Mount Purrnon Cat Cafe and Wine Bar to Open Next Spring in Old Town
“It's great. It's got a big window. So, hopefully the cats will hang out in the window, and people can walk by and be like, ‘Oh, my gosh!’”
ALEXANDRIA,VA- It’s unlikely that George Washington was a cat person. After all, he and Martha Washington loved dogs and birds. Still, even though Old Town’s colonial atmosphere is perfect for the dog lover, Washington might’ve gotten a chuckle after hearing the name of a soon-to-be cat cafe in Old Town. Wait for it… Mount Purrnon Cat Cafe & Wine Bar!
Adam Patterson and Kristin Cowan plan to open the cafe next spring. The two-level space will have a tavern atmosphere, with the bottom level reserved for up to a dozen cats – rescued from local shelters – to live cage-free. The upstairs will have a TV, a bar that serves wine and beer, snacks, and yes, it’s been confirmed that there will be presidential portraits with cats as presidents on the walls.
“It’s two floors, and we’re planning on having the cats downstairs,” Patterson said. “It’s great. It’s got a big window. So, hopefully the cats will hang out in the window, and people can walk by and be like, ‘Oh, my gosh!’”
Patterson and Cowan are still working out how much the adoption fees will be, but said that the cats will be healthy and screened by local shelters.
Cat Cafe’s are on the rise! Earlier this year, Crumbs & Whiskers became the first cat cafe to operate in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Patterson and Cowan got inspired by a visit to Pounce Cat Cafe in Charleston, South Carolina, and earlier this year raised more than $25,000 through Kickstarter.
“We’re 100 feet from King Street,” Patterson said. “There’s a lot of foot traffic. We really wanted to be as close to king as possible. A lot of the places on King Street don’t allow pets overnight. So, we’re really happy with the location. You know, it’s kind of like Georgetown, like there you have locals, and then you get a lot of tourists and we’re pretty excited about it.”
