Rain tapers to a light mist as my husband and I turn onto a residential Annapolis street two blocks from the City Dock. We pull up to a towering Italianate Victorian named Sara-Beth’s, a bed-and-breakfast that welcomed its first guest last June. Sara-Beth Wangsness greets us with a smile.

She and her home radiate an immediate sunny feel. The light gold and wheat walls in the foyer contrast with stretches of exposed brick. Brightly colored contemporary paintings accent the walls, and the original wood floors and staircase are finished in warm oak tones. “This is my home,” says Sara-Beth. “I wanted something I feel comfortable living in—something that reflects me.”

She notes that we’re nestled between the Paca House and the Brice House, two of the most historic Georgian mansions in a colonial city loaded with architectural gems. Entering the Garden Room upstairs, we learn that William Paca (a Maryland signer of the Decla-ration of Independence) maintained extensive gardens, which cascade out beneath our room with the monumental Naval Academy Chapel dome as a backdrop.

“It’s a one-in-the-city view,” says Sara-Beth, leading us through a glass door and onto a balcony as the clouds try to break and symphonic chimes mark the hour. From this perch, we can see the Paca and Brice houses as well as the oldest capitol building still in legislative use. It’s no wonder our room, which often hosts brides-to-be and honeymooners, is already booked for several summer weekends.

A gas fireplace heats up the sprawling room with soothing buttery walls and mahogany furnishings, including a four-poster king sized bed awash in wine-colored pillows and a matching duvet. The walk-in closet outsizes some apartments, and the bathroom is even larger. Together they have every conceivable amenity, from thick cotton robes and plenty of English toiletries, to a shower that doubles as a steam room.

“My approach was to dive in and do it—the way I would want if I were a guest,” says Sara-Beth later, revealing that she only stayed in two B&Bs before launching this one. Turns out, she never planned to be an innkeeper.

Last year, she and David, her husband of thirty-three years, looked for a house with an eye toward retirement. “I just had a feeling when I walked into this house,” says the former homemaker. “It was very comfortable, and it had a B&B license.” Despite never having run a business, she thought she would enjoy operating a B&B. “This is my project,” she says proudly, but adds that her husband helped extensively with decorating.

The brick home was built in 1902 by Charles Weiss, who started McGarvey’s restaurant nearby. After his family sold the residence, it fell into disrepair but underwent a complete renovation in the four years before the Wangsnesses bought it. They removed wallpaper, painted, installed elaborate ceiling fans, and decorated walls with artwork collected throughout their marriage. Sara-Beth describes the decor as “open, bright, elegant, and very comfortable.” It’s a word she uses often to describe her home, which is luxuriously sophisticated without a hint of stuffiness.

Off-white fabrics play off dark wood-and-glass furnishings. Walls with elaborate crown moldings are bathed in soothing colors. Gleaming Austrian crystal chandeliers reflect light like diamonds. And every ceiling offers unexpected details. Looking skyward reveals a hand-painted medallion in the living room, a plaster relief pattern in the dining room, and a tin ceiling in the den.

Upstairs, the Sunflower Room (with four-poster twin beds) and the adjoining Magnolia Room (with a wrought iron, four-poster king) are equally spacious and appealing. Both include ornate writing desks, sitting areas, and oversized TVs cleverly tucked inside armoires. The rooms share an adorable Victorian bath with a claw-footed tub, but Sara-Beth never rents them to separate parties. “I don’t want people who don’t know each other to share a bath,” she declares. When the rooms are not shared by families or friends, a couple (or solo guest) chooses one room and the other remains vacant.

At breakfast, everyone gathers around one dining room table because “it’s a home, not a hotel,” says Sara-Beth, who attends to every detail. We savor fresh brewed coffee, herbal tea, orange juice, fresh fruit, and a Frank Sinatra tune before delectable French toast laced with raisins and Grand Marnier arrives with crisp bacon and warm maple syrup.

Several windows reveal a Smurf-blue sky, but we are so comfortable, we can barely imagine venturing outside.

Sara-Beth’s
182 Prince George St., 410-268-0242
or http://www.sara-beths.com
Rates: The Garden Room is $350; the Sunflower Room and Magnolia Room
are $395 together or $295 for one.

Karen-Lee Ryan is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.