Charles Street, the charming road running from atop the hill at the Massachusetts State House, past the commons and down to Newbury Street, may be well known for its Victorian style architecture and gas lamps, but it also provides ample opportunities for antique shopping and colonial style bed and breakfasts.

Perhaps the most famous Bostonian inn, the Charles Street Inn, serves to reproduce the colonial style common to early Boston.

“We are an 1816 family home restored to how it might have looked during that time period. We tried to furnish it with Victorian furniture. It fits in with the Victorian look of Charles Street,” said Brian Kiniry, assistant innkeeper.

“It is such a unique neighborhood,” he said. “Ten to 15 years ago, Charles Street was all antique stores and now you still have a lot of those with more boutiques that have come into the area.”

Kiniry said Charles Street is a promising locale for businesses because Bostonians are taking a new interest in its historic look and feel.

“We tend to get more upscale customers because our prices are competitive,” he said. “That’s not to say that our customers are only upscale, we do get middle class who want to experience the Victorian scene. You get a lot of socioeconomic types from students to well-to-do attorneys.”

Another independently run business on Charles Street is the Stavenor Market, which was established on Beacon Hill after the original store in Cambridge burnt down in 1992, said Juliana Kolson-Lyman, general manager.

“Here we have found there is an interest in more out-of-the-ordinary groceries,” she said.

The consumers range from people living and working in the area, to people getting food for their yachts in the summer and people getting specialty foods for the holidays, she said.

Karen Fabbri, owner of Moxie — a clothing store focusing on shoes, bags and accessories — said she also chose the area because of its local feel.

“I opened here because I am a Beacon Hill resident and I wanted to have a store in the neighborhood in which I lived. There wasn’t anything like us at the time,” she said.

The clientele at Moxie ranges from moms and daughters to local businesswomen, Fabbri said.

“We target someone who has a love of fashion and what’s going on now in fashion but also appreciates the classic,” she said. “It’s for the woman who knows about fashion today.”

Fabbri said she considers Charles Street to be the Boston version of New York’s Soho district.

“When I think of our neighborhood now I think of how Soho was before all the chains came in,” she said. “It’s a more hidden boutique kind of place in a big city.”

“Charles Street is a great place for people who appreciate the things that cities can offer like the best shopping, sites and restaurants,” she added.

The difference between Charles Street and other Boston business districts is that most of the stores are owner-occupied, Fabbri said.

“We know our customers by name,” she said.

Plans for future additions to the area continue to develop. Currently, the Boston Reconstruction Authority is working on a project that would entail changing a jail into a modern hotel.

“They have a pretty good active retail sector there,” said Jessica Shumaker of the BRA. “[The new hotel] is going to be an excellent addition, especially for patients and families at MGH and those in the Beacon Hill area.”

Staff writer Chloe Gotsis contributed to the reporting of this article.