Hot House: Charming Mount Vernon house feels like stepping back in time - Baltimore Fishbowl

12 W. Hamilton Street, Baltimore

Hot House: Tiny gem of a house; 3 bedrooms/2.5 bathrooms on charming Hamilton Street in Cathedral Hill/Mount Vernon. 2,100 square feet. Asking price: $425,000.

What: No. 12 West Hamilton Street has the distinct feeling of stepping back in time. This cozy and completely charming house, has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, and many historical features which reinforce its distinguished lineage. Designed by noted Baltimore architect, Robert Carey Long in 1815, it is a contemporary of both the Basilica, a few blocks away in one direction, and the Washington Monument, a few blocks in the
other direction.

You enter the house through what is known as an English basement, right from the street. In many houses of this era, “public” rooms were on the low-ceilinged ground floor, while the second floor was where the grand rooms with high ceilings were located.

The front hall features a beautifully-stenciled floor which leads to a cozy dining room with a fireplace, and beamed kitchen/family room, also with a fireplace. The kitchen and family room look out over a private courtyard, complete with a gorgeous magnolia tree and herringbone-patterned brick terrace, which can also be accessed via the back parlor.

Head upstairs to the two parlors with their high ceilings and long windows that flood the rooms with light. Both of the parlors have fireplaces, what look to be early, if not original wood floors, and wonderful period details. The second floor is completed by a new full bathroom. As to be expected of a house of this era, all of the bedrooms have fireplaces in them.

The third floor houses the three bedrooms and another full bath. There is ample storage on the fourth floor, as well as in the basement, meaning this house comes in at five floors in total.

Where: Baltimore’s tiny Hamilton Street is also known as “Writer’s Row” and is home to the literary and intellectual-minded Hamilton Street Club, next door, and the Hamilton Street Women’s Club, just a block away. Tucked between St. Paul Street on the east and Park Avenue on the west, it feels like a mews street in London. Lined with small jewel box houses and lots of trees, Hamilton Street is one of Baltimore’s secrets. It’s just around the corner from the Central Branch of the Pratt Library and a very short walk to the restaurants
in Mount Vernon and at Mount Vernon Marketplace and Ceremony Coffee.

Final Appraisal: If you want to pretend you’re still living in early 19th century Baltimore, with all of the history of that time surrounding you, this is the perfect house. Based on the English townhouse style, and designed by the noted architect, Robert Carey Long, you’ll think you’re in the center of London, not the center of Baltimore. It would be perfect for an in-town pied-a-terre or a city bolt-hole. The listing for the house is here.

Meg Fielding writes the local interior design and lifestyle blog Pigtown Design and is the past president of the Baltimore Architectural Foundation. She enjoys dual citizenship with the US and the UK.