OHEKA CASTLE Hotel & Estate

Established in 1919. Almost a century ago, financier and philanthropist Otto H. Kahn built Oheka on 443 acres on the Famed Gold Coast of Long Island. At the time, the French-style chateau was, and still is today, the 2nd largest private residence ever built in America. During the Gilded Age of the 1920's, Kahn used the 109,000 sq. ft., 127 room estate as a summer home where he hosted lavish parties and entertained royalty, heads of state, and Hollywood stars. After Kahn died in 1934, the estate changed hands several times, serving as a retreat for New York sanitation workers, and a gov't training school for Merchant Marine radio operators. In 1948, the Eastern Military Academy bought Oheka, bulldozed the gardens, subdivided the rooms and painted over the walls. 30 years later, Oheka stood abandoned. In 1984, Gary Melius purchased Oheka and the remaining 23 acres which surrounded the estate and began restoring the Castle to its original grandeur.