 Beginning in 1947 , shortly after the <unk> of the United Nations secretariat in New York , the U.S. State Department took a long @-@ term lease for occupancy of a suite of rooms by the U.S. ambassador at the Waldorf @-@ Astoria , a luxury hotel constructed in 1931 . The establishment of the ambassador 's residence at the Waldorf @-@ Astoria made it the first hotel in history to house an ambassadorial residence . In 1960 , a <unk> at Sutton Place , originally constructed by J.P. Morgan in 1921 , was donated to the U.S. government by then owner Arthur Houghton with the intention it be used as a new ambassadorial residence . However , ambassador <unk> Stevenson II determined the home was not to his liking and the residence continued at the Waldorf @-@ Astoria . ( The Sutton Place <unk> was subsequently re @-@ gifted by the United States to the United Nations and currently serves as the official residence of the Secretary @-@ General of the United Nations . ) 
