The Bowne House is the best-preserved example of Anglo-Dutch vernacular residential architecture in the country, and it continues to occupy its original site. The structure that became the Bowne House was built around 1661, and was expanded by John Bowne in 1669 and 1680, as his family grew and prospered. The present footprint of the house was completed in 1815. Based on a Dutch plan but employing English building techniques, the house represents a blend of the two main architectural traditions of colonial New York. The last alterations were made in the 19th century.

The Bowne House Historical Society was founded in 1945 by a group of local Flushing residents for the sole purpose of purchasing the house and opening it to the public as a museum. The Society purchased the house from the last family occupants, the Parsons sisters, and has operated it as a museum since 1947.

The Museum’s exceptional collections illustrate the social history of the Bowne and Parsons families from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Most of the approximately 5,000 objects in our possession are original to the house and belonged to the family. Included are fine examples of English and American furniture, decorative arts, textiles, costumes, household artifacts, rare books and manuscripts, paintings and toys. Correspondence in the collection demonstrates the influence of political, social and economic events of the day on the house’s residents, including their civic activities. The collections are a renowned resource for scholars of American history and decorative arts.

The Bowne House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is designated a New York City landmark, and is a member of the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The only Network to Freedom designation in the Borough of Queens, and one of only a few in Greater New York, the Bowne House is considered a facility for the research of Underground Railroad history in New York.