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Oheka Castle

Oheka Castle, also known as the Otto Kahn Estate, is a hotel located on the North Shore (or "Gold Coast") of Long Island, in West Hills, New York, a hamlet in the town of Huntington. It was the country home of investment financier and philanthropist Otto Hermann Kahn and his family.

For the yacht, see Oheka II.

Location

135 W. Gate Drive,
Huntington, New York

23.2 acres (9.4 ha)

1914–1919

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements, Chateauesque

September 15, 2004

The name "Oheka" is an acronym using the first several letters of each part of its creator's name, Otto Hermann Kahn, which Kahn also used to name his yacht Oheka II and his oceanfront Villa Oheka in Palm Beach, Florida. The mansion, built by Kahn between 1914 and 1919, is the largest private home in New York, and the third largest in the United States, comprising 127 rooms and over 109,000 sq ft (10,100 m2), as originally configured. It is said to be built on the highest point on Long Island.[2]


The castle is now a hotel with 32 guest rooms and suites. It is a popular wedding venue for socialites, celebrities and dignitaries, as well as the backdrop to many photo shoots, television series and films. It also offers a bar, restaurant, and mansion tours of the estate and gardens.


In 2004, Oheka was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1] It is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[3]

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

Kahn built Oheka in response to Jews being forbidden entry to clubs and golf courses in Morristown, New Jersey, and because Cedar Court, a previous country home of Kahn's, was virtually destroyed by fire in 1905.[4] He was determined to build a fireproof building, so he had his architects, Delano and Aldrich, design it in steel and concrete, making it one of the first totally fireproof residential buildings. Two years were spent building an artificial hill on which to place the home, giving it views of Cold Spring Hills and Cold Spring Harbor.[5]

Oheka served as partial inspiration for Gatsby's estate in 's The Great Gatsby.[17]

F. Scott Fitzgerald

In Dream World, his collection of songs, poems and stories, composer and musicologist wrote about his years attending Eastern Military Academy at Oheka Castle in the 1950s.[18]

Roger Lee Hall

In the 1941 film , photographs of Oheka were used to portray the fictional Xanadu.[19][20]

Citizen Kane

It served as the mansion "Shadow Pond" in the television show , which ran from 2009 to 2016.

Royal Pains

R&B singer 's 1995 music video "Brokenhearted", directed by Hype Williams and featuring Wanya Morris, was filmed inside the castle.

Brandy

The novel Time for Patriots has a very thinly disguised military academy in a similarly disguised version of Oheka.

science fiction

Oheka was the set of the fictional Avalon Castle in the 2010 As the World Turns.

soap opera

It was the location of a charity event in the television show , where Jerry Seinfeld and Louis C.K. performed for the event.

Louie

The castle was the primary filming location of the music video for 's 2014 song "Blank Space".

Taylor Swift

The castle was also used in the music video "Cookie" by recording artist .

R. Kelly

The castle was featured on Travel Channel's "Mega Mansions" that also streams on Netflix. The premise of the show was to give viewers an "all-access pass inside America's most enormous, opulent and advanced Mega Mansions."

[21]

The castle and grounds were featured in and Rita Ora's "For You" written for the Fifty Shades Freed movie soundtrack.[22]

Liam Payne

Oheka was used as the setting for the "Mr. Julius Caesar" rematch in the film .

The Emperor's Club

The castle was used as the setting for the Season 12 reunion, the first in-person Real Housewives reunion filmed amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[23]

Real Housewives of New York City

The castle was featured in the music video for and Maluma's 2020 song "Pa' Ti + Lonely".[24]

Jennifer Lopez

The castle was featured in a video in which the MrBeast crew was tasked to stay in a $1 hotel to a $1,000,000 hotel (the million dollar hotel is Oheka castle).[25][26]

MrBeast

Oheka mansion stood in for a Hungarian castle in the third episode of the second season of HBO's . The 2019 episode, titled "Hunting," featured wild boar hunting and a humiliating game called “Boar on the Floor.”[2]

Succession

List of Historic Hotels of America

Crazy Rhythm: Memories of Eastern Military Academy and Oheka Castle. Hall, Roger L. PineTree Press, 2019

Raising a Fallen Treasure: The Otto H. Kahn Home, Huntington, Long Island. King, Robert B. The Mad Printers of Mattituck, 1985

Oheka Castle, Sergol, Joan. Schaffer, Ellen. Arcadia Publishing (SC); 4 Jun. 2012,  978-0738592428

ISBN

The KAHNS of Fifth Avenue, Williams, Iain Cameron. iwp publishing, 17. Feb. 2022,  978-1916146587 [27]

ISBN

www.oheka.com

Official website

on the "American Music Preservation.com" website

Memories of OHEKA CASTLE

on "Gold Coast Mansions of Long Island" website

Gold Coast Mansions – Historic Long Island – Home