Charles Paret calls himself a historic preservationist developer. It’s why he purchased an old 25-bedroom and bathroom property located in Mount Vernon known as the Biltmore Hotel, that is now up for sale again.
He thought the 18,040-square-foot building would make for a “great” small boutique hotel. Paret isn’t alone in recognizing the character behind the Victorian-style property.
The former inn, which originally opened in 1880 and is now listed for $1.6 million, recently made its way onto Zillow Gone Wild, a social media brand dedicated to featuring eccentric property listings. The Baltimore property garnered 3.2 million views on X alone.
One person on X joked they would try to transfer some funds to live in their own version of Disney sitcom “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.” Another said she also hopes the original architecture is maintained and that the building goes to “people who are going to treat it with care.”
Others said Baltimore as a location was too off-putting, with one person writing: “You couldn’t pay me $1,650,000 to live in Baltimore.”
Though Paret and plenty of real estate gawkers — Zillow Gone Wild has inspired a new HGTV series — found interest in the old inn, the property has sat untouched for the past five years.
“It’s been very hard to find financing to be able to do something unique there” at 205 W. Madison St. where the property sits, Paret said.
“We tried for a long time. And we’re in the process of still trying to actually find financing. If we could find financing for the overall concept, we would not sell the property,” he added.
Property records show Paret purchased the property in 2019 for $1,312,000. Its previous seller, Baltimore’s Rescue Mission, which operates The Karis Home for Women and Children, acquired the property in 1999 for $630,000.
The building originally opened in 1880 as a hotel and for many years, until 1984, was used as a boarding house for female students at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), according to Baltimore Fishbowl.
Paret envisioned a bold Bohemian chic historic restoration as a new concept for the existing building that would’ve been called Casa Gitana. But then, his lender pulled out and the funding never came through, he said.
In hindsight, Paret said he thinks the need for boutique hotels is just not all that attractive for the area, but the character of the property “truly made it really unique and special.”
