Designated: November 9, 1971
The Alice Austen House was the longtime residence of Elizabeth Alice Austen and her partner Gertrude Tate. Austen, a pioneer of American photography lived here for over seventy years. Built between 1691 and 1710, the house originated as a one-room dwelling erected parallel to the shoreline of the Verrazano Narrows. A southern extension was added in 1730, and an additional wing was added before the Revolution, making the plan an L shape. When John Austen purchased the house, he hired James Renwick Jr. to execute further renovations which transformed the matter-of-fact Dutch Colonial house into an example of Victorian architectural romanticism. The house now serves as a museum of Alice Austen’s work.