Topic summary

Audubon Terrace

Audubon Terrace

Audubon Terrace is a cultural complex comprising eight buildings in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex occupies most of a city block and is bounded by Broadway to the east, 155th Street to the south, and 156th Street to the north. Developed for several cultural institutions between 1904 and 1930, Audubon Terrace was commissioned by Archer Milton Huntington. The complex is designated a New York City landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The buildings, designed in the Beaux Arts and American Renaissance styles, are arranged in two parallel rows surrounding a multi-tiered plaza. Archer's cousin Charles P. Huntington drew up the master plan for the site and designed the initial buildings. The later structures were designed by William M. Kendall, Cass Gilbert, and . The buildings have similar exterior architectural design details such as colonnades and elaborate entablatures. The complex also contains artwork by Archer's wife Anna Hyatt Huntington.

The site was originally part of the estate of John James Audubon, which was later developed into the Audubon Park district. The first buildings were completed in 1907 for the Hispanic Society of America and the American Numismatic Society (ANS)—both organizations where Huntington held leadership positions. Additional buildings were designed for the American Academy of Arts and Letters (AAAL), the American Geographical Society (AGS), the Heye Foundation's Museum of the American Indian (MAI), and Our Lady of Esperanza Church, all of which received significant funding from Huntington. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the AGS, ANS, and MAI moved out. Boricua College, the Hispanic Society, and AAAL took over the other three institutions' buildings; Boricua College itself moved out during 2026.