Harold Pratt House hosts weddings, receptions, private dinners, meetings and conferences for up to 275 standing guests, using six period rooms in a two-floor mansion and the adjoining Peterson Hall conference center. The house is at 58 East 68th Street, on the corner of Park Avenue, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Seminars and company events
Peterson Hall is the business space. It seats 250 theatre-style, 180 for dinner and 275 for a reception, and it divides into three seminar rooms of 60 theatre-style each. A 22 foot LCD video wall, a sound system, a choice of microphones and staging options are installed, and an audio-visual lab takes 25. The AV equipment comes at no extra charge, while an in-house technician is required at an additional rate.
Inside the house, the Altschul Room seats 110 theatre-style and the Rubin Library, on the second floor, 100, so a conference can run its plenary in Peterson Hall and its receptions in the period rooms. The house is the headquarters of the Council on Foreign Relations, which explains its long use for policy meetings, briefings and film shoots.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings move from room to room: cocktails in the library, then dinner and dancing in the ballroom. The Rockefeller Room, the former drawing room of the Pratt family, seats 130 for dinner and takes 200 standing. A bridal suite is available, and there is no outdoor space. A professional planner or day-of coordinator approved by the venue is required.
Rooms and capacities
Rockefeller Room: 130 dinner, 200 reception, 160 theatre. Altschul Room: 70 dinner, 120 reception, 110 theatre. Rubin Library: 60 dinner, 120 reception, 100 theatre. Hauser Room: 40 dinner, 50 reception, 45 theatre. Greenberg Room: 40 dinner, 50 reception. Effron Hall: 40 reception. Peterson Hall: 180 dinner, 275 reception, 250 theatre. The standard rental lasts nine hours: three for set-up, five for the event and one for breakdown.
Catering
Food and drink come from an outside caterer. Clients may bring their own caterer, florist and planner, but each must be approved by the venue team, which may ask for references from other New York venues and a walkthrough. Caterers must provide insurance, a liquor permit and enough staff. The venue keeps a list of recommended vendors and encourages clients to use it.
History and setting
William Adams Delano of Delano and Aldrich designed the house, built in 1920 for Harold Irving Pratt and his wife. Pratt was the youngest of eight children of Charles Pratt, whose oil business merged with Standard Oil. The house was reputed to have cost over a million dollars at the time. The rooms keep their chandeliers, fireplaces, pine paneling and tall windows over Park Avenue, and family portraits still hang in Effron Hall and the Hauser Sitting Room.
Getting there
The Hunter College stop on the 6 train is two blocks away. Several parking garages are within two blocks, and there is no valet. The building is wheelchair accessible. LaGuardia is the nearest airport.
