Pictured Above: Owners – Kristin Cowan and Adam Patterson

By Lani Gering

For all of you cat lovers out there, this place is the bomb. If you love cats, food and wine, it is a small slice of heaven. The brainchild of Kristin Cowan and Adam Patterson, Mount Purrnon opened just as the pandemic hit making it a bit of a rough start. Obviously, they persevered and have built a successful enterprise.

Mount Purrnon was inspired by Kristin and Adam’s visit to a Cat Café in North Carolina. She was in the FBI at the time and decided she had had it with the environment she worked in and wanted to pursue something she could love – cats, wine and history. She is now living her dream.

What is a Cat Café?

It is part café and bar and part lounge area with cats and a cat adoption center. The café and bar areas are separate from the lounge. This makes it a place that both cat lovers and guests who just want to have something to eat and drink can go together.

There is much more to do at Mount Purrnon besides drinking wine and playing with the cats. They have an array of games and books available along with free WiFi to take advantage of. In addition to Wine Tasting Wednesday, Cats and Tarot on Fridays and Cat Yoga, they also host special events on a regular basis – wine and food pairings, trivia nights, tea parties and even ghost story nights. This month as we celebrate Pride Month, they are hosting Drag Bingo Night with Cats on the 21^st from 6 to 8 pm. Be sure to check it out on their website.

Mount Purrnon is embraced by the real Mount Vernon and there are several historical touches in the décor that involve images of the grounds. The first floor houses the café and wine bar as well as the gift/swag store. I found it very comfortable and can see bringing my other kitty lovers here for a beverage, some eats and some quality time with kitties waiting to be adopted.

I toured the lounge where the kitties hang out and it is quite the set up. These felines have a wide array of spaces to curl up and jump on as well as some pretty cool catwalks. There are between 20 and 25 cats in the lounge at all times and the number of visitors at one time is 12. There are special times when you have to be 18 years or older and no children under 5 are allowed.

Reservations are highly recommended in order to spend time with the cats. The café and bar are available any time. Weekends sell out on a regular basis as do the special events. Walk-ins are welcome pending availability. The passes range from $25 an hour for adults to $18 an hour for kids ages 5-12. Daily Passes are $50 and Monthly Passes are $100. These fees go to the maintenance of the lounge, the care of the cats, food and litter…lots and lots of litter.

Mount Purrnon works in tandem with Fancy Cats and Dogs Rescue so all of the cats have their shots and have been tested for FIV, etc. and all of them are up for adoption.

For hours of operation and detailed information on everything Mount Purrnon, log on to their website and check out their Facebook page.

Mount Purrnon Cat Café & Wine Bar

109 South Alfred Street

Old Town Alexandria

703-567-1138

Mtpurrnoncatcafe.com

@MTPURRNONCATS

Adoptable Kitties:

Weasley is the mascot and the inspiration for Mount Purrnon. Kristen rescued him when he was 12 weeks old. She told me, “He is the smartest cat I have ever met; he does tricks like paw, sit, come, and fetch. He is 13 but acts much younger!”

Colleen was born in the alley behind the cafe and when weaned, Kristen brought her and her siblings inside to a safe and warm place. They were all born with birth defects. She has no eyelids and is slowly going blind, but she is high-energy and friendly and loves to meet new people and cats. She is our greeter!