Willard and Dorothy Whitney Straight Mansion

The mansion at 1130 Fifth Avenue stands as a rare survivor of the Gilded Age, marking the northernmost edge of the grand private residences that once defined this stretch of the avenue. Completed in 1915, the house was a project of the architectural firm Delano and Aldrich, who utilized a refined neo-Georgian style characterized by red brick, white marble trim, and distinctive circular windows on the top floor. Willard Straight, an influential banker and diplomat, and his wife Dorothy Whitney Straight, a notable suffragette and founder of the Junior League of New York, lived here for only three years before Willard tragically died of influenza while serving in the military. The couple commissioned a separate garage for their home, which reflected the era's luxury through specialized features like a turntable for cars, enameled brick walls, and a dedicated tire closet. Inside the mansion itself, the owners installed a large Aeolian pipe organ, a complex instrument that cost over sixteen thousand dollars at the time. Following the family's departure, the building transitioned through several institutional roles, including serving as the headquarters for the Audubon Society and later as the home of the International Center of Photography. Today, the property has returned to its original purpose as a private residence, maintained by a owner who restored it to a single-family home.