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Oheka Castle
The most ambitious restoration ever attempted -- according to Gary Melius, anyway. -- Heather Millar
 When Gary Melius bought Oheka Castle on Long Island’s “Gold Coast” back in 1984, the first thing he did was replace the missing doors and windows that were allowing vandals and squatters to get in. Then, he hired laborers to haul 30 truckloads of garbage out of the 109,000-square-foot, once-grand mansion -- the second-largest residence ever built in the United States (the largest is George W. Vanderbilt’s Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina).
Now, 24 years later, with his $30 million renovation nearing completion (one Melius calls “the most ambitious restoration ever attempted”), Oheka Castle has been restored to its gilded-age glory, transformed from a onetime summer home into a boutique luxury hotel and grand, one-of-a-kind catering hall. Here’s the backstory.
A Humble Beginning
Oheka was built in 1919, when über-rich families like the Vanderbilts, the Whitneys, and the Astors were dotting Long Island with estates that mimicked the world of the European aristocracy: Italian villas, English manor houses, Celtic castles. Otto Hermann Kahn, a financier who helped shape the Union Pacific Railroad and founded New York’s Metropolitan Opera, built Oheka (drawing the name from letters in his name) for his family as a grand summer retreat. All 127 rooms of it.
During the roaring ’20s, Charlie Chaplin cavorted on the sweeping marble staircase that dominates the chateau foyer. In the ballroom, Enrique Caruso sang arias and Arturo Toscanini conducted symphonies. Eleanor Roosevelt browsed in the library. The estate’s 443 acres included a world-class golf course, one of the country’s largest greenhouse complexes, reflecting pools and gardens, a working farm and dairy, an indoor pool, a tennis court, and a horse track.
The Downfall
In 1934, at the age of 67, Kahn died of a sudden heart attack. His widow, Addie, found managing the large estate daunting, so she sold the property. Gradually, subdivisions whittled the 443 acres down to 23. The sprawling buildings endured incarnations as a retreat for New York City sanitation workers, a training school for merchant marine operators, and a military academy.
 The Restoration
Developer Melius found Oheka six years after the academy had abandoned it due to bankruptcy. Drop ceilings and fluorescent lights eclipsed the grandeur. Large rooms had been subdivided and paneled walls painted. Soot streaked the walls and ceilings from fires set by vandals and squatters. School debris lay in shoulder-high drifts. It was love at first sight.
The estate’s original plans were found in a Washington, D.C., archive, and Melius began to painstakingly restore it to perfection. He tracked down the original Vermont quarry to get slate for the roof. He hired artisans to re-create the “faux bois” (fake wood) plaster finishes in the library. He hired metalworkers to spend two months cleaning, sanding, and resealing the wrought iron on the grand staircase, modeled after Fontainebleu in France. And he contracted with landscapers to dig out the eight reflecting pools and to restore the formal gardens. Not in the original layout but still planned for the near future: a spa, a private club, and a restaurant. Kahn would probably approve.
Staying There
Weddings at Oheka can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. If you’re really flush, you can spring for the $15,000 “Ultimate Evening,” complete with a string quartet, a seven-course dinner, and a “togetherness massage.” For those of less stratospheric means, overnight rates for the 32 guest rooms start in the $300s. Private tours run $25 per person. www.ohekacastle.com
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Flight Plan
Flying
with small children sparks anxiety in even the most unflappable parent.
The trick to keeping your offspring calm and collected in an
environment where there is absolutely nowhere to run and hide?
Patience, preparation, and packing like a pro. Lucky for you, there is
a spate of new gear to make your trip relatively smooth. -- Amy Tara Koch
 MaxiCOOL 4 Bottle Cooler An insulated bag (with reusable ice pack) that holds four standard bottles and food jars. $13, www.rightstart.com
Panasonic Portable DVD Player DVDLS86
With two headphone jacks for private listening, a built-in battery, and
up to 13 hours of playback, this is like Valium for small children.
$200, www.bestbuy.com
EarPlanes Hypoallergenic filters regulate changing air pressure, eliminating discomfort while reducing noise. $7, www.onestepahead.com
Go Diego Go! Diego’s Animal Discovery Laptop from Fisher-Price
Keeps preschoolers occupied in a virtual animal kingdom. Double-sided
pages demonstrate letters, numbers, and animal facts. $30, www.toysrus.com
Pink Nitro Notebook Laptop from VTech
This high-tech laptop is a learning tool that reads stories aloud and
helps kids master math, logic, social studies, and science. $50, www.toysrus.com
Mom’s on the Phone by K’s Kids With the press of a button, your kids can hear favorite songs and prerecorded messages from Mom (and Dad). $20, www.world-of-toys.com
Ocean Wonders Portable Mobile Soft textures, music, and colors fascinate infants for hours. $6 with teether, www.fisher-price.com
Dadgear Messenger Diaper Bag
Lightweight bag with a changing pad, eight compartments, exterior
bottle pockets, and a wipe case. Did we mention it’s very manly? $79, www.target.com
Baby Sherpa Diaper Bag
Boasts a soft-sided cooler integrated into the backpack for storing
bottles, snacks, beverages, and medications; an oversize changing pad;
and a padded pocket to hold a video camera or a breast pump. Fits as
carry-on luggage for all airlines. $89, www.babysherpa.com
The First Years Take & Toss Variety Bag A 28-piece assortment of brightly colored cups, bowls, and spoons. $12, www.toysrus.com
Simplify travel with the handy Sit n Stroll Car Seat Stroller, which converts to a stroller, a booster seat, or a flight seat. $250, www.rightstart.com
Tip Time
To
prevent volatile scenarios -- hunger, upset stomach, cooties, vomit,
head congestion, and, of course, boredom -- plan, and pack, for every
situation. Here’s a checklist:
•
Always pack for triple the amount of the time of your scheduled flight,
because there’s no drugstore at 32,000 feet. If your flight is delayed,
you’ll be well prepared.
