak in there all day.
JOHN: Yes.
Mix the old with the new, this bathroom has everything.
Oh my gosh.
CHRISTINE: It does have everything.
JOHN: It has a fireplace!
JOHN: Okay.
Well, before we tackle the next set of stairs in this beautiful house, let's check out the owner's suite here.
Front of the house gets really great exposure.
CHRISTINE: It does, it does.
JOHN: And look at those windows.
They are stunning.
Very lookout with the glasses.
CHRISTINE: Oh, it's just another great room.
JOHN: Well, shall we go onward and upward?
CHRISTINE: Let's continue.
Okay.
JOHN: Oh, I made it to the top.
I made it to the top of the house.
CHRISTINE: Another bedroom.
JOHN: It's just as big as the one downstairs.
It has another fireplace.
CHRISTINE: I know you love that!
JOHN: And it's got these great transom too.
CHRISTINE: Okay, oh how cute.
You know, when we told Susie, we were going to look at every nook and cranny in this house, it's because they've utilized every space in this house.
JOHN: Every nook... CHRISTINE: And cranny.
JOHN: Yes ma'am.
CHRISTINE: Let's continue.
Oh, and another cute room.
JOHN: Oh you've got to be kidding me.
There cannot be another staircase in this house.
CHRISTINE: Come on.
Let's do it.
JOHN: No, no, you go.
CHRISTINE: We've gone this far.
Let's go.
JOHN: Alright, alright, one more floor.
But if there's another floor above that then we're... CHRISTINE: That's it.
See, I told you it'd be worth it.
JOHN: Yeah, there are no more stairs that go up, so it's perfect.
Oh, this is so nice.
What a Room.
CHRISTINE: Oh, it's great.
JOHN: I love the beams.
CHRISTINE: And I know these are part of historical homes here in Alexandria.
JOHN: Yeah.
Very typical for the top level.
CHRISTINE: You know it's nice cause you don't bump your head.
JOHN: No, no.
This is great room.
This would be my room.
I call it.
CHRISTINE: That's fine.
Do you have a price point in mind?
JOHN: I do have a price point in mind.
CHRISTINE: I bet I have the right one.
JOHN: I bet I do too.
CHRISTINE: I bet you don't.
JOHN: I bet you're wrong.
CHRISTINE: Keep going.
Wow.
What a great house.
Do you think Susie still out there?
JOHN: I certainly hope so.
Hey, wait a second.
It felt like something just grabbed my arm, it's so bizarre.
CHRISTINE: I think it's time to go.
JOHN: That's weird.
CHRISTINE: Hey Susie.
SUSIE: Hi!
JOHN: Hey Susie.
Wow.
That house.
SUSIE: Yeah, what'd you think?
CHRISTINE: So, I would have to say, my favorite part of the whole house is that they took all the historical features and put in modern features that really made it a nice blend.
JOHN: Yeah.
The kitchen is a wow.
I love the skylight over the staircase downstairs.
It's just a beautiful, beautiful room, but the whole house is great.
CHRISTINE: The whole house is wonderful.
I mean, we really could go on and on and I'm sure we miss things.
We'll take it.
SUSIE: Let's remember the house is four levels, four bedrooms, three and a half baths with two outdoor living spaces.
And then there's two more details I didn't let you know about.
The first is that the portrait of Mordecai comes with the house.
JOHN: Oh that makes it sweet.
SUSIE: And the second is that the owners are throwing in two years of parking at the garage around the corner.
JOHN: That's also very nice.
CHRISTINE: That does change things for me.
JOHN: It does.
CHRISTINE: The painting and the parking spot.
JOHN: Okay, I am going to make a guess of $2.2 million SUSIE: Christine?
CHRISTINE: Um, I think that's a good guess, but I'm thinking you're, you're a little high.
I'm going to go with 1.8 million.
SUZIE: Well, since the rules are that you can't go over, Christine, you're the winner on this one.
CHRISTINE: Yes, yes!
Thank you.
Thank you.
JOHN: Congratulations.
CHRISTINE: Thank you.
SUSIE: The list price is $1,995,000.
CHRISTINE: Let me bask in this glory.
So Susie, anything else you want to show us?
SUSIE: Yes, there is a great restaurant right around the corner with amazing tacos, let's go!
CHRISTINE: Great!
JOHN: We're in.
CHRISTINE: Since John lost his treat.
JOHN: Congratulations, Tina.
CHRISTINE: Thank you.
you know, you just have to get better at your pricing.
WOMAN: If you lived here in Old Town.
Well, one we'd love to have you.
CHILD: Hello!
WOMAN: You'd probably be on your bike, running, enjoying all the food, but mostly... CHILD: Hello, don't mind me!
WOMAN 2: So if you lived in Old Town, you would know that Misha's Coffee Shop is really good.
It's very popular, especially on weekends.
AL: If you lived here, you would soon discover there's not one thing that's special about Alexandria, there are dozens and dozens of things.
People are engaged here.
It's a real community.
JOHN: All right, well walking down the street, it makes me want to get a big cup of ice cream.
CHRISTINE: I might grab a burger while I'm here.
JOHN: Hey, how about an iced coffee?
CHRISTINE: That sounds good.
NARRATOR: To find out more about living in the Washington Metro area, visit weta.org/ifyoulivedhere.
(ribbit)
The History of Alexandria is Written on Every Building
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S1 Ep3 | 2m 26s | The details of Alexandria’s meticulously preserved rowhouses have stories to tell. (2m 26s)
Modern Elegance in a House as Old as the Constitution
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S1 Ep3 | 8m 38s | This 4-bedroom in Old Town perfectly blends historic touches with contemporary amenities. (8m 38s)
Old Town Charm Meets European Flavor
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S1 Ep3 | 7m | An Old Town rowhome that takes full advantage of its small footprint. (7m)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S1 Ep3 | 4m 49s | Christine and John love the "turnkey" garden in this Alexandria 2-bedroom. (4m 49s)
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