Interior view of dining room, May 13, 1894. Photo courtesy of the Staten Island Historical Society.

The dining room and kitchen wing of Clear Comfort is constructed of fieldstone and was added to the original building circa 1750. When John Austen purchased the house, the room that became his dining room had a low ceiling and small windows set deep in the thick fieldstone walls. He increased the ceiling height by lowering the floor almost to ground level. The windows, while remaining deep-set because of the thickness of the walls, were enlarged. He had the rough ceiling beams boxed in and the cracks between the second floor boards that form the dining room ceiling covered with half-round molding.

Wisteria vine and exterior of the dining room/kitchen kitchen wing with cupola above. n.d. Photo courtesy of the Staten Island Historical Society.

Meals at the Austen house were festive affairs, formally served, often lasting two to three hours. Photographs show that the table was stylishly laid with fine silver, crystal, and china. A corner cupboard, probably used to store or display serving pieces, has wood paneled bottom doors and diamond glazed top doors. On the west wall is a fold-down shelf with a pass-through to the kitchen through which the food could be handed to the serving staff.

The room used by the Austens and their predecessors as the kitchen has a large brick fireplace with a wood lintel and an oven in its corner. Initially the Austens' servants cooked in the fireplace and its oven; at a later date, however, they installed a cast-iron stove in the fireplace. In the northeast corner of the kitchen is a steep and narrow staircase that lead to the servants' quarters on the second floor.

"Our kitchen." n.d. Photo courtesy of the Staten Island Historical Society.

Museum Note: The kitchen is used as an office and is not open to the public.