Archer M. Huntington Residence

 residence, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, historic landmark

Housed in a six story Beaux-Arts mansion enlarged in 1913 for Archer Milton Huntington, heir to railroad magnate Collis Huntington, the museum and school had been at this location since 1942. In 1913, Huntington commissioned Ogden Codman to renovate the earlier design by Turner & Kilian, with a new limestone facade, an elegant indoor carriage entrance, and a large new wing, perpendicular to the main house, with another facade, and service entrance on East 89th street. The interiors all received typical Codman French classical designs, but the moment of genius was the main stair, which served as the lynchpin of the plan, at the point where the two wings of the vast 'L' shaped house joined from the two streets. And what a stair it was, a perfect Belle Epoque swirl of bronze, gilt, marble, and limestone. The entire second floor, from paneled library on Fifth Avenue, through the Adamesque long gallery, anterooms, and rotunda to Salon and the Stone Room on 89th St. was designed for entertaining on the largest scale. Huntington later donated the mansion to the National Academy of Design, which occupied it as joint gallery museum and school.

The property was donated to the Academy by the family and Mrs. Huntington maintained a studio and small apartment in the building until shortly before her death. It was converted by William A. Delano (of the firm of Delano & Aldrich. The exhibition space occupies two floors, but was closed until September 2011 for renovation and was later opened. The Academy no longer feels able to afford the complex, and have placed the Huntington mansion on the market, with the two wings marketed as two separate townhouses for a total of 120 million dollars.

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