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Joan and Jack Dempsey had been searching for a place to live in historic Old Town Alexandria, VA, when Joan found a piece of property at the end of an alley with a rundown structure that had originally been built as a stable in 1850. Later used as a carriage house and most recently as a garage, the building had been long neglected. When Joan took Jack to see the old garage, which included piles of wood and an abandoned 1949 Morris Major car parked where their kitchen now stands, she says, “I thought Jack was going to run – not walk – away.”
Joan, however, saw beyond the dirt and dilapidation. She saw the promise of their future home. By coincidence, William Cromley, a developer in Alexandria who owned the land at the time, had already begun designing a spec house for the site. “Bill is the creative genius behind this project,” she says. Cromley showed the Dempseys his colored-pencil drawings of how he intended to convert the garage into a house. The couple suggested some changes to fit their tastes, and a deal was struck. “It was Bill who first saw and acted on the potential of this building and location,” Joan says. From the permitting process through completion, the project took a little more than two years.
Down to Essentials
The Dempseys were downsizing to this 2,200-square-foot house from one that was more than twice as big. The couple, both career intelligence officers, first in the Navy and then as civilians, analyzed the way they’d lived in their former 5,000-square-foot house. They entertain in a “blowout” fashion twice a year – on Thanksgiving and St. Patrick’s Day. When their family would visit, they’d have 30 to 35 guests, and of those, 20 would spend the night. But when it was just the two of them, they basically lived in three rooms – the sunroom, kitchen, and their bedroom.
“The key was, can we replicate those three rooms? If so, then we can live in an alley,” Jack says. They can still accommodate a handful of overnight guests in their new home. “Our spare bedrooms now are at the Hotel Monaco; we’ve outsourced the bedrooms,” Joan says.
Not only did they create their three essential rooms, the Dempseys integrated extraordinary craftsmanship throughout, which gives this house great integrity. “One of our goals in this project was to stay true to the original character of the building and the location,” Joan says. “We envisioned the old part of the structure to be an adaptation to its original purpose so we kept the old heart-pine floors, pitchfork gouges and all,” Joan says.They added other elements with patina, including:
- 200-year-old, 10-inch-wide, heart-pine floors from Mountain Lumber in the new addition, which holds the living room/sunroom and bedroom suite
- Two antique, slender doors on facing ends of their loggia salvaged from Eastern Market after the fire, from The Brass Knob Back Doors Warehouse
- 150-year-old French terra cotta tiles for the kitchen floor.
Fine American Craftsmanship
Joan worked with Claudia Powell of Claudia L. Powell Interior Design Inc. on the fabrics and furnishings in the living room and basement. “Claudia was brilliant at blending a modern sensibility with a historic context, and her design is both elegant and livable,” Joan says. Powell also designed the living room mantel, arches, and built-in bookcases.
But the most distinctive details are the custom chandeliers and sconces designed by Julie Neill in New Orleans and handcrafted by welders and woodworkers in Louisiana, which are featured throughout the house.
The Dempseys discovered Neill’s handmade fixtures on a trip to New Orleans during Christmas 2008. “Her lighting is simply beautiful, but it also creates an emotional connection. The kitchen chandelier includes wood turned from a cypress tree that was felled by Hurricane Katrina,” Joan says. “To us, it represents the resilience and resolve of the American craftsmen and women who can make something so beautiful out of something so ugly.”
The Dempsey house reflects that remarkable strength and spirit, too.
