Oheka Castle, the 127-room, 113,000-square-foot chateau that has loomed over Huntington since the 1920s, is headed to the auction block on October 27, 2026, after Kahn Property Owner LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 31, 2025. Court records show the storied estate owes $63.5 million to creditors, a staggering debt for a property whose checking account held just $57.27 at the time of the filing.
The bankruptcy filing lists Oheka Castle's total assets at $92.8 million, encompassing the property itself along with machinery, equipment and vehicles, according to The Real Deal. Concierge Auctions and Adam Modlin of the Modlin Group are running the sale, which currently has no starting bid. Bidders hoping to take part in the live auction at The Dominick hotel in Manhattan must put down a $750,000 deposit, and court-approved procedures require the eventual buyer to honor all weddings and events already booked through March 31, 2028, according to the Melville Chamber of Commerce. With Oheka Castle hosting more than 200 private events a year, that guarantee matters to local vendors and couples who booked the venue long before its finances became public.
A Decade of Debt Finally Catches Up
The financial unraveling traces back more than a decade, when Melius defaulted on an original $28 million CMBS loan that ballooned past $50 million in unpaid interest and fees. Private equity firm Taconic Capital, through its affiliated entity 135 W. Gate Drive LLC, bought the defaulted mortgage note in 2023 for $25 million, according to Parade. That note became the basis for a foreclosure sale.
The Chapter 11 filing came from Kahn Property Owner LLC on July 31, 2025, specifically to halt an August 7, 2025 foreclosure sale, per Bondoro. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Louis A. Scarcella ultimately approved the court-supervised auction plan in September 2026, clearing the way for the October 27, 2026, sale. The auction offering also includes an adjacent five-acre plot with approved plans for a 95-unit, four-story condominium building, a project that already drew a 2023 lawsuit from the neighboring Cold Spring Country Club, which alleged the town board abused its authority when it approved a permit Melius needed. Oheka Castle sits within Huntington's historic building overlay district.
From Otto Kahn's Man-Made Hill to Hollywood Backdrop
The estate's name, OHEKA, is an acronym drawn from the initials of its original builder, banker Otto Hermann Kahn, who built the chateau in 1921 as one of the largest private residences ever constructed in the United States. Before construction began, Kahn spent two years moving earth to build a man-made hill at Long Island's highest point, according to Alex Knight Studio. Architects Delano & Aldrich designed the mansion, with formal gardens laid out by Beatrix Farrand and the Olmsted Brothers, per Untapped New York.
Melius's Two Ownership Stints and an Unsolved Shooting
Gary Melius bought the ruined estate in 1984 for $1.5 million and spent more than $40 million renovating it, according to The Real Deal. Oheka Castle is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and today operates as a 32-room hotel and event venue, according to CBS New York.
The estate's pop-culture resume runs deep: it appeared in Citizen Kane and Taylor Swift's Blank Space music video, according to Galerie Magazine. Weddings have been held there for Kevin Jonas and Anthony Weiner. Melius himself became part of the estate's darker lore in 2014, when he was shot outside Oheka Castle in what investigators described as an apparent assassination attempt. That shooting remains unsolved.
Now, after four decades tied to the property, Melius's ownership is set to end at the auction block, with the sale closing a chapter that began with a $1.5 million purchase of a burned-out ruin and ends with a $63.5 million debt load. Whether the next owner keeps Oheka Castle running as Long Island's premier wedding backdrop or pivots toward the adjacent condominium project remains an open question for now.
