As the tour docent at the famed Oheka Castle, I meet Long Islanders from all over our island. Many of them visit Oheka for the first time, even though they have lived here for years! As I reveal the unique history of this one time "Gatsby" party estate every day, I am amazed at how so many people have never heard of one of the wealthiest New Yorkers, Otto Herman Kahn (O -he- ka).
The estate was built in 1919 for 11 million dollars as a summer home and weekend retreat. And what a retreat it was! With 443 acres of sprawling equestrian trails and woodland, an 18 hole golf course, a 10 car garage for Otto's Rolls Royces, the most extensive greenhouses in the country at the time, tennis courts, an indoor lap pool, beautiful formal gardens designed by the Olmstead Brothers, a working dairy farm, a race track and an airstrip!
Built to be fireproof by Kahn, the Fench Chateau style house had 127 rooms, 39 fireplaces and over 400 doors and windows. There were roughly 126 servants to care for the Kahn family of six. Many caretakers came to the estate when the Kahns were there for the summer, by way of train (Cold Spring Harbor Station) and walked across the golf course into a tunnel under the ground to access the kitchens and laundry areas.
Today, Oheka castle is the largest private renovation in the United States. The transformation to its former glory has been 29 years in the making. It is roughly 95% complete. They host fabulous weddings and parties (just like in the old days) and they are also one of America's great historic hotels.
Come visit one of our true remaining Long Island treasures. Visit www.Oheka.com for more information on tours. I'll see you there!
I would love to volunteer at Okeka if you ever need anyone. Vivian
My parents explained to me that the military academy was actually a type of reform school for "bad boys". As a young kid I remember seeing the cadets walking through our neighborhood heading for the Cold Spring Harbor RR Station. My folks explained that many of these alleged bad boys lived in NYC, so before weekends and holidays, the pseudo-West Point cadets would take the train back to their homes in New York. I would eye them warily but with curiosity: what had they done that was so bad that they needed to be sent to reform school? Had they been busted for conterfeit baseball cards, or stealing cases of Silly Putty from their local Woolworth's? I never found out. Three or four of them would trudge down the street together with duffle bags slung over their shoulders and they'd be wearing their serious, steel gray pseudo-West Point cadet uniforms. Wait....do you ever talk about this chapter in the history of Oheka during your tour?