Travel Guide: 10 Clarke Place Bed and Breakfast in Frederick, MD

Last week, I wrote about my trip to Frederick, Maryland and mentioned 10 Clarke Place, the bed and breakfast where I stayed. However, I couldn’t just relegate 10 Clarke to a passing note in a larger travel guide. This bed and breakfast deserves its own post and today it’s getting that post.

10 CLARKE PLACE BED AND BREAKFAST

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Frederick is one of the easiest overnight getaways from the DC area. In a little less than an hour, you feel like you’re a world away in this charming town, and 10 Clarke served as the perfect home base for the weekend. Located just a block or so down Market Street from where the dining and shopping downtown begins, you’re in the ideal location to explore all that Frederick has to offer while still enjoying peace and quiet when you want it.

Also, when I’m traveling, I want to stay somewhere that truly suits the place and feels like an escape from the every day. A cozy bed and breakfast housed in an old victorian decorated in a beautifully quirky fashion is decidedly different than my high rise modern apartment — and exactly what I was hoping for on this weekend away.

A VICTORIAN GETAWAY

Driving up to 10 Clarke Place, you’ll pass an entire row of victorian homes with their turrets, grand front porches, and gingerbread details. You may come in with preconceived notions of historic homes as being stuffy or stuff, but the owner of 10 Clarke did an incredible job of maintaining the victorian history and character of this home while creating a bed and breakfast that’s warm, inviting, and comfortable. From the minute you walk in, the entire experience is friendly and welcoming.

The woman at the front desk chatted with us about everything from where to go to dinner to which distilleries to visit to swapping stories about our cats. She handed us our old fashioned key (what a wonderful touch!) and led us to our room, the Turret Room. An impressive room in both architecture and decor, I couldn’t get enough of the amazing turret alcove where the bed resides. The windows are original to the house, as are the shutters, and they are incredible. As someone with an interior design and architectural history background, I was in heaven.

STUNNING DETAILS EVERYWHERE YOU TURN

There is no detail forgotten at 10 Clark Place. Floral prints next to art deco motifs on top of exquisite moldings — it’s a feast for the eyes. Opulent fabrics, rich rugs, and Bradbury and Bradbury wallpaper patterns adorning the walls and the ceilings — there is not a corner in this house that was overlooked and I was in awe of the stunning combinations of patterns and how they just work together. And then the antiques — I mean look at the armoire and the headboard in our room! The massive scale and craftsmanship on these pieces is not something we see today.

AN EVENING RESPITE

Yes, it was freezing cold out when we visited Frederick, but I think that’s exactly why we visited at the right time of year! I can’t think of a more lovely way to spend an evening then by the fire in a cozy bed and breakfast with the most delicious cookies and a few complimentary glasses of red wine. There couldn’t have been a better way to relax and decompress for an hour or so after a busy day and before heading back downtown for dinner.

SLEEP SOUNDLY

Who wouldn’t get a wonderful night of sleep in a this room? These shutters beat blackout curtains any day and the mattress heaters on either side of the bed made for a warm and toasty slumber. Had I not been eager to get up for the delicious breakfast that I knew was in store, I could have lounged in bed reading and just enjoying the luxurious room late into the morning.

WAKE UP FOR BREAKFAST

I’ve never had a bad breakfast at a true bed and breakfast, but the bar has now been raised even higher. We sat down in the over the top (in an amazing way!) peacock room at 10 Clarke not really realizing just how scrumptious breakfast was going to be. Then, came our first course. A smoothie dressed up in a tall parfait glass. Making me feel healthy on a Sunday morning? This was already a win in my book.

But then, they brought out chocolate malted waffles. For those who don’t know me, I am a chocolate addict and waffles might be my favorite breakfast food. I had NO idea you could combine them. Lastly, we had a spinach frittata with a homemade sriracha sauce. Everything was spot on.

VISITING 10 CLARKE PLACE

While we were in Frederick on one of the coldest, if not the coldest, weekends of the year thus far and loved the ambiance of the fire and the warm feel of the house, I also imagine it’s a great place to be during warmer seasons when you can hang out on the front porch or out back and enjoy a lazy cup of coffee on a Sunday morning.

…and can guarantee I’ll be back to visit 10 Clarke again just to make sure that’s the case!

Again, thank you so much to Visit Frederick for organizing my stay with 10 Clarke and my trip to Frederick, Maryland!