Once home to an Irish whiskey merchant, a 19th century town house in Old Town Alexandria now provides the perfect showcase for Barbara Fox Mason’s eclectic collection of antiques.
Although Old Town is one of the best antiquing destinations in the area, many of Mason’s pieces were purchased in New Hampshire and other parts of New England, where the Newton, Mass., native began collecting as a college student.
“When I was growing up my mother loved new furniture. Everything was brass and glass,” said Mason. “I always wanted antiques.”
Mason and her husband purchased the home eight years ago and filled it with the antiques they had collected over 30 plus years. Her largest antique? The home itself. Built in 1813, this five-story house was once a brothel, as well as a whiskey business. It contains much of the original interior architecture, including trim, hardware, molding and plasterwork.
Blown away by the grand foyer, which stretches the length of the house, Mason fell in love with the home the moment she first entered. The front door stares right at a spectacular archway trimmed in elegant Georgian style crown molding, topped by a keystone. Brilliant crystal chandeliers dangle from the ceiling. Rich mahogany, wide-plank pine floors, discovered beneath vinyl, can be found throughout the house. The floors are replete with all the nicks, dents and digs brought on by two centuries of wear and tear.
Just beyond the archway, stands a moss-green, painted wrought-iron spiral staircase that stood in Alexandria’s City Hall until the 1960s. The previous owner built a gazebo around the staircase that extends two stories. The Masons enclosed the gazebo, creating a towering atrium and perhaps the most unique feature of the home.
Every doorway or room passage has unique, intricate, handcrafted woodwork. “It’s amazing that this was all done by hand,” said Mason. The same is true of the molding around the many fireplaces in the home, each with a unique mantel.
A formal living room and dining room are decorated in traditional Georgian and Federal styles. Camelback sofas upholstered in contrasting pale raspberry and yellow tones face each other across an antique wooden coffee table. Sunflower-yellow drapes adorn windows. A simple 19th century grandfather clock stands tall in one corner. Sitting pretty just in front of it is a petite yellow Louis X-style needlepoint chair. Next to the chair, is the first antique Mason ever bought, an antique writing desk with hutch.
On an opposite wall is a 17th century stick barometer, collected by her husband, whose grandfather was a member of the owners of the famed Mason Decoy Duck factory.
Heavy tambour wood-paneled doors separate the living room from the dining room. Four chairs that Mason reupholstered in garnet and gold flank an antique mahogany dining table. A grand fireplace is centered in the middle of one dining room wall. On the opposite side is a built-in wet bar, installed by the previous owner and hidden behind large paneled white doors.
Mason used a rag technique to produce a rich brownish-red faux finish on the dining room walls. She repeated the same pattern in saffron-colored walls in the foyer and living room. Treasured antique rugs adorn the floors throughout the house. “I keep the tags on all of them,” Mason said, as a reminder of the rug’s history.
Architectural firm Robert Bentley Adams & Associates (www.adamsarchitects.com) handled most of the renovation, including remodeling a dark dingy lower-level kitchen and family room.
A cozy contrast to the more stately first level, the kitchen and family room evoke European country charm. Black granite tops cream-colored cabinetry. Only a tiny stainless steel prep sink breaks up the granite on a massive kitchen Island with plenty of space for four cooks and a couple of diners. Sandy beige stonelike tiled floors are dotted with black marble diamonds, repeating the black and cream colors in the kitchen. The same tile is used for the kitchen’s backsplash.
In a powder room near the kitchen Mason stenciled fleur-de-lis patterns in black on cream-colored walls and jazzed up the room with small, framed pictures of 1920s starlets.
Mason chose various shades of blue to decorate the spacious master bedroom, located on the third floor, which used to be a ballroom. A pair of wing-backed Federal chairs in powder-blue velvet serves as the sitting area in what could easily be converted into a furniture museum. The room includes an 18th century High Boy, an antique wooden spinning wheel and wooden rocker. An antique, four-poster bed is dressed in a hand-knotted canopy that just covers the top of the posts. Two large framed vintage French posters hang on each side of a small antique desk.
Mason remains enamored with every piece she acquires. “I used to get into the history and research of everything,” said Mason. “Now I just collect what I like.”
