In 2021, Clear Comfort was documented by the LGBT Historic Sites project, the first NYC site dedicated to a woman to be so recognized.[8]
History
View of the house from the beachView over New York Bay
It was originally built in the 1690s/early 1700s as a one-room Dutch Colonial House on the shore of New York Harbor, near the Narrows with brothers Jacob, Lambert and John Woulter/Johnson being the likely first occupants. The brothers Johnson purchased 120 acres of land from George Brown in 1698.[9] Jacob Johnson's mother-in-law was Winifred King Benham, who was tried for witchcraft in Wallingford, Connecticut, and may have been a resident of the house after her acquittal and virtual banishment.[10]
The house was remodeled and expanded several times in the 1800s, most notably after John Haggerty Austen, Alice's grandfather, purchased, renamed, and remodeled it in 1844.[2]
Alice Austen House participates as a museum in the Smithsonian program of Museum Day events.[13] In 2016 Austen House presented its first juried triennial exhibition, Staten Island Unlimited featuring 35 photographers from three boroughs of New York.[14] During the members' preview reception of the show, a toast was made to Alice Austen's 150th birthday. Other activities included Triennial Talks, discussions with artists about their work on the subjects of "Staten Island as Place" and "Staten Island as Community."[15]
In March 2016, the Whitney Museum hosted New Eyes on Alice Austen, a panel discussion in honor of Women's History Month and Alice Austen's 150th birthday featuring "scholars, academics, and historians who have investigated her incredible work and unconventional lifestyle."[16] This was part of the museum's re-interpretation to include Gertrude Tate, Austen's long time life partner.[17][18] This also includes a new podcast, My Dear Alice.[19]
This led to the museum being designated an LGBT site by the National Register of Historic Places.[20]
Alleged haunting
An old neighborhood tradition told that, after midnight, one could hear the clanking of chains coming from the cellar. This was attributed to the ghosts of slaves who were kept there during the American Revolution. Another apocryphal story is that of a British soldier hanging himself from a beam in the parlor because of a broken heart. It is said that the sound of his military boots and the clinking of his spurs may be heard in that room after midnight.[21]
^National Park Service (March 31, 2017), Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 3/20/2017 through 3/24/2017, archived from the original on April 4, 2017, retrieved April 4, 2017. The house was originally entered on the National Register as the "Elizabeth Alice Austen House". Its National Historic Landmark designation uses the name "Alice Austen House". Its National Register listing name was subsequently updated to "Elizabeth Alice Austen House – Clear Comfort" in 2017.
^Dolkart, Andrew S. & Postal, Matthew A.; Guide to New York City Landmarks, 3rd Edition; New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004. ISBN0-471-36900-4; p.342.
^"Alice Austen House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 14, 2007. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved August 6, 2008. For 78 years, this was the home Elizabeth Alice Austen (1866-1952), a remarkable photographer whose work predates in subject matter and technique the photographs of other giants in the field. Austen began her career in the 1870s, and, although she used subjects as other women photographers of her time, her pictures have a realistic and natural edge rather than the blurry romantic view advocated by magazines of the time. Austen also veered away from the conventional studio poses; instead she took pictures of people during the course of their normal activities.
^"Alice Austen House". Places Where Women Made History. National Park Service. January 23, 2007. For 78 years, this was the home Elizabeth Alice Austen (1866-1952), a remarkable photographer whose work predates in subject matter and technique the photographs of other giants in the field.
