Alexandria Mayor William Euille said the door to his home is always open.
“I share it with friends and relatives. I open the home up to nonprofits for events,” he told The Examiner in a recent interview at his home. “I love opening it up, making it available. I have a huge backyard where I can get a couple of hundred people for events.”
“Whatever you want to do, all you have to do is ask me,” he said.
Euille, a native of Alexandria who has served as mayor of the city since 2003, believes this access is the key to his successful political career, which has spanned three decades.
The second of three children, Euille was born in Alexandria and raised in Samuel Madden Homes, an Alexandria public-housing complex known as “The Berg.” He attended segregated schools until the eighth grade and then went on to T.C. Williams High School, where he played the saxophone and clarinet. Euille received an academic scholarship to attend Quinnipiac College in Connecticut, where he majored in accounting and business administration and was president of the student body.
“Even from elementary school to high school here in Alexandria, I was also involved in leadership positions, and folks said to me when I was in high school, ‘Maybe you’ll be the first African-American president of the United States,’” Euille said. “I just laughed it off and said I was not interested in politics.”
Upon his return to Alexandria in 1972, Euille joined a local construction company as an accountant but had no interest in continuing his political career after leaving Quinnipiac.
In 1987, Euille founded his own contracting business, William D. Euille and Associates. The business does more than $15 million in annual sales and has more than 30 employees. Euille said he “was burned out, and I wanted to find myself and do something different, so I founded my business,” he said.
“I used to do 60 to 70 hours a week in my business. Now I do about 10 to 15 hours,” Euille said.”Fortunately, it has grown to the point where it’s successful and I don’t have to be there every day.”
Euille’s first time in elected office was as a member of the School Board from 1974 to 1984, before becoming a City Council member in 1994. In 2003, he was elected mayor, and he was re-elected last year.
The mayor bought a town house in the city’s Del Ray neighborhood, a home he moved his mother and brother into from public housing. In 2001, he purchased his current home just five blocks away from his first town house. After a $500,000 renovation, he presented it to his mother on Christmas Eve as a gift. Euille’s mother has since passed away.
The home is located on a quiet tree-lined street on an 11,000-square-foot lot. The home is 4,200 square feet with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Euille boasted that his home features 29 doors and 34 windows, a high number for a house of its size.
The first level of the home has numerous pictures of Euille and family members and an eclectic variety of art.
The highlight of Euille’s art collection is an original rendering of “Falling Water” by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The piece is a colored sketch by Wright of his masterpiece and occupies a wall adjacent to the home’s front door.
Euille said he has no particular style when it comes to decorating.
“I love all forms of art,” he said. “One of the things I decided to do … is just go around and find things that are attractive to my eye. If I like it, I buy it. … It’s not a price issue. It’s what attractive to me.”
The home’s basement has been turned into a large recreation room, featuring ample seating, a bar and pictures of the mayor with prominent Democrats, such as President Bill Clinton and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.
On one wall is a framed Washington Wizards jersey with Euille’s name and the number 76. Euille said the basketball team presented the jersey to him this year in honor of his having season tickets with the franchise for 30 years. He said he also has season tickets for the Redskins and a portion of a season-tickets package for the Nationals.
Euille not only likes to watch sports, he also participates in them. He said he enjoys racquetball, and over the course of the last year he has shed 40 pounds in his “Mayor’s Challenge,” a program aimed at encouraging residents in Alexandria to improve their health.
Euille said most of his time at home is spent in the kitchen, which occupies the center of the home’s first floor. Despite his busy schedule, Euille said he makes time to cook. While he said he’s not a “specialty chef,” he enjoys cooking recipes his mother taught him when he was growing up.
He said his mother told him, “You’re probably never going to find a wife that can do quality cooking.”
The mayor said he would consider future campaigns for higher office, including a possible run at a federal office or at Virginia’s governorship. He said that for now, he is concentrating on improving Alexandria, spending 56 hours a week working as mayor.
In his new term, Euille said providing more affordable housing is a top priority. He also plans to help Alexandria deal with growing pains as the city expands, and to provide services for youth.
One of the main challenges is how the city will deal with new development while preserving its historical character, Euille said. The city’s historic charm is one of its greatest assets, he said, and it needs to be protected.
Euille said his main goal is to bring the residents of Alexandria together and bridge racial and financial gaps. He ran his first campaign for City Council on that theme and believes it has helped propel him.
“It’s been a long ride,” he said. “It’s been a fun ride, and I really believe I’ve made a difference in people’s lives.”
