The roaring twenties are coming back to Alexandria this fall. The Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden is turning back the clock for their Sips & Secrets speakeasy night on October 3.
The event — honoring the museum’s Prohibition-era past— will feature cocktails and light bites, live jazz music from a five-piece band, and dancing. Guests are encouraged to dress in their best 1920s outfits and show off their dance moves during a Charleston dance contest.
The Sips & Secrets event first began in 2016, the same year that marked the centennial of state-level prohibition in Virginia. According to Lee-Fendall House Museum Board Secretary Megan Ritter Judt, the event is inspired by the story of the Downham family, who owned Lee-Fendall House from 1903 to 1930.
The family’s patriarch, E.E. Downham, made his fortune selling liquor in Alexandria after the Civil War and also served as the city’s mayor. His son, Robert, purchased The Lee-Fendall House for his bride.
The first speakeasy celebration raised money for the repairs of the home’s central chimney, which was impacted by an earthquake in 2011. Since then, the money collected at each event has gone toward additional preservation work. This includes repainting the house to its historically accurate deep burgundy color.
This year, the museum hopes the proceeds can help restore the brick privy to its original appearance. According to Judt, it is the last intact 18th-century privy in Old Town Alexandria.
Sips & Secrets will run from 7 to 9 p.m. on October 3. Individual tickets are $105 and include food and drink. Host committee tickets are $300 and include two entry tickets and listing on the event program. Additional sponsorship opportunities are also available. Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, 614 Oronoco St., Alexandria
Feature image courtesy Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden
