Five Minutes of Baltimore History

Painted Ladies

By Johns Hopkins,

Published April 8, 2026 at 4:41 PM EDT

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Some examples of Baltimore's famous "Painted Ladies" in Charles Village

Charles Village’s painted ladies literally brighten our lives. But what exactly are Baltimore’s painted ladies, you ask? They are a large cluster of colorfully and complexly decorated rowhouses inspired by the similarly-painted Victorian homes in San Francisco. The tradition here took hold over 25 years ago!

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Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins has been the director of Baltimore Heritage since 2003, working to preserve historic places and revitalize historic neighborhood in Baltimore.

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Lisa Morgan

Lisa Morgan covered the local arts community as co-creator and host of WYPR’s award-winning program The Signal from 2004 to 2015. She has created and produced many programs for WYPR, including news stories, features, commentaries, and audio documentaries. She taught audio production at Goucher College and has done voice-over work for a variety of clients. The Weekly Reader is her latest project.

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