40 Lexington Avenue

While it sits between Fort Greene and Bed-Stuy, Clinton Hill feels like an extension of the former more than the latter. Like Fort Greene, it rose to prominence around the 1840s when it was a bucolic suburb on the edges of the city. Later in the 19th century, rowhouses joined the freestanding mansions. Clinton Avenue is the most spectacular street of the historic district (which faces the Fort Greene Historic District, across Vanderbilt Avenue). Charles Pratt was among the wealthy industrialists who lived in the area, and he gave his name, and part of his fortune, to the Pratt Institute — its campus, north of Dekalb between Hall and Classon, is a leafy collegiate corner of the neighborhood. St. Joseph’s College lacks a campus like Pratt’s; instead it is located in different buildings around Clinton Hill, including the former home of the Pratt family.