Old Town Alexandria

Federal and Georgian rows step block by block down a 1749 grid toward the Potomac, and the river is never more than a walk away. King Street carries the daytime, shops and restaurants running from the Metro straight down to Waterfront Park, but turn onto Prince or Duke a block off the spine and the noise falls away into brick, ironwork, and gaslight. Nearly the whole of the old town sits inside a locally regulated historic district, where the Board of Architectural Review has kept the streetscape intact since 1946.

It is a river town first and a Washington suburb second, a market of Federal townhouses and waterfront condominiums where demand holds firm and inventory stays tight. Ten minutes from Reagan National, a Metro ride from downtown, and a world away from either the moment you reach the cobbles.