After three years of work and with a price tag of $794,000, Lloyd House reopened on June 14.
Jean Federico, director of the Office of Historic Alexandria, took members of City Council on a tour. “We are really thrilled,” Federico said.
All of the structural work is complete. The work remaining to be done on the floors is cosmetic. “The floors are not original, so we let them wait until last to complete,” Federico said. “The second floor still needs a lot of work, but we are very pleased with what has been accomplished on the first floor and in the garden.”
The most significant work was floor framing, due to structural damage. When the building was a dormitory for the U.S. Navy’s Women’s Reserve during World War II, much of the wood framing was damaged during installation of an extra staircase, plumbing and piping.
Years later, when Lloyd House was leased to the Alexandria Public Library System, the enormous weight of books and bookshelves exacerbated the problem.
The building did not meet current code requirements, so floors had to be reinforced. The floors had also sagged dramatically as a result of these problems and needed to be level.
JOHN WISE BUILT Lloyd House in 1797 and was the first person to live there. Wise was an entrepreneur, who also constructed Gadsby’s Tavern.
He soon leased the home to Charles Lee, attorney general during the presidencies of George Washington and John Adams and younger brother of “Light-horse” Harry Lee. “We are fortunate to have a portrait of one of Charles Lee’s daughters that has been hung in the house,” Federico said.
In 1810, Jacob Hoffman purchased the house and began refining sugar. By 1825, the house and its garden were sold to Elizabeth Hooe, who invited Benjamin Hallowell, a Quaker educator and Robert E. Lee’s tutor, to move his school to the site. John Lloyd, a wealthy merchant, bought the house in 1833, and the Lloyd family owned it until 1918.
That year William Albert Smoot, a lumber dealer and former mayor of Alexandria, bought the house. His family owned the house until 1942, when it became a rooming house for the Navy Women’s Reserve.
In 1956, the house was slated for demolition until Wyoming geologist Robert Valentine New read about the possible loss and purchased the property. Marjorie Land, a member of The Historic Alexandria Foundation, remembers the time.
“I remember hearing that the house was going to be demolished and taking my son Carter over there in his stroller to see if we could save some part of the home, like a doorknocker or something,” she said.
New agreed to buy the house, she said, but only if the foundation paid off the costs of the wrecking crew already on-site. “We took out a loan and held concerts and all types of small events to raise that money, but we got it done,” she said.
NEW BEGAN renovations in 1960 and used the house as his offices. Later he proposed the Lloyd House Center, a nine-story office building. By 1966, the City of Alexandria had determined that it needed to save the building and purchased it from New.
The restored house was leased to the Alexandria Public Library, housing the historical collections. Lloyd House served as a historic and historical storehouse for the library until 1999, when the most recent round of renovation began.
Most funds for the renovations were provided by the city. U.S. Rep. James P. Moran (D-8th) helped obtain some $125,000 from the Save Our Treasures federal program. State Sen. Patricia S. Ticer (D-30th) and Dels. Marian Van Landingham (D-45th) and Brian Moran (D-46th) got another $80,000 in state funding.
PAINT USED in the restoration in the entry hallway is Prussian blue. “This is a color that was used in the late 18th century,” Federico said. “We used the 1796 formula.”
In addition to restoring the house itself, the Office of Historic Alexandria placed furniture made in the city in Lloyd House rooms and hung paintings of former residents and their family members.
The large reception room is about the same size as the ballroom at Gadsby’s Tavern museum and will be available later this summer for receptions, weddings and other events. “The two large rooms can be separated or combined into one large reception hall,” said Federico. “There’s also a kitchen and restrooms that are accessible to those with disabilities.”
The idea of using Lloyd House for receptions was proposed by Councilwoman Claire Eberwein (R) when renovation began. Lloyd House is a great location for the Office of Historic Alexandria, she said, but also needs to welcome the public.
“Weddings and other receptions will add life and vibrancy to the building,” Eberwein said. “The rental income will also prove to be very helpful in continuing the maintenance and improvements that are part and parcel in the upkeep of historic structures.”
It is now open to the public.