ANTIQUING ON MARYLAND AVE.
Annapolis’s best kept secret for one-of-a-kind decor
If you're looking to add real character to a room — the kind that can't be ordered from a catalog — you don't have to look far. Just steps from the State House, Maryland Avenue is one of the oldest commercial streets in the state and home to a tight little row of antique shops that we love sending clients to. It's history you can furnish with: the street itself sits within the Colonial Annapolis Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, alongside the Hammond-Harwood House and the Chase-Lloyd House.
For us, it's not just a fun afternoon of browsing — it's a design resource. Here are our two favorites shops to explore.
The oldest antique shop on the block, Evergreen is the kind of place where an 18th-century grandfather clock sits comfortably next to mid-century artwork and elaborate ship models. Under owner Joanna Young, the mix spans furniture, art, fine and costume jewelry, lighting, rugs, stemware, silver, china, and linens — everything from Tudor-era objects to French Provincial pieces. For decor purposes, it's an especially good source for statement lighting, china and stemware for styling a table, and small art that gives a room instant depth.
Silk Road Antiques is one of the newer additions to the row, the shop brings a more global, eclectic point of view to the block, and we love it. It's worth a walk-through for anyone hunting for unique decorative objects and conversation pieces that don't look like everything else on the street. What makes Silk Road worth the visit isn't any single item — it's the sheer range. In one afternoon we found Mid-Century barware, Chinese export porcelain, Victorian stained glass, a French-style painted cabinet, and a stack of red pressed-glass bowls, all within a few feet of each other. For anyone furnishing a home with pieces that have some history to them, it's the kind of shop where you go in with no list and leave with exactly what the room needed.
Why We Love Sourcing Here
A room filled entirely with new furniture can feel flat, no matter how beautiful the pieces are individually. What these two shops offers is the layer that makes a space feel collected rather than decorated — an ornate vase with real history, a lamp with a little patina, a side table that doesn't match anything else in the room on purpose.
Our advice: go with a tape measure and an open mind. Some of the best finds on Maryland Avenue aren't things you were looking for — they're things you didn't know a room needed until you saw them.
xo, Tonya