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Case Study: Alice Austen House Museum
The Alice Austen House Museum is located in the former home of Alice Austen, noted Staten Island resident and one of the world’s first and foremost female photographers. Dubbed “Clear Comfort” by Alice’s father John Austen, the picturesque structure stands as a prime example of a nineteenth-century America suburban “cottage.”
The house and garden served as a source of pride for John Austen, who transformed the home from a Dutch farmhouse into a Victorian Gothic cottage. Alice lived in the house until 1945 when financial hardship and illness forced her to move. In her absence, the property fell into decay.
Built around 1700, the house has undergone multiple restorations and renovations over the centuries, with the most recent restoration in 1984. In the 1960s, a group of concerned citizens united to preserve Clear Comfort; in 1970 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and then designated a New York City Landmark in 1971.
Clear Comfort became a National Historic Landmark in 1993. Clear Comfort and its gardens occupy the eastern portion of New York City’s Alice Austen House Park; the western portion, which is currently not accessible to the public, includes the 1841 New York City Landmark Bredt-McFarlane House. The Alice Austen House Museum has engaged Beckelman+Capalino to help evaluate the feasibility of incorporating the Bredt-McFarlane House into the Museum’s operations. Beckelman+Capalino will develop a plan for achieving the expansion and help the Museum to identify and reach out to potential public and private funding sources.