THERE’S a neighborhood in Brooklyn where rows of brownstones, elaborate apartment buildings, churches and schools fill tree-lined streets dating to the 1890s. The styles are Victorian, Gothic, French, Italianate.
Is this Park Slope? Cobble Hill?
Nope. Bed-Stuy.
The chaotic junction of Fulton and MacDonough, steps from the Nostrand Avenue A train, is the western edge of the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District of sprawling Bedford-Stuyvesant.
A few steps down MacDonough Street (where F.W. Woolworth once lived) removes you from the fray. Just before the intersection at Stuyvesant Avenue, a handful of single-family homes breaks up the lines of brown- stones.
On the left is a late 1800s Italianate mansion with a gigantic porch. This is the Akwaaba Mansion, owned by Monique Greenwood, former editor in chief of Essence Magazine, and her husband, Glenn Pogue.
Off the elegant foyer are the dining room, the lounge and the ballroom, all restored in the original Victorian style, with just a dash of Africa.
On the second floor, the Ashante suite is 100 percent African; in the Jumping the Broom suite, a four-poster bed is draped in white gauze. Each has a large Jacuzzi tub.
There are two smaller guestrooms, the Regal Retreat, with a restored antique bath (claw-feet and all) and the Black Memorabilia room, which looks much like you might imagine your Mississippi grandmama’s living room, had there been a Mississippi grandmama in your past.
While the inn can cause the outside world to disappear, there’s plenty nearby that’s worth looking up.
If you’re up before biscuits are ready at the Akwaaba, try Mirrors, a little coffeehouse on the corner of Lewis and MacDonough for java and baked goods.
A door or two down Lewis Avenue is Brownstone Books, which holds a small collection of black-interest titles. On the corner, an upscale design store features Afro-centric home accents.
The area has long been a haven for African-American arts, and one of the highlights is the I.M. Pei-designed Skylight Gallery, with works by new artists.
The gallery is part of Restoration Plaza, a forerunner of the district’s return to economic health. Besides its shops and offices, there’s the Billie Holiday Theater, which shows original plays in its 40-week season, along with a dance company that performs at community events.
Nearby is the tiny Simmons African Arts Museum, a collection 28 years in the making, including artifacts from 35 countries on the continent.
On a grander scale is the fledgling Museum of Contemporary African Diasporian Arts (MoCADA), ensconced in a building owned by the historic Bridge Street Church.
Come dinner time, head to the Akwaaba Café, just steps from the inn. Monique’s popular bistro offers a seafood-rich menu, highlighting southern and Caribbean influenced dishes, along with her special “Diaspora Dishes” – which is fancy for soul food.
Fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens, smothered cabbage, whipped yams. Cloud nine.
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FAST FACTS
* Akwaaba Mansion, 347 MacDonough St., Brooklyn, rooms from $120 per couple, with breakfast, (718) 455-5958,http://www.akwaaba.com. Bed-Stuy info: http://www.bedstuyonline.com.