Otto H. Kahn House

Otto H. Kahn House
View of the Otto H. Kahn House from Fifth Avenue and 91st Street
Map
Location1 East 91st Street, Manhattan, New York
Coordinates40°47′05″N 73°57′28″W / 40.78472°N 73.95778°W / 40.78472; -73.95778
Built1914–1918
ArchitectJ. Armstrong Stenhouse; C. P. H. Gilbert
NRHP reference No.06000821
NYSRHP No.06101.000248
NYCL No.0675
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 12, 2006[3]
Designated NYSRHPJune 28, 2006[1]
Designated NYCLFebruary 19, 1974[2]

The Otto H. Kahn House is a mansion at 1 East 91st Street, at Fifth Avenue, in the Carnegie Hill section of the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The four-story mansion was designed by architects J. Armstrong Stenhouse and C. P. H. Gilbert in the neo-Italian Renaissance style. It was completed in 1918 as the town residence of the financier and philanthropist Otto H. Kahn and his family. The Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private school, owns the Kahn House along with the adjacent James A. Burden House, which is internally connected. The mansion is a New York City designated landmark and, along with the Burden House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The mansion's facade is made of French limestone and is rusticated on the first and second stories, with large archways on the first floor. The house has French- and Italian-style interiors and is divided into front and rear sections, with an oval entrance hall connecting the floors. The first floor originally contained reception spaces while the second floor had spaces including a study, library, theater, drawing room, and dining room. On the top stories, there were 15 bedrooms with en suite dressing rooms and bathrooms.

Andrew Carnegie purchased the site in 1898 to protect the value of his nearby mansion, but he did not sell it until 1913, when Kahn bought the plot. After the house was completed, the Kahns hosted various events there, splitting their time between their 91st Street residence and Oheka Castle on Long Island. The family was seeking to sell the house by the early 1930s. After Otto Kahn died in 1934, the Convent of the Sacred Heart bought it and converted the house into classrooms, a library, and offices. The house was renovated in the late 20th century, though many of the interior spaces have been preserved.

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