Fifth Avenue and East 91st Street, Carnegie Hill

Weddings at the Burden Kahn Mansions

The Burden Kahn Mansions are two historic houses side by side on East 91st Street, at Fifth Avenue in Carnegie Hill: the James Burden Mansion and the Otto Kahn Mansion. Between them are marble-walled rooms, a spiral marble staircase beneath a painted dome, a third-floor ballroom and a limestone courtyard that glows at dusk. It is a place for a wedding that wants the scale and detail of a great New York house.

Looking up the spiral marble staircase of the Burden Kahn Mansions, its black iron balustrade curving beneath a painted dome. — The Burden Kahn Mansions, East 91st Street. The staircase.

The rooms already carry the design. Carved plaster, veined marble and gilded detail leave little to add, so the work here is restraint: lighting, flowers and a table that sit within the architecture rather than compete with it. Two houses side by side also give a wedding room to move, from a ceremony in one setting to dinner in another.

The stone courtyard of the Burden Kahn Mansions at dusk, its warmly lit windows, balustraded steps and carved facade rising around a potted tree. — The courtyard at dusk.

The James Burden MansionCeremony, dinner, dancing: The Burden house is a sequence of formal rooms: a banquet hall with viridian green marble walls, a marble room with a herringbone parquet floor, a fireplace and a Baroque ceiling of cherubs, and a ballroom on the third floor overlooking East 91st Street. A rotunda leads to a grand spiral staircase of marble beneath a painted dome, a natural place for portraits before the ceremony. Per the venue, the banquet hall holds 160 for a ceremony, 120 for cocktails and 90 for a seated dinner; the music room 50, 50 and 40; the ballroom 200, 200 and 150. The house holds 200 guests overall.
The Otto Kahn MansionCeremony, cocktail hour, dinner: An Italian Renaissance house on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 91st Street. Its assembly hall has an Adam ceiling, a gilded fireplace and a crystal chandelier, and it opens to a grey stone foyer with tall windows onto the courtyard. The limestone courtyard, with views toward Central Park, suits a ceremony or a welcome drink at dusk. Per the venue, the courtyard holds 120 for a ceremony, 180 for cocktails and 85 for dinner; the foyer 80, 120 and 60; the theater 180, 180 and 100. The house holds 200 guests overall.

Weddings in Manhattan

One house or both

The venue’s own guests describe weddings held in the James Burden Mansion alone and in both houses together. The venue confirms which combination is available for your date and hours, and we are glad to help with that first conversation.

Let the architecture lead

Gilded and marbled rooms suit a calm, edited design. We choose flowers, lighting and linen to sit within the room, so nothing competes with it.

Plan the move between rooms

With a ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner in different spaces, or in different houses, the timing between them matters most. We write the run of show with the venue’s team so guests are always led, never left waiting.

Plan the courtyard around the stone

The courtyard is limestone, and the venue allows only a white bar and white food there to protect the stone. We plan the menu, the bar and the flowers around it from the start.

Capacity depends on the layout

The venue’s capacities change with the layout and the set-up, so we plan the floor plan, the seating and the flow of the evening together before we confirm a guest count.

Check the venue’s terms early

Historic houses have their own rules on load-in, hours, music and approved vendors. We learn them before the design begins.

Can you plan our wedding at the Burden Kahn Mansions?

Yes. We plan and design weddings in New York’s historic houses and private venues, and we work within each venue’s rules from the start.

Can we rent one mansion or both?

Weddings here have been held in the James Burden Mansion alone and in both houses together. The venue confirms which combination is available for your date, and we are glad to make that first inquiry with you.

Where are the Burden Kahn Mansions?

At 1-7 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128, at Fifth Avenue in Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side, a short walk from Central Park.

How many guests do the Burden Kahn Mansions hold?

Each house holds 200 guests overall, according to the venue. For a seated dinner the Burden ballroom holds 150 and the banquet hall 90, and the Kahn theater holds 100 and the courtyard 85. Layout and set-up change these numbers, so we plan the floor around your guest list.

Planning a wedding at Burden Kahn Mansions? Tell us about it.

Tell us about your wedding, and we will take it from there.