Herbert N. Straus House

Herbert N. Straus House is a nine-floor residence in French style on East 71st Street in Manhattan, distinguished by its limestone facade and large arched windows. The heavy oak door at the entrance stands about 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall and leads into rooms spread across a total area of roughly 51,000 square feet (4,700 square meters).

In the mid-1920s Herbert Straus, whose family owned the Macy's department store, hired architect Horace Trumbauer to design it, but the house was only completed in 1933, shortly after Straus died. Over the following decades the building served as a hospital under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and later as a school called Birch Wathen.

The name recalls Herbert Straus, heir to the Macy's department store, though his family never occupied the completed house. Visitors recognize the French architecture through its tall arches and the elaborate pale stone facade that sets the building apart from surrounding houses.

The facade is visible from East 71st Street, between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue, on a street lined with other historic houses. Walking the neighborhood reveals more examples of early twentieth-century architecture along the adjoining streets.

Some of the original eighteenth-century French interior elements were removed and now belong to the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These pieces reflect the elaborate design planned for the house before it changed uses several times.