Oheka Castle Condominium Plan Approved By Huntington Town Board

HUNTINGTON, NY — The Huntington Town Board on Tuesday voted to approve a plan where 95 condominium units would be built on Oheka Castle's 22-acre property, as long as some conditions are met.

The proposed condominium unit would be four stories, 200,000 square feet and offer permanent housing. A representative from Oheka Castle, a historic hotel and restaurant mansion in Huntington, made the proposal at the Feb. 7 board meeting.

All members of the town board voted to approve the condo plan, except Councilwoman Joan Cergol, who abstained.

Lawyer Michael McCarthy, representing Oheka Castle, told the town board in February the castle is in "jeopardy" because of the current financial crisis. Condominium buyers, who would pay annual dues in return for discounts at the castle's restaurant or hotel rooms, would supply a steady cashflow and allow the castle to satisfy its debts, McCarthy said. Oheka Castle is owned by Gary Melius.

The yes vote on the castle's proposal should help preserve the historic building, according to Huntington Supervisor Edmund Smyth.

"What we're doing here [Tuesday] is certainly a lifeline to a very, very unique property within the town, and quite frankly, a unique property anywhere," Smyth said at the meeting. "It's something that we have to be mindful of: That we ensure properties within the town — commercial properties for that matter — remain economically viable."

Smyth said the $2 million contribution by the developers of the property, plus an ongoing revenue stream from condominium buyers' dues, will allow for the maintenance of the castle structure itself. The preservation, Smyth said, was one of the "principal reasons" the proposal was approved.

The $2 million will go into a fund primarily for castle preservations. A town agency would manage the funds and could use the assets for another historical property in the township. Each condominium unit owner will also have to pay 15 percent of their annual dues toward the castle's upkeep.

The property may also not be subdivided further, Smyth noted.

Councilman Eugene Cook said Oheka Castle is a "beautiful area that needs to be taken care of."

"I think it's the right thing for the future of Oheka Castle," Cook said.

Smyth also congratulated the Cold Spring Country Club for "now having the most valuable piece of unbuildable land on Long Island."

Melius can now file a site plan application to build the condominium units on the west side of East Gate Drive, north of Colonial Drive.

Oheka Castle was built in 1919 by financier and philanthropist Otto Hermann Kahn for roughly $11 million — or around $158 million today — in the middle of a 443-acre plot, according to Oheka Castle's about section.

Kahn used the 109,000-square-foot, 127-room estate as a summer home in the 1920s, where he hosted lavish parties and regularly entertained royalty, heads of state, and Hollywood stars.
After Kahn died in 1934, the French-style château changed hands several times, serving as a retreat for New York sanitation workers and a government 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, according to the castle.

After the school went bankrupt 40 years later, Oheka stood abandoned, except by vandals who set numerous fires over five years. Melius purchased Oheka Castle in 1984, as well as the remaining 22 acres that surrounded the estate and began restoring it to its "original grandeur."