About

Financier and philanthropist Otto Hermann Kahn spent $11 million about 100 years ago to build OHEKA Castle on a 443-acre plot in Cold Spring Harbor. The French-style chateau is the second-largest private residence ever built in America. During the 1920s, Kahn used the 109,000-square-foot, 127-room estate as a summer home where he held extravagant parties and entertained royalty, top government officials and Hollywood stars. The castle later was abandoned and vandalized. In 1984, developer Gary Melius bought it and began restoration. The castle is a member of the Luxury Hotels of the World and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A guided tour, available by appointment only, costs $25 per adult and offers visitors limited access to the estate and gardens. Lunch tours and champagne/chocolates tours can also be booked.