My partner and I spent a week at this lovely brownstone with our four-year-old twins and we had a wonderful experience. The duplex is precisely as described: spacious, full of light, and beautifully furnished. The "great room" on the main floor (combined kitchen/dining room/living room) is a welcoming space where we relaxed and enjoyed each others' company while preparing meals. The kitchen is outfitted with high-end appliances (a powerful combined cook top/oven along with a huge refrigerator) and it was furnished with all of the tools that we needed to cook several meals during our stay (and to make a few cocktails after the kids were in bed).

The master bedroom downstairs opens onto a beautifully landscaped, tranquil garden (also reached via an external flight of stairs from the kitchen upstairs) that we used constantly during our stay - both for the kids and for take-out dinners from some excellent local restaurants. Our kids shared the second bedroom downstairs - a study that was easily converted (by the owner before our arrival) into a bedroom with two comfortable twin beds. We all appreciated the clever, elegant design of the downstairs bathrooms: two independent ones that share access to a large shower via separate doors.

While we didn't see as much of Bed-Stuy on this trip as we had hoped, the brownstone was a great home base for several excursions around Brooklyn, including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Children's Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the New York Transit Museum (a huge hit with the kids). All of these destinations were easily reached on foot, by taxi or Uber, via subway, or by car. We never had any issues with parking, except for occasionally having to move our car for morning street cleaning, which was no problem. We also appreciated how well-connected the brownstone was to Manhattan via subway: the C train was just an eight-minute walk and it dropped us off very close to almost all of our destinations in the city (and if it didn't, it was very easy to connect to another train). That said, the next time we will hope to spend more time getting to know the neighborhood: the brownstone is in the heart of Bed-Stuy, a vibrant neighborhood characterized by its diversity and full of beautiful homes like this one.

Finally, I should mention that Larry - the owner - was great about checking in on us. He was out of the country during our stay, but still found time to touch base via email, which I appreciated, and he left a very conscientious friend in charge in his place, and she was available via text whenever we had questions. We felt as though we were in good hands throughout our stay, and wouldn't hesitate to return to this well-appointed home in such an interesting part of Brooklyn.