Lyndhurst Mansion

Lyndhurst is a Gothic Revival mansion of 1838, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis for William Paulding Jr., a former mayor of New York City. It stands on a 67 acre Hudson River estate in Tarrytown that later belonged to the railroad financier Jay Gould. It was doubled in size in 1864 and 1865 for the merchant George Merritt, who renamed it for the estate’s linden trees. It is now a National Trust for Historic Preservation site. Two things matter before the photographs do their work on you. Receptions do not take place inside the mansion: the reception space is a semi permanent tent at the Carriage House, with ceremonies on the Great Lawn or in the Rose Garden. And every published number here comes from a marketplace, because we could not load the estate’s own website from this session. Those marketplace numbers disagree with each other on price, on curfew and on who is allowed to cook.

The house is 1838 and the reception is in a tent, and both of those are fine once you know

Alexander Jackson Davis designed the original house in 1838. George Merritt doubled it in the mid 1860s. Jay Gould bought it later, and his family’s ownership is why the place survived intact enough to become a National Trust property. Cvent lists the venue as Lyndhurst, National Trust for Historic Preservation, established 1838. The Knot describes the estate at 67 acres on the Hudson River.

The wedding itself happens around the house rather than inside it. The primary reception space is the Carriage House with a semi permanent tent, holding up to 250. Ceremonies are offered on the Great Lawn and in the Rose Garden with its gazebo. There is also an English Courtyard, and the mansion veranda looks out over the Hudson and the Tappan Zee Bridge. Cvent records four event spaces and 5,000 square feet of total meeting space.

This is not a complaint. A tent at a National Trust property is how most historic house weddings work, because a room full of dancing guests is hard on a museum. It is simply not what the exterior photographs imply, and couples should go in knowing which building they will be in at 9pm.

Three marketplaces publish three different site fees and one of them is 13 years old

WeddingWire gives a peak season hire of $5,000 for May, June, September, October and November, and $3,500 off peak for April, July and August. It states the fee includes the bridal suite, chairs, tables, setup, cleanup, event planning and lighting and sound. Tagvenue prices the same estate differently: from $6,000 plus per person for Friday to Sunday, and $12,000 to $15,000 Monday to Thursday. Those are not variations of one rate card. They are different pricing models.

Cvent also lists figures, and they are explicitly labelled 2013 rates. That makes them roughly thirteen years stale, so we are not publishing them as prices. We mention them only so that nobody else quotes them back at you as current.

No per person catering figure is published by anyone. Tagvenue’s phrasing of from $6,000 plus per person tells you a per head charge exists on top of hire, without telling you what it is. Tagvenue also lists valet parking at $12 per person, which is an add on rather than a service charge.

The caterer question has three answers and you need the current one

The Knot says catering is managed exclusively by CulinArt Group, formerly Philip Stone Caterers, in all inclusive packages covering catering, bar, tables, chairs, dance floors and lighting. WeddingWire says in house catering through Philip Stone Caterers is required but outside vendors are otherwise permitted. Cvent lists five approved caterers: Catering by DoubleTree, Philip Stone Caterers, Regal Caterers, Le Moulin Event Planning and Catering, and Sterling Affair. Tagvenue says external catering is not permitted and bringing your own alcohol is prohibited.

What is consistent across all four is that you do not choose freely. What is not consistent is who the incumbent is or whether a list exists. Catering contracts at historic sites change hands, and a listing written two years ago will still be online today. Ask the estate directly who holds the contract now, and get the answer before you sign anything with an outside caterer you love.

The end time is either 11:30pm or 10pm depending on which listing you read

The Knot states events must conclude by 11:30pm. Tagvenue gives opening hours of 10:00am to 10:00pm with an alcohol licence running to 10:00pm. That is a ninety minute gap on the single question most likely to cost you money, because the band, the bar and the transport all price against it. We have not reconciled the two and neither should you: ask the estate for the contracted end time and the licence end time, which are not always the same thing.

We could not verify the official website, which is a limitation in our research rather than a fact about the venue

Our session could not load lyndhurst.org. That is a network restriction on our end and it is not evidence that the site is down or that the venue is closed. Two independent third party sources give lyndhurst.org as the official site, and we have left the field empty rather than assert a URL we did not open.

On operating status, current 2026 listings on The Knot, WeddingWire, Cvent and Tagvenue all show the venue as active. We would still treat a direct phone call as the confirming step, because everything above is second hand.

The rain plan is the weak point of an outdoor ceremony at a museum property

Ceremonies are sold outdoors, on the Great Lawn and in the Rose Garden. No current rain plan is published by any source we read. The Carriage House tent is the obvious fallback and no source says it is guaranteed to you, or that a ceremony can be moved into it while a reception is being set inside.

Cvent’s 2013 era note records a Rose Garden ceremony fee of $500 rain or shine, which is stale and which we are not publishing as a rate. Ask what the ceremony fee is now. Ask what the rain call deadline is, how many hours before the ceremony it falls, and who makes the call.