It was no Grimm Fairytale

Well, well ,well, since my absence, I have been around and not in the way your thinking! After my two business trips, the Lad and I decided to take a mid-winter's excursion and splurge on a four day weekend of fun. Since I was already on Long Island we decided to go to Oheka Castle, and it couldn't have been more perfect as I was wiped out from all the working. I do believe after staying here, I could easily be Madeline living in the Plaza Hotel. Such decadence and service! And it was far from a Grimm fairytale, no sign of the Brother's Grimm either! Each guestroom has been uniquely decorated with many enjoying views of the 23-acre private estate. All the beautifully appointed guestrooms and suites at Oheka are fitted with ultra-comfortable king size mattresses and draped with Frette 100% Italian Egyptian cotton linen so you can sleep like royalty, which as you guessed , I slept like a queen, most of the time! You'll also find luxurious baths and exceptional service. During our stay, we indulged in a white glove fine dining experience to the room one night.....

....... and also pampered ourselves with an in-room, what they call a togetherness massage.

Almost a century ago, financier and philanthropist Otto Hermann Kahn built OHEKA CASTLE in the middle of a 443 acre plot on the highest point on Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor, for an estimated cost of $11 million dollars. At the time of its construction, the French-style chateau was, and still is today, the second-largest private residence ever built in America. During the Gilded Age of the 1920’s, my favorite period. Kahn used the 109,000 square foot, 127 room estate as a summer home.... where he hosted lavish parties and regularly entertained royalty, heads of state, and Hollywood stars.

After Otto Kahn died in 1934, the estate changed hands several times, serving as a retreat for New York sanitation workers of all things, 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. After the school went bankrupt 30 years later, Oheka stood abandoned, except by vandals who set numerous fires over 5 years.

In 1984, developer Gary Melius purchased Oheka and the remaining 23 acres which surrounded the estate and began the painstaking challenge of restoring the Castle to its original grandeur. Today, Oheka is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is admired as a premier venue to host society weddings and gala celebrations. Oheka is also an historic hotel with 32 luxury guestrooms and suites on the upper floors of the estate and has been the backdrop to many famous music, television, film and photo productions since the making of the classic film, "Citizen Kane", to the present day TV series, "Royal Pains". Mansion Tours of the estate and gardens offer guests the unique opportunity to learn about Oheka rich history and experience the grandeur of this magnificent estate. I already want to plan a trip back when it get warmer as the castle offers a Gold Coast Mansions Tour, which situated on the North Shore of Long Island are America's Gold Coast Mansions. These grand estates offer the experience to journey back to a world of opulence and elegance and unique architectural style which defined the extravagance of the Gilded Age to the Roaring Twenties, personified in the classic novel, The Great Gatsby.

 

 What do you say, are you in? Now back to this hibernation thing.

The stylishly handsome Citroen we saw while out for the day. Now you see why I want one??