The longtime owner of Huntington’s mighty, 22-acre Oheka Castle and Resort has filed for bankruptcy just prior to a since-cancelled foreclosure sale set for Thursday, August 7th; a calculated maneuver to keep the property in his hands for the time being.
According to Long Island Business News (LIBN), Gary Melius—who was mysteriously shot in the head on the Oheka premises in 2014 by a near-assassin that’s still at large to this day—filed his request last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Melius initially paid $1.5 million for the iconic Gold Coast of Long Island staple in 1984.
Now, Kahn Property Owner lists $63 million of debt against $92.8 million in assets.
Taconic Capital bought the defaulted mortgage note on the castle in 2023 “for around $25 million,” LIBN reported per real estate sources.
Melius defaulted on the $28 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan over a decade ago. The debt has now soared above $50 million large.
In the early 1940s, exteriors of Oheka Castle were memorably used to double as the supremely opulent “Xanadu” abode of the protagonist in Orson Welles’ all-time classic, “Citizen Kane.”
More recently, Oheka has attained consistent notoriety as a high-end wedding destination and overall event venue. It has also hosted popular projects such as Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” music video and a second season episode for the prestige HBO series “Succession.”
It remains to be seen who shall succeed Melius at the helm of Oheka Castle, should the postponed sale ultimately take place at a later date.