Over the spring and summer there’s been a collection of trucks parked outside the big old house at 100 East 23rd Street in the Old Goucher neighborhood.
Some days plumbers and electricians arrived. Construction crews carried in stainless steel sinks. Ovens and ranges showed up. No one noticed the concrete finishers. Then came the moving vans and the pickup trucks.
But word quietly spread that something amazing was working away at Hooper House, a reconditioned 1886 residence that once housed one of Baltimore’s cotton and canvas sailcloth barons.
For years, Hooper House sat at the corner of Saint Paul and 23rd Streets like that big, obsolete antique sideboard or china closet that no one really wanted. Yes, this boldly Victorian house had a substantial presence, with 77 mostly huge windows and 33 rooms, a dumbwaiter and a set of servants’ stairs hidden behind old plasterboard.
While there are grand staircases worthy of a private club, what do you do with this remarkable but problematic residential relic of Baltimore’s 19th century manufacturing elite? It’s so big, and how do you make economic sense of oversized fireplaces and chimneys that could accommodate two Santas?
Then, two years ago, a fire broke out on its upper floors, and though the damage was contained, the water used to fight the blaze created its own set of preservation issues — plaster damage and warped floors.
A developer and creative partner rolled up their sleeves, determined to make the place into a working space with a restaurant and bar. The result of this summer’s transformation is an unexpected knockout.
On a recent morning, dozens of diverse young persons brought their laptops to Mama Koko’s, what might just be Baltimore’s most elegant new eating and cocktail establishment.
The grand old Hooper family parlor has been transformed into a breakfast bar — and later in the day, a full cocktail setting. Customers were having ham and eggs at 9 a.m., but by evening, the scene changes. It’s no longer latte and tea, but rum, citrus and herbs.
“Small businesses wanted to operate in a setting that is singular in the city,” said Matt Oppenheim, a developer who commutes to Baltimore from Washington, D.C. “We are able to offer something unique and special in Old Goucher. We provide a space where clients and customers are going to be inspired.”
Oppenheim’s business partner is Michael Haskins Jr., the proprietor of the fashion clothing brand Currency Studio, who lives nearby in a renovated East 20th Street home in the Barclay community.
“There’s an experience of coming here, walking in the front door, up the steps and seeing this interior,” said Haskins as he gestured toward the high ceilings and unhurried, stylish decor. It’s all reminiscent of a first class ocean liner lounge, or at least the drawing room of some merchant prince and princess.
“We collaborated heavily with Ayo Hogans, an owner of Mama Koko’s, who is a professional fashion stylist,” said Oppenheim.
There’s a new outdoor patio with teakwood tables. And on a cool September morning, what better place to catch up on your emails?
So the question has to be asked, what is Hooper House?
Just inside the front door is a proper office directory, listing its business tenants who occupy the former bedrooms and library on the upper floors. They range from a hair salon, to fashion designers and a candle maker.
Haskins says that despite the business uses, the old house still retains its residential atmosphere within the collection of old Goucher College buildings and 1880s rowhouses in midtown Baltimore.
“It never really feels like it’s booming here. It’s just Baltimore,” Haskins said. “As you move through the city, you can miss what is going on inside this preserved place and the architecture we have preserved. It was important to welcome these businesses — to put the creative class in one place.”