Cady’s Alley is a European style, pedestrian-friendly home furnishings mecca with spaces “as beautiful as the pieces on display.” It was developed along a 19th-century alley and conceived as gallery space, unique retail space, and residential apartments.
Cady’s Alley features a mix of luxury home furnishing retailers such as Waterworks, Janus et Cie, Design Within Reach, and locally-based antique and furniture stores. The pedestrian-only spacious brick and stone walkways of Cady’s Alley offer a serene and calm enclave from the main shopping area of Georgetown, where you can take a break and enjoy a well-brewed cup of coffee and pastry at Kafe Leopold, an Austrian eatery located in the center of the alley after touring the beautiful design showrooms.
Cady’s Alley Unique Design
Lofted ceilings, glass and steel walls and stairs, exposed brick and dramatic skylights make it the center point of a larger urban design initiative connecting the alley to three other adjacent mixed-use developments. It sits a full level below street level, incorporating the light industrial design of the surrounding areas and opening the space up with a series of passageways and a large courtyard that draws pedestrian traffic from M Street.
During the spring and summer when the outdoor spaces are thrown open, Cady’s Alley, with 120,000 square feet of retail and residential space, attracts an interesting mix of serious shoppers and strollers who all enjoy the experience of being in the unique and beautiful spaces both inside and outside.
History Reinvented
Cady’s Alley was envisioned and brought to life by Anthony Lanier, a premier architect in DC with many notable properties in Georgetown. He began the project in 1999 with the purchase of a single building. He eventually assembled 16 structures on both sides of the alley. To avoid a uniform look, he worked with local architectural firms to connect and expand the buildings inside the block. The final project today occupies a full bock along M Street between 34th and 35th Street.
Four architecture firms worked in collaboration on the larger concept which received a national AIA award for Urban Design. And the M+J Architecture firm also won a Washington, DC AIA architectural merit for the design of Cady’s Alley.
List of Notable Retailers:
For more information on what Cady’s Alley has to offer, you can visit the main website here.
You can also view the Georgetown Property Listings Directory to learn more about other local shops.
The content above is brought to you by Georgetown Realtor, Melanie Hayes with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty. You can contact her here.