Cozy Garden Apartment in Pre War Row House with gym

Originally from Austin, Texas, I moved to Brooklyn in 2010. I love fitness, dogs, friends and hanging out with my neighbors.

You are in the best house on the best street in the best neighborhood of the best borough in the best city. At least, I think so. Clinton Hill is a historic neighborhood that is peppered with wood-frame homes (like mine) juxtaposed with brownstones and mansions built by people with last names like Vanderbilt. Clinton Hill has had its share of notable residents. Walt Whitman lived here (on Ryerson – one block over) when Leaves of Grass was published in 1855. Patti Smith and Robert Maplethorpe lived here (on 160 Hall Street) in 1967 before either were famous. The Notorious B.I.G. grew up here (at 226 St. James Place). And his rap “Spread Love, it’s the Brooklyn way” is our unofficial motto. Close by are the Pratt Institute’s campus with its green lawns and sculpture gardens and the Navy Yard, a former naval shipyard that is now buzzing with manufacturing, media and technology businesses. Dotting the Navy Yard are must-see sights including Brooklyn Grange, an urban rooftop farm, Rooftop Reds a vineyard, and Russ & Daughters, a destination-worthy deli. Stroll down Willoughby Avenue to Fort Greene Park (which played a role during the Revolutionary War) with its natural rolling hills and meadows. The Farmer’s Market is year-round Saturdays from 8am-1pm. And dog off-leash hours are between 9pm and 9am.

My home was built around 1890 and this section of the neighborhood (nearest the waterfront) has the city’s highest concentration of quaint wood-framed homes. The garden apartment is a cozy respite from the hustle of the city.