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With their 1858 landscaping plan under construction, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux began adding architectural features to their Park design. Around 1874, Vaux designed a two-story boathouse at the eastern end of the Lake. Here visitors could purchase refreshments, take boat rides, and watch other boats. After this wooden Victorian structure with sloping mansard roof burned down, the current Loeb Boathouse took its place in the 1950s.

Today at the New York Boathouse visitors can enjoy a meal in any season, with overhead heating helping to extend as long as possible the pleasure of dining on the deck overlooking the Lake. More informal snacks are available on the outside terrace across from the bicycle rental concession, and a quick service concession as well.

At The Boathouse you can also rent rowboats or take a ride in an authentic Venetian gondola. This is more than a ride, it is an "event" – with luck, your gondolier might just break into song at some point in the trip.

The boathouse is the only place in Manhattan where you can host any affair right by the lake.  Whether it is a wedding, conference or a private event we can provide the best you can find.  Visit our banquets section for more details.

To the west of the Boathouse entrance, at the entrance to the Ramble, is a small, wire-fenced area where the Conservancy along with volunteers is experimenting with growing wildflowers that attract butterflies. To date, 26 species of butterfly have been spotted. July and August are the best times to butterfly watch.

Visitors also come to the Boathouse to record their observations of birds and other Park wildlife in the "Bird Register." This unprepossessing 2-inch loose-leaf notebook kept in the Boathouse documents the incredible compendium of wildlife in the Park. Birders record birds seen or heard or document a small wildlife drama witnessed in one of the Park's landscapes.