Apothecary No. 1: The Shop That Stayed Open for a Century

The short answer: Apothecary No. 1 is named for the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary, a botanical shop that opened on Fairfax Street in Old Town Alexandria in 1792 and stayed open for more than a century. Our candle is that room: peppermint, eucalyptus, clove, cedar, patchouli, vanilla, and powder. Cool, green, and quietly alive.

A shop that outlasted almost everything

Think about what a business has to survive to stay open for over a hundred years starting in 1792. It opened when Washington was president. It was still going through the Civil War. It was still going when cars showed up.

The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary sold dried herbs, pressed botanicals, and prepared remedies out of the same building on Fairfax Street for generation after generation, run by the same family line the whole way.

It finally closed during the Depression, and here is the part that makes it remarkable rather than just old: they left the shelves stocked. The bottles stayed. The ledgers stayed. Which is why the building is a museum today rather than a plaque, and why you can walk in and see roughly what a customer in the 1800s would have seen.

What that room smelled like

This is the question we actually cared about.

An apothecary was not a perfumery. It smelled like work. Dried mint and eucalyptus hanging in bundles. Ground clove. Wooden drawers and cedar shelving that had absorbed a century of everything stored in them. Something faintly powdery from the compounding. Cool air, because those old brick buildings stay cool.

Green, clean, herbal, and a little bit medicinal in a way that reads as restorative rather than clinical.

The scent

Peppermint and eucalyptus open it, bright and cooling and unmistakably herbal. Clove adds a little spice, cedar gives it the wooden-drawer quality, and patchouli sits underneath with real warmth. Vanilla and powder soften the finish so it never tips into cough drop territory.

It is the scent we recommend when someone says they do not like candles. It does not smell like a candle. It smells like a room.

Best in: bathrooms, bedrooms, yoga and meditation spaces, and anywhere you want the air to feel clear. It is also the one to light when you have been cooking and the kitchen still knows it.

Two ways to bring it home

• Apothecary No. 1 Signature Candle, $24. Glass vessel, eight ounces.
• Apothecary No. 1 Heirloom Candle, $56. Eighteen ounces in our blue and white bowl.

Available year-round. Browse the full Signature Collection, the Heirloom Collection, or shop all scents.

Frequently asked questions

What was the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary? A botanical shop that opened on Fairfax Street in Old Town Alexandria in 1792 and operated for more than a century, selling dried herbs, botanicals, and prepared remedies.

Can you visit it? Yes. It survives as a museum in Old Town Alexandria, with much of the original stock still on the shelves.

What does Apothecary No. 1 smell like? Peppermint and eucalyptus over clove, cedar, and patchouli, finished with vanilla and powder. Cool, green, and herbal.

Is it too medicinal? The vanilla and powder at the base are there specifically to prevent that. It reads as restorative rather than clinical.

Keep reading

More stories: What Did Colonial Alexandria Actually Smell Like?, Candles of Old Town Alexandria, and King Street, the Name That Survived a Revolution.