Before the neoclassical Baltimore Museum of Art opened in 1929, its collection was on view in the mansion-turned-apartment building that is now the 107-room Hotel Revival, a Joie de Vivre Hotel, named for the renaissance of the city’s historic Mount Vernon neighborhood. “Art was fundamental to the story we wanted to tell,” says Chris Sheffield, president of Philadelphia-based SLDesign, who worked with local firm SM+P Architects on the renovation. Surrounding the lobby stairwell, for example, is Cassandra C. Jones’ digitally printed wallpaper, a colorful reference to the mid-19th-century craft of Baltimore Album Quilts. For the guestrooms, Philadelphia’s Paradigm Gallery + Studio curated one-of-a-kind pieces, including linocut relief prints by artist Mike Sgier that pay homage to Wes Anderson films.

Sheffield and his team spent time exploring Baltimore’s motley characters and design legacy, noting that “a lot of the eclectic spirit throughout the hotel is a result of that research and understanding.” Consider the intimate, unpretentious lobby, with its original molding and jewel-toned upholstery. Here, the front desk’s handsome porcelain flooring calls to mind traditional marquetry, while a handpainted mural by local artist Kelly Walker “is an expressive dreamscape,” adds Sheffield, that depicts Howard’s Wood, the lush precursor to what is now Mount Vernon.

At Square Meal restaurant, deco-inspired panels in front of windows nod to the stained-glass transoms topping the doors of Baltimore row homes. Echoing its location directly across from the park, it is chockfull of plants, with bespoke bench seating, handglazed tiles, and three “hidden-in-plain-sight” karaoke rooms, each reflecting different music periods from late ’60s Laurel Canyon to ’70s New York disco and early ’80s punk. Garden Bar, a hushed bespoke hideaway at the rooftop hotspot Topside, is decked out with reclaimed brick and vintage furniture reupholstered in floral patterns. “We wanted to create a space that felt as though it was a part of the original building, but rediscovered,” explains Sheffield.

“We didn’t want to capture a specific moment in time, but suggest a continuum from the 1920s-era residence to today,” he continues. This is reflected in the guestrooms—crafted in 22 varied layouts—with a melange of highlights, including turn-of-the-century William Morris wallpaper designs, vintage carpets, and circa-1950 three-arm light fixtures by Serge Mouille that “combine dramatic shapes and angles to add a theatrical feel.”