Alice Austen House and Park

The Alice Austen House and Park is a 1.5-acre historic site on the northeastern shore of Staten Island in the Rosebank neighborhood, overlooking the Narrows and New York Harbor. The property preserves the home and legacy of Alice Austen, one of America's earliest and most prolific female photographers.

Austen lived in the house, called Clear Comfort, from 1866 to 1945, producing approximately 8,000 photographs that documented life in New York City, Staten Island, and her travels abroad. Her images of street life, immigrants, domestic scenes, and social events provide an invaluable record of American life from the Victorian era through the early 20th century.

Austen was a pioneering figure in multiple respects: as a woman who mastered the technical complexities of photography at a time when few women practiced the art, and as a woman who lived openly in a lifelong partnership with Gertrude Tate, her companion for over 50 years.

The house, a Gothic Revival cottage built in the 1690s and remodeled in the 1840s, sits on a lawn sloping down to the waterfront. The property offers panoramic views of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Brooklyn, and the harbor, views that Austen herself photographed many times.

The Alice Austen House was designated a New York City landmark in 1971 and a National Historic Landmark in 1993. The museum presents exhibitions of Austen's photographs and the work of contemporary artists, connecting her pioneering vision to ongoing conversations about art, identity, and the power of the image.