In the summer of 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald sat every day in the sun-dappled studio above the garage of his and Zelda’s Long Island house and laid down the foundations of his novel, The Great Gatsby. He was drawing on life as he saw it around him, in those enclaves on Long Island Sound where the richest people in the world built the biggest mansions they could imagine in which to flout Prohibition. During their time living in Great Neck (West Egg in Gatsby), the Fitzgeralds seldom let a millionaire’s party go on without them.
Speculation continues to this day over which of the thousand or so mansions that once stood on Long Island’s “Gold Coast” served as the model for Gatsby’s. The answer, probably, is that Gatsby’s “factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy” was an amalgam of several of the more ostentatious homes that Fitzgerald frequented. But Oheka Castle, perched grandly on a slope that makes its way down to the water, is always in that mix.
Built originally in 1919 as the weekend home of the financier Otto Kahn, Oheka was at the time the second largest private residence in the United States. After Kahn’s death in 1934, the property changed hands a few times and by 1978 stood abandoned. Today, Oheka has been restored as a marvelous hotel. (I’m speaking only of the public areas, as I haven’t stayed in the rooms.) The place exudes an airiness that makes drifting from elegant room to elegant room all the more enjoyable. From what I understand, these days the hotel does a brisk business in hosting the only truly lavish parties we seem to throw anymore: weddings.
A friend, her stepdaughter and I made the trip out to Long Island and Oheka Castle almost by accident, and certainly on a whim, having wiled away the early part of a perfect summer afternoon in my Brooklyn backyard, not feeling like getting up to much of anything else. But as the hours passed, we three decided this kind of beautiful day called for at least a little adventure. A few desultory Google searches later, we had our destination.
Before entering the grounds, we drove as any visitor must through a well-kept suburban neighborhood, through a golf course that was once part of Oheka’s grounds, following the subtle signs for Oheka Castle all the way. Inside the gate, the approach is a gravel drive flanked on each side by impressive hedge. Drive on through an imposing archway and you come to a stop in an immense cobblestone courtyard.
We didn’t know what kind of situation lay beyond that, whether the proprietors of so fancy a setting would allow us interlopers to feel welcome. But welcome we were, left blissfully to ourselves. We sank into the atmosphere effortlessly, and got promptly down to the business of finding all the spots that feature in Taylor Swift’s video for her song, “Blank Space,” the entirety of which was filmed in Oheka Castle and on its grounds.
Just inside the front door, the elaborate staircases that Swift descends in the video will be the first thing most visitors take in. If you have access to the company of a 13-year-old girl, I advise taking her along. The one I spent that afternoon with has yet to discover The Great Gatsby but knows all about Taylor Swift videos, and yes we did recreate more than a couple of the scenes in a series of Instagram stories that have long since expired.
Provided you have a car, Oheka Castle is easy to visit. I suspect that Sunday afternoons are optimal. The wedding parties had dissolved into their myriad hungover trips home. The empty ballrooms let in just a smidgen of sun, enough to highlight their serenity without overpowering it. Every room begged to be explored. The grounds, immaculate, reminiscent of so many places but not of America, stood close to empty, almost like we owned the place.
Additional highlights include the ballrooms, the library, and the truly magnificent formal gardens, with their pools, statues, and gazebo. We ate a very early dinner at an outdoor table of the restaurant. The food is fine—it’s just the kind of food you expect at a place where no one is there for the food. The bloody mary, on the other hand, was great. A place that nursed the hangovers of the Jazz Age should not have it any other way.
If You Go:
Oheka Castle
135 W Gate Drive
Huntington, NY
website
Getting There: With typical traffic, the drive from Manhattan to Oheka Castle takes about an hour. There is no public transportation available.
Getting In: Oheka Castle’s common rooms and grounds are open to the public. A restaurant and at least one bar should be open during your visit. Be aware that weddings take place here virtually every weekend, at which times access may be more limited.
