Oheka Castle, the 109,000-square-foot Gilded Age estate on Long Island, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to avoid a foreclosure sale.

Gary Melius, the Long Island businessman who has owned the castle for four decades, told Newsday the property has been in foreclosure for several years while he has fended off creditors.

“I was going to lose the place on Aug. 7,” Melius told the outlet on Monday. “I’ve been in foreclosure for 10 years, but the judge gave them permission to sell it, so I could no longer keep them at bay.”

In bankruptcy filings, Melius said the castle owed $63 million to creditors and had only $57 in a checking account, News 12 Long Island reported. However, Melius also claimed the castle maintained $92 million in assets.

Oheka Castle, known as the second-largest private residence ever built in the U.S., is popular as a hotel and wedding venue. Melius told Newsday all weddings scheduled for the property will proceed as scheduled during the bankruptcy process.

“The weddings are still on,” he said. “No one should worry about it.”

The estate was initially built for Otto Hermann Kahn, the 1920s businessman who was once known as “the King of New York.” It’s perhaps best known for its use as the fictional Xanadu mansion in “Citizen Kane,” and was also used by Taylor Swift to film her “Blank Space” music video.

https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/08/05/oheka-castle-bankrupt-long-island-gary-melius/