Private dining

A room of your own

A birthday dinner by the fire in the Library, or eighty people at long tables in the old chapel. Dee cooks, we pour, and you close the door.

Ask about a date See the set menus

The Great Hall set for dinner: long tables under tall arched windows

The rooms

The Library

The Library is on the ground floor of the original 1748 house, the part Captain Josiah Crane built with West Indies money. It has a carved mantel, a fireplace that works, two walls of books (some of them the house's own, most donated by guests over the years), and a small glass case holding the marbles found in the walls during the 1997 restoration. One long table seats up to 14. It is the room we'd choose for a fortieth birthday, a book group with ambitions, a small rehearsal dinner, or a family that hasn't all been in one place for a while.

The Library hosts Tarot & Tea on Sunday afternoons and Samuel's history talk on Thursday evenings, so it is available for private dinners on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings, and for lunches Wednesday to Saturday.

Seated: Up to 14 at one table
Reception: Up to 20 standing
Food & beverage minimum: $1,200 dinner; $600 lunch
Room fee: None

The Library: fireplace, bookshelves and the small case of marbles — The Library, with the marbles in their case to the left of the fire.

The Great Hall

The Great Hall was the chapel of Hollis & Vane Funeral Parlor from 1893 to 1946, and it's the grandest room in the house: a long, tall hall with arched windows on two sides, a beamed ceiling, and a small raised platform at the far end where the lectern stood. For weddings it seats 80 for dinner; for a private dinner we can set it as long banquet tables, rounds, or one great table down the middle. It is also where the Séance Supper happens in October, and there is no truth to the rumor that the candles relight themselves.

Seated: Up to 80
Reception: Up to 110 standing
Food & beverage minimum: $6,500 Friday–Saturday dinner; $4,000 Sunday–Thursday; $2,500 lunch
Room fee: $750 (waived above $10,000 in food and beverage)

The Great Hall, set for sixty.

The Great Hall is often booked for weddings on Saturdays from May to October; ask about Friday and Sunday evenings, which are easier, and in October, ask very early. For wedding receptions see wedding venues; for showers, retreats and celebrations of life see private events.

Set menus

For private dinners we offer two set menus, written by Chef Dee Okafor and changed with the season. Guests choose their main course in advance (we'll send you a card to collect choices), and dietary needs are handled individually. Bread, coffee and tea are included. These are the autumn and winter menus, served from September through March.

The Library Table · $85 per person

Three courses, served family-style for the first course and plated after.

To share

Smoked bluefish pâté with rye crisps; roasted beets with whipped goat cheese; Theo's sourdough and smoked-salt butter

Fish chowder

A cup, with oyster crackers

Main course (choose one)

Benne-seed cod with smoked tomato and pepper sauce · Roast half chicken with pan jus · Jollof risotto with squash and plantain V

Dessert

Indian pudding with vanilla ice cream, or "Last Rites" chocolate pot de crème

The Great Hall Supper · $125 per person

Four courses, plated, with a passed canapé hour.

Canapés (the first hour)

Local oysters on the half shell; johnnycake bites with crème fraîche and trout roe; akara with pepper sauce V; deviled eggs

First course

Scallop crudo with citrus and benne seeds, or squash and apple soup V

Salad

Chicory and roasted pear with blue cheese and spiced pecans

Main course (choose one)

Braised short rib with grits · Suya-spiced swordfish with black-eyed peas · Seared sea scallops with celery root · Groundnut stew with plantain VG

Dessert

A trio: Indian pudding, a small pot de crème, and lavender panna cotta

Add-ons

Raw bar station (oysters, clams, shrimp, with a shucker): $28 per person, minimum 30 guests
A cheese course: $14 per person
The Ledger tasting (five courses) for groups of up to 14 in the Library: $95 per person, with the $55 pairing optional
Late-night johnnycakes, passed at 9 pm: $9 per person (yes, people ask)

Drinks

We offer three ways to pour: by consumption, on a running tab, billed at bar prices; a wine package ($42 per person for three hours: one sparkling, one white and one red chosen with you, plus beer and zero-proof); or the full bar package ($62 per person for three hours: the wine package plus house cocktails from the Undertaker's Parlor list). Add a signature welcome cocktail from $12 per person; most groups choose the Widow's Lantern or, for non-drinkers, Little Tom.

Prices are per person and do not include Massachusetts meals tax (7%) or a 22% service charge, which is added to all private dining. Food and beverage minimums are before tax and service. Menus and prices are subject to change; your quote will confirm them. A 50% deposit holds the room; the final guest count is due seven days before the event (21 days for events of 40 or more). Cancellations more than 30 days out receive the deposit back, less $250; inside 30 days, the deposit is non-refundable.

Things people ask

Can we bring our own cake? Yes, from a licensed bakery, with a $3 per guest cutting and plating fee. Our own wine? Up to six bottles, $30 corkage each. Music? Quiet background music in the Library; in the Great Hall, a pianist or a small trio is fine until 11 pm (the house's indoor curfew). Decorations? Flowers, candles in hurricane glasses, place cards, yes; confetti, glitter and open flames other than ours, no. Overnight guests? If you book the Great Hall, we'll hold rooms at the inn for your group until 30 days before.

Celebrations of life. Given the building's history, we're asked more often than you might think. We host them in the Library and the Great Hall with care and without fuss; please write to us and we'll talk it through.

Ask about a private dinner

Tell us a little and Wren Halloway, our events director, or someone from her team will write back with availability and a quote. You can also call (978) 555-0148 or write to events@cranelantern.example.