Oheka Castle, the famous Long Island Gatsby estate, just sold for $72 million
Oheka Castle just sold at auction for $72 million.
The short version
- Seven bidders fought for the sprawling 127-room Long Island estate.
- Gold Coast Property & Estate Management won the auction with the giant bid.
- The historic property features a pre-approved plan for a new condo building.
Why it matters to you. For business owners watching high-end real estate, it proves even legendary century-old landmarks eventually find a buyer with deep pockets.
Oheka Castle, the sprawling 127-room Long Island estate that helped inspire F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby,' just sold for $72 million. Seven bidders competed for the property at an auction handled by Concierge Auctions, a luxury property auction firm, and Adam Modlin, the head of The Modlin Group, according to Business Insider.
The historic 109,000-square-foot mansion was built in 1919 by financier Otto Hermann Kahn as a grand party house for 1920s A-listers. After Kahn died in 1934, the estate fell into ruin and sat abandoned in the 1980s before developer Gary Melius bought it and spent $40 million on a stunning restoration.
Melius later defaulted on a loan and declared bankruptcy, leading directly to this week's auction block. The winning buyer is Gold Coast Property & Estate Management LLC, though the massive sale still needs final approval. The deal also includes a pre-approved plan to build a four-story condo building on the grounds.
Today, Oheka stands as the second-largest private home in the United States, trailing only the Biltmore House in North Carolina. Taylor Swift even filmed her famous 'Blank Space' music video inside the lavish hallways. Even Gatsby would have checked the title before sending out the party invitations.
