1767 Greenwich Village carriage house once owned by Aaron Burr, now a restaurant where staff and patrons report Burr's apparition tripping employees on the basement stairs.
17 Barrow Street, New York, NY 10014
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$$
Fine-dining restaurant with prix-fixe pricing; one of the most expensive romantic-dining destinations in New York. Reservations strongly recommended.
Access
Limited Access
Historic 1767 carriage house with multiple dining levels and stairs; not wheelchair accessible.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1767 · 18th-Century Carriage House · Aaron Burr Property · Greenwich Village Historic District · Long-running Fine-dining Destination
The carriage house at 17 Barrow Street was built in 1767 to serve a residential estate in then-rural Greenwich Village. From the 1790s into the early 1800s, the building was associated with Aaron Burr, who used the carriage house to stable his horses and coach. Burr served as the third Vice President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson, killed Alexander Hamilton in their notorious July 11, 1804 duel at Weehawken, New Jersey, and was later tried — and acquitted — for treason.
Following Burr's political downfall and exile, the city seized his Greenwich Village property. The carriage house at 17 Barrow Street passed through a sequence of uses over the 19th and early 20th centuries: it operated as a city firehouse, then in the late 19th century reportedly as a brothel, and in the early 20th century as a silent-movie house. By mid-century the building was a deteriorating Greenwich Village curiosity.
In 1972, the building was renovated and opened as the restaurant One If by Land, Two If by Sea — a name drawing on Paul Revere's signal lanterns. The restaurant was conceived as a fine-dining destination on multiple levels: a main dining room on the ground floor with a fireplace, an upper balcony, and a basement bar area. Over its five decades of operation it has become one of New York's most frequently cited 'most romantic restaurant' destinations, hosting thousands of marriage proposals and earning a place in popular culture references including episodes of Sex and the City.
The building is not individually a designated landmark but is part of the Greenwich Village Historic District, designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1969. The structure retains its 18th-century footprint and significant original interior elements including the wide-plank wooden floors and the fireplace believed to have served the original Barrow Street stables.
Sources
According to NY Ghosts and the Association of Paranormal Study survey of Aaron Burr haunting sites, the most-cited entity at 17 Barrow Street is Burr himself, described in published accounts as an agitated and volatile presence. The basement stairwell is the most consistently reported location: NY Ghosts records staff and patron accounts of an unseen force tripping employees and guests on the staircase descending to the basement bar, with witnesses sometimes describing earrings being pulled off mid-descent.
The Association of Paranormal Study feature on the multiple Burr haunting sites — which also include the Morris-Jumel Mansion and the Stone Street area — frames the Barrow Street activity as one of Burr's more 'angry' manifestations, noting paranormal-investigator EVP captures of a male voice saying 'My house.'
The Bowery Boys ghost-stories survey records reports of Theodosia Burr Alston, Burr's daughter, as a quieter presence at the restaurant. Theodosia was lost at sea in January 1813 when her ship, the Patriot, disappeared off the North Carolina coast en route from Charleston to New York. Her body and the ship were never recovered. Witness accounts at One If by Land describe a quietly moving female figure in early-19th-century dress passing through the upstairs dining areas without interacting with patrons.
The Ahoy New York Food Tours survey notes additional reports from paranormal investigators who have visited the restaurant claiming to detect as many as 20 distinct presences in the building, attributable to its long succession of uses including the period as a brothel. These higher-count claims are single-source and should be treated as folklore rather than verified accounts. The restaurant has not endorsed paranormal investigation programming but its haunted reputation is part of its established cultural identity.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Dine in a multi-room 1767 Greenwich Village carriage house long regarded as one of New York's most romantic restaurants. The space includes the main dining room, an upstairs balcony, and a basement bar associated with the building's most-reported paranormal phenomena. The restaurant offers a prix-fixe menu and has hosted thousands of marriage proposals since opening in 1972.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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