House Proud

Every home tells a story. In House Proud, writer and curator Kemide Lawson argues that Black homes tell one of humanity's most enduring and sophisticated stories – of life rooted in nature, community, joy, and the sacred. It is a narrative that has the power to change how we understand the spaces we live in today. Despite the transformative potential of Black-designed homes, they have been consistently overlooked in discussions of architecture and interior design, making this book not just timely, but critical.

Across history and the world, Lawson reveals something essential about the design culture of Africa and the African diaspora. Featured houses range from the Tamberma Tatas of Togo and Benin and the chattel homes of Barbados, to the grandeur of the Palace of Sans-Souci in Haiti and Madam C.J. Walker's New York retreat; encompassing the inspiring contemporary homes of Black people living with intention today. Collectively, Black homes emerge as sites of resistance, innovation, heritage and power.

Richly illustrated with archival and contemporary images, House Proud serves as an important visual compendium of extraordinary homes and an intellectual reckoning. It makes us question what we have been taught to overlook, and why. For homeowners, architects, designers, and anyone who views a home as more than just four walls, this book will challenge how you think about the spaces you live in and make your own.

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 @cottagenoir.