The house was built in 1794 by Thomas Beall. During its early years, the house was situated on a large plot of land and was said to have had a servants wing attached to the east side. At that time
N Street was known as
Gay Street and was situated higher than today. for $200,000 (), from Kennedy when she moved to
New York City. While living in the home, Straight married his second wife,
Nina G. Auchincloss Steers in 1974. Nina was the daughter of Nina Gore and
Hugh D. Auchincloss. She was the half-sister of writer
Gore Vidal and coincidentally, a stepsister of
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Straight and his wife spent $125,000 () renovating the home and decided to move to
Bethesda, Maryland in 1976 when he was vice chairman of the
National Endowment for the Arts. Straight and his wife lived in the home until 1976. In 1976,
Yolande Betbeze Fox, the former
Miss America 1951, bought the home from Straight. Fox lived in the home with her granddaughter,
Paris Campbell, until her death in February 2016. ==Architectural details==