Kemide Lawson is a writer and cultural thinker of Nigerian and Jamaican heritage. Her work explores African and African-diaspora homes across time and place, celebrating what she describes as 'ancestral intelligence' - the creativity, technology and spiritual knowledge embedded in how Black people have historically made home - and how these principles can be applied to modern day life. She is the founder of Cottage Noir, a visual platform dedicated to Black homes of the past and present, and the creator of Afri-tectural Digest, her Substack publication exploring Black history and culture through the lens of the home. Lawson has curated an installation for the Museum of the Home, written for magazines including Livingetc and Harper's Bazaar, and consulted for agencies including Stylus and Selfgood on future trends and cultural identity. She lives in an 18th century cottage in London with her husband and two daughters. Follow her on Instagram and TikTok [...]

About the Author, Introduction, Chapter One: Ancestral Intelligence, The Kassena sukhalas, Burkina Faso, Hausa architecture, Nigeria, Tamberma Tatas, Northern Togo and Benin, Fasilides Castle, Ethiopia, The home of Julio and Liduvige, Cuba, The home of Susanne Wenger, Nigeria, The Yorùbá village of Oyotunji, US, The Vaughan-Richards House, Nigeria, Chapter Two: Afro Aristo, Petrovskoye, the country estate of Abram Gannibal, Russia, King Henry's Palace of San-Souci, Haiti, Madam C.J. Walker's Villa Lewaro, US, George Stiebel's Devon House, Jamaica, Andrew W. Thomas's Ebun House, Nigeria, Senghor House, Senegal, The Tubman Mansion, Liberia, Château and Jardins de Milandes, the family home of Josephine Baker, France, The Gingerbread houses of Haiti, Chapter Three: Radical Shelters, Slave cabins and gardens, US, Harriet Jacobs' garret, US, Chattel houses, Barbados, Krio homes of Sierra Leone, Rastafarian homes, Jamaica, The West Indian front room, UK, The Heidelberg Project, US, Nubia Way, UK Chapter Four: Future Ancestors, The home of Kenneth Montague and family, US, The home of Reggie Yates, UK, The home of Courtney Coke and family, Jamaica, The home of Willie Bester and family, South Africa, The home of Khadambi Asalache, UK, The home of Malene Barnett, US, The homes of Sag Harbor, US, The home of Yinka Shonibare, Nigeria, The home of Reni Folawiyo, Nigeria, The home of Kemide Lawson and family, Afterword, Acknowledgements, Endnotes, Index, Image Credits