Old Town Home Has Historic Highlights Without The Older Home Maintenance

ALEXANDRIA, VA — With its walkable streets, plentiful restaurants and shops, and historic landmarks, Old Town Alexandria remains a desirable place to buy a home on the real estate market. One property on the market isn't a centuries-old property per se, but it offers features drawing inspiration from the historic character of Old Town.

The property at 908 Cameron Street is a four-level end-unit townhouse priced at $3.39 million. Allison Goodhart, a Compass real estate agent with The Goodhart Group is co-listing the five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom home with fellow agents Sue Goodhart and Bonnie Bone.

"What's nice is it feels very much like a historic property but it was built in the [1960s]," Allison Goodhart told Patch. "They've done things over the years to make it feel that way."

One major way the home feels like a step back in time is the paint colors. Goodhart says the rooms used paint colors that are historically accurate to historic properties. The homeowners worked with painting company Pratt and Lambert and historical preservation societies to pinpoint the exact colors some notable historic properties used. For example, the home's living room is painted the same green the historic Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia used. Parts of the home's dining room are painted the original yellow color from the historic George Mason's Gunston Hall.

Other ways the home's historic charm has been boosted throughout the years are moldings, light fixtures and other details.

Old Town has its share of true historic properties, typically marked by a plaque displayed outside homes. But Goodhart says many buyers may be intimidated by the thought of maintenance for a home that is 200 or 300 years old rather instead of less than 100. The 908 Cameron Street home, for example, has updates that boost reliability: updated bathrooms, basement, HVAC, roof and electrical panels.

"It really feels like new in terms of the maintenance," said Goodhart. "It's really just much easier from the maintenance aspect."

Goodhart says the home's four finished levels are a rare find in the Old Town neighborhood. Other highlights of the home are a two-car driveway, patio in back, a location near King Street and walking distance from the Metro. See a full photo gallery of the property.

The home's seven-figure price tag may cause sticker shock for some home buyers, but it isn't that uncommon to see in Old Town. According to Redfin data, the median sale price in Old Town Alexandria is $1.1 million, up 24.7 percent from the previous year. For-sale housing stock continues to be low, with the monthly number of houses sold down 20.2 percent from the last year.

Goodhart says Old Town has a lasting demand for real estate buyers due to its walkability, quieter living with city amenities, access to routes like the Capital Beltway and a neighborhood with local businesses and without a cookie-cutter feel.

"I think Old Town always has a demand because it appeals to a lot of demographics," said Goodhart. "It appeals to a lot of clients who are downsizing now that their kids are gone and everything in between. You've got singles, you've got young professionals...I think it appeals so such a wide variety of people that there is always demand in Old Town."

The real estate agent says there is often higher competition for homes the lower the listed price is. However, Goodhart has seen the high-end real estate market do better in the last few years since there is less inventory to choose from.