What are the Clinton Hill mansions and the Gold Coast?

Clinton Hill is famous for the grand mansions lining Clinton and Washington Avenues, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by some of Brooklyn's wealthiest families, including Charles Pratt of Standard Oil, whose fortune also founded Pratt Institute. This stretch was once known as Brooklyn's Gold Coast, one of the most prestigious addresses in the borough. Many of these landmarked mansions survive today, giving Clinton Hill an architectural grandeur rarely matched in New York and adding significant value and character to its real estate.