by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

Once upon a time, financier and philanthropist Otto Hermann Kahn decided to build his own mansion in 1919, right in the middle of a 443 acre plot on the highest point of Cold Spring Harbor in Long Island.

Thusly, Oheka Castle was named after his creator, as a contraction of his name — O(tto)He(rmann)Ka(hn) — and at the time of its construction the French-style château was, and still is today, the second-largest private residence ever built in America.

Social imaginary is accustomed to compassing castles and historic mansions in Europe or isolated sites, definitely not in a place you can reach from Manhattan in less than an hour. But this is the trait that makes the American palace even more unique, since the very Kahn would use his private yacht to commute back and forth between his Long Island manor and New York City.

The financier was as farsighted in architecture as he was responsive with the arts. For instance, Kahn was determined to build a fireproof building, so he had his architects, Delano and Aldrich, design the building out of steel and concrete, making it one of the first totally fireproof residences, which proved to be determining to preserve the castle through time. On the other hand he didn’t conform to the standards of his tycoon colleagues, by indulging actively in art and populating his abode with a variety of artists. Amongst his most frequent guests were Charlie Chaplin, Helen Hayes, George Gershwin, Douglas Fairbanks, Sylvia Sidney, Ruth Gordon, Arturo Toscanini, Enrico Caruso, Dorothy Parker, the Marx brothers, the Ritz brothers and the Ziegfeld Folly girls.

Seems like Otto Kahn and his estate could have been the inspirers of Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, considering that during the Roaring Twenties Oheka Castle hosted lavish parties and regularly entertained royalty, heads of state, and Hollywood stars.

But from 1934, after Kahn’s death, the estate set in the Gold Coast of Long Island near Huntington, changed hands several times and switched to more austere purposes. The castle served as a retreat for New York sanitation workers and a government training school for Merchant Marine radio operators. Eventually, in 1948, the Eastern Military Academy bought Oheka, bulldozed the gardens, subdivided the rooms and painted over the walls.

After the school went bankrupt 30 years later, the mansion was abandoned and was destined to perish, were it not for the enlightened vision of developer Gary Melius, who purchased it in 1984, restored it to its original grandeur and decided to make the fabulist experience available to all: currently, Oheka is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is admired as a premier venue to host society weddings, gala celebrations, and corporate retreats.

Oheka Castel today, is much more than a historic luxury hotel. Famous music, television, film and photo productions have used it as scenography — since the making of the classic film, ‘Citizen Kane,’ to the present day TV series, ‘Royal Pains.’ Kahn, who loved to populate the estate with artists and luminaries, would be delighted to know that his successor, Gary Melius has enhanced this tradition, bringing to Oheka Castle, Dan Akroyd, Alec Baldwin, Jim Belushi, Tony Bennett, President Bill Clinton with Former US secretary Hillary Clinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Donald Trump, Jennifer Lopez, Winona Ryder and Nicole Kidman…just to mention a few.

Oheka Castle is part of the Gold Coast Mansions, along with Old Westbury Gardens, Planting Fields-Coe Hall, Eagle’s Nest-Vanderbuilt Museum, Mill Neck Manor, NYIT de Seversky Mansion. But the Melius-family-run-château is the only one of these venues where you can actually lodge and enjoy the tour sitting in the armchairs and sofas. Despite the grandeur, the history, and enchantment of Oehka Castle, you won’t feel overwhelmed by reverential awe and fear of compromising some piece of furniture. You will feel at home, in a fairytale setting, where past and present align in the name of regal-bohemian make merry.

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