The Washington times., 1934-05-04
PARTIES MARKS SPRING SEASON. EACH DIFFERENT IN ITS OWN WAY
The House Without a History
BY
E~=.-. H-A~>~H7f~-

continue to ply my nefarious
trade, to find space for filing
cabinets and reference books
and a 4x6 desk.
Now, at the eleventh hour,
when I had reached that des.
perate stage Of last hope which
comes to house-hunters, I had
been taken to a sunny commodi-
Gus residence in reasonably
good repair. I moved with the
carved furniture and wooden
figurines, the leather chests and
embroidered hangings that I
brought home from Ecuador
and Peru; the silver from
Spain; the paintings which my
grandmother collected in Italy;
and Of course my collection Of
dolls. maps, crucifixes and fans.
In the long-neglected garden
where hollyhockS and roses
grow so profusely-boxwood
from Kenmore" and "Ash-
lawn" Brandon" and Wake
field Manor" Glove pinks from
Mount Air." lilies-of -the-valley
from Federal Hill'' now grow
and I contemplate them all with
contentment. While I wait to
grow famous, I try to ferret
out some facts about the former
occupants of this house that is
unique in Alexandria because it
has no history.
Had Many Owners
In looking up the titles OF
ownership I found that the
house had changed hands sur
prisingly often. Although it has
given me such a sense of peace.
it seems to have made most of
its owners restless. 1t was sold
% times in 120 years besides
being rented frequently. An as
tonishingly large number of its
owners have been doctors and
interspersed between them was
a jurist. Judge Critcher, who
lived here at the turn of the
century and was an eminent
member of Congress.
A family of CochranS owned
the house before the Critchers
did. There were currants and
gooseberries. figs and other
things" in the Cochrans' fine
old walled garden back of their
residence. The wall, according
to reliable record, was already
standing there in 1915, and so
was a sugar mill, variously used
by early occupants of the prop
erty. One of these was Daniel
Mclean, who. at the time of it's
conservation. paid off the $500
with which the old st. Paul'S
Church was bought on credit,
and also gave the lot on Pitt
Street, where the present
Church of st. Paul-which
sponsors the annual historic
tour of Alexandria houses-now
stands. In recognition Of this
generosity the "vestry set apart
pew for himself and his de-
Scendants to be held by them
forever free of rent and ex-
penSe."
So the sunny. commodious
house of which decided to take
possession at the end of that
dripping. desolate day two years
ago is apparently not unique in
Alexandria after all. 1t has his
tory, just as every other house
in town has! And still further
conforming to custom, it has
not only a history. but a
haunt" And this haunt" is
really original! For it is not
an ordinary ghost that wanders
through rooms. 1t is water
spirit that rises from a spring
at the front of the property, and
if disturbed. flees through the
basement chambers and disap-
pears down the spring at the
back Of the property.
Mrs Keyes is confined to the
house by injuries received in an
automobile accident a week ago.
For this reason, although
their home will be open to
those making the tour Of his.
toric homes Of Alexandria on
Saturday, Mrs. KeyeS will not
be able to personally greet the
visitors.