Last time around we featured two houses on Swifts Alley, between the 100 blocks of South Fairfax Street and South Lee Street. It’s one of the remaining cobblestone alleys in Old Town. One side of the alley faces the back of the shops and galleries in the 100 block of King St. Kids from the neighborhood often visited the back door of what we called “The Paper Shop,” which was actually Newell-Cole Printers. The kind owners would often supply colored drawing paper, which was actually trimmings from their print jobs to kids knocking on the back door.
The other side of the alley has a few houses that at different times were the residences of nationally seen TV stars. For a few summers in the late 1960s, David Henesy lived at 1/2 Swifts Alley. David was a child star on the Gothic daytime soap opera, “Dark Shadows.” Johnny Depp later starred in the movie version. The yellow house shown last month at 2 Swifts Alley, also faces the Burke & Herbert Bank’s parking lot. The former tobacco warehouse was renovated by architect David Rosenthal in the 1960s and was his family’s home. More famously, the house was owned in the 1990s by former Today Show host Katie Couric and her late husband, Jay Monahan.
Have you noticed this around town? Where is it? What do you know about it?
To see more quirky photos and close-up angles of secret and not-so-secret spots in Old Town, Alexandria, and jump in with guesses, and comments, follow the discussion, and submit your own photos for consideration, join the Unseen Old Town Facebook group!
As for the photo above, we will reveal what it is and where it is in our next issue, along with a new one for you to ponder.
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