Atalaya was built near the Atlantic Ocean in northeastern South Carolina, within present day Huntington Beach State Park.

The location was chosen as a milder winter retreat for the health of Anna Huntington, who suffered from tuberculosis from the mid-twenties to the mid-thirties.

[2] The 200-by-200-foot (61 m × 61 m) masonry structure was built from 1931 to 1933 apparently without drawn plans,[3] Archer Huntington had already designed the residence for them with his detailed imagination 'in his head.

The inner walls of the main courtyard were covered with creeping fig vines, Sabal palmettos, the South Carolina state tree, and other palms.

The living quarters consist of 30 rooms around three sides of the perimeter, while the studio, with its 25-foot (7.6 m) skylight, opens onto a small, enclosed courtyard where Anna Hyatt Huntington worked on her sculptures.