I think the previous designer was hosting it locally or something. I wanted him to transfer the whole site and domain to my Dreamhost account.
Before he transferred it, I had already set up the domain on my list including the one-click Wordpress install. So when he transferred the site over, I would have it there. Now I have full access to the site through Dreamhost and I'm able to view all FTP files via Cyberduck.
So yes, it was hosted somewhere else, not I have control of it through Dreamhost.
I'm unsure if this answers your question.