Sue’s Top Shops: Baltimore’s Hampden Village

I visited Baltimore over Thanksgiving weekend, enjoying the warmth of family and the charming shops in the city’s Hampden Village. Although it began as a modest mill town, Hampden is now one of Baltimore’s destination neighborhoods and home to over 60 independent shops and antique galleries along its famed Avenue. Among the eclectic boutiques, I found a few stellar resources for home design:

Antique Exchange and Home offers furniture, antiques and gifts, as well as decorating services. My signature style is modern traditional, and I felt right at home among their collection of classic and contemporary pieces.

Woodward’s has an amazing setting—an estate auction house set in a renovated turn-of-the-century theater building—with a wonderfully nostalgic feel and well-curated mix of high and low collectibles.

Denova is a midcentury gem featuring two stories of chic furniture and decorative items like this vintage glassware. Here you’ll find exceptional style at very “accessible” prices.

Sixteen Tons includes pieces like vintage wood fixtures and distressed leather trunks. I loved the clubby, masculine look of this boutique, where owner Daniel Wylie evokes the family-owned men’s outfitters of generations past.

To refuel from a day of shop-hopping, I recommend the vibrant and community-oriented restaurant The Dogwood, which won me over with its inventive seasonal menu and gracious style.

Should you find yourself in Baltimore, be sure to visit these Hampden Village gems. There’s always a new store to peruse – tell us if you discover a hidden treasure!

Photos: Susan Bednar Long