"Brooklyn residents never tire of regaling people with the residential beauty of their borough, and they've got good reason to be so house-proud. Brooklyn has many enclaves with grand, notable, and interesting houses and brownsones, and the natural curiosity about what lies inside these private treasures has evolved into a rigorous enterprise of house tours. In the spring and fall, many neighborhood organizations (Brooklyn is nothing if not neighborhood-oriented) offer inside-and-outside tours of some of the area's prominent private homes and gardens. The Brooklyn Heights Association Landmark House and Garden Tour (in early May) is among the most popular, which takes wide-eyed visitors through different homes in the historic district, showing off the neighborhood's celebrated and diverse nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century architecture. Other areas that can be explored on tours are Clinton Hill, with its glorious turn-of-the-century mansions; Cobble Hill and Prospect Heights, otherwise known as "Brownstone Brooklyn," with their exquisite private gardens; and Flatbush, which has a stunning array of Victorian-era houses. Even those familiar with Brooklyn may be shocked by the grandeur of the houses in certain areas, and it's interesting to see how the current owners coexist within their exalted habitats. Of course, teh voyeuristic pleasure of nosing around a stranger's house goes without saying." -The Best Things to Do in New York
For more information, check local listings or publications such as Time Out or visit www.brooklynheightsassociation.org