5. The Alice Austen House, 1690

Photo courtesy Alice Austen House by Floto + Warner, Clear Comfort, 2015,  © Floto + Warner

Located on Hylan Boulevard in the Rosebank neighborhood of Staten Island, the Alice Austen House, also known as Clear Comfort, is named after its most famous resident. Alice Austen, born in Staten Island, is one of the earliest and most well known female photographers in American history. The house began as a one room Dutch Colonial home built in 1690, and it was purchased by Austen’s grandfather, John Haggerty Austen, in 1844. The house underwent a serious remodeling during the 1800s, and Alice Austen and her mother moved into the home in the late 1860s, having been abandoned by Alice’s father. Alice Austen lived at Clear Comfort until 1945, when financial trouble forced her and her partner, Gertrude Tate, to leave.

The farmhouse is an example of a Victorian Gothic cottage and is similar to the many suburban farmhouses that occupied the shores of Staten Island in the 19th century. Thanks to Austen’s extensive collection of photos she took of the home, Clear Comfort has been successfully restored to an almost exact replica of its state during the 19th century. The home now operates as a museum, operated by The Friends of Austen, and features exhibits on Austen and her work as well as period rooms based on her photographs.

The Alice Austen House is located on 2 Hylan Boulevard