•
Leave complicated, fashionable gear at home and dress your infant in a
simple, snap-happy onesie that can be changed in a narrow airplane
bathroom.
• To prevent ear pain, bring extra bottles and pacifiers for babies (lollipops for toddlers) to suck on the way up and down.
• For toddlers, pack at least one bribery item per 45 minutes to diffuse tantrums.
• Eradicate germs with antibacterial wipes.
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No Prescription Required!
These unconventional desserts are just what the doctor ordered. -- Becca Hensley
 1 Almond Joy Brownie
$9, Bacar, San Francisco
Bacar
offers 65 wines by the glass, but why sip when you can gorge on the
decadent Almond Joy Brownie? Salted caramel serves as a foundation for
a two-layer delight (fudge brownie on the bottom and coconut macaroon
on top) that’s glazed with bittersweet chocolate and topped with almond
toffee. 448 Brannan, (415) 904-4100, www.bacarsf.com
2 S’mores Tableside
$13, Tillman’s Roadhouse, Dallas
Forget
the mosquitoes! At this contemporary version of a classic Texas
roadhouse, you get to cook your s’mores indoors, at your own table. The
gourmet rendition of the classic dessert includes your choice of
homemade maple, orange, or coffee marshmallows; cinnamon graham
crackers; and dark-chocolate bark. 324 West Seventh Street, (214)
942-0988, www.tillmansroadhouse.com
3 Passion Fruit Crème Brûlée
$10, Melange, at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans
Creole
cooking meets Asian fusion in this fantastical creation by executive
pastry chef Simone Fleming. A celestial layering of white lychee panna
cotta is topped with ginger-infused mango and pineapple chutney, and
then it’s garnished with a sweet Thai basil tuille. 921 Canal Street,
(504) 524-1331, www.ritzcarlton.com
4 Decadent Dessert Flights
$2 each, Chi Bar at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel
When
your sweet tooth calls, skip the decision making and try the
mix-and-match dessert flights. After all, who wants to have to decide
between guilt-free shot glasses filled with dreams like Strawberry
Margarita, Lemoncello, Pina Colada, Chocolate Mousse, Pistachio, and
Baileys Crème Brûlée? 301 East North Water Street, (312) 755-2227, www.chibarchicago.com
5 Jelly Doughnut Munchkin Holes
$8, Stack Restaurant at the Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas
Evocative
of those carefree days of childhood when calories didn’t count, these
lemon poppy-seed babies, drizzled with vanilla-bean anglaise, are
served in their own take-home box with two dipping sauces -- chocolate
and caramel. Just don’t let the sugar high go to your head when you
play the slots. 3400 South Las Vegas Boulevard, (702) 791-7111, www.lightgroup.com
6 Hamburgers
$12, Keystone Ranch (and other Keystone Resort Restaurants), Keystone, Colorado
These
bite-size dessert versions of the real thing may fool you -- until you
take a taste. Food artist and pastry chef Ned Archibald uses vanilla
cupcakes for buns, chocolate cupcakes for the meat, apricot and
raspberry marmalade for mustard and ketchup, and marzipan for lettuce
and tomatoes. 1437 Summit County Road 150, (800) 354-4386, www.keystoneresort.com
7 Saigon Cinnamon-Sugar-Dusted Donuts
$9, Tenpenh, Washington, D.C.
Served
with dark, bittersweet chocolate pudding, these light, fluffy delights
are a sophisticated twist on an old-school favorite. And while they’re
the most popular way to end a meal at this Southeast Asian–inspired
eatery, the donuts are so delicious, some customers choose to have them
as their main course. 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, (202)
393-4500, www.tenpenh.com
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Touch Me
Seven new touch-sensitive devices (besides the iPhone) that let you poke and play -- Scott Steinberg
 1 Touch Cruise, $730
Scroll,
browse, and activate functions with a tap, or enjoy the built-in TomTom
GPS navigation capabilities via the Smartphone’s stroke-ready, 2.8-inch
color screen. Sifting through photos (3 MP camera included), web pages,
and business contacts is also a snap. www.htc.com
2 Harmony One, $250
Logitech’s
king of universal remotes allows you to control more than 225,000
devices without blowing a fuse. Its 2.2-inch, prod-friendly monitor has
raised buttons and an idiot-proof interface that lets you do virtually
anything -- save shave and shower -- without leaving the couch. www.logitech.com
3 EasyShare V1273, $280
For
the money, amateur shutterbugs won’t find a more elegant solution for
snapping, reviewing, cataloging, and (mercifully) enhancing digital
photos. Adjusting brightness levels and hue saturation on the
3X-optical zoom, 12 MP camera is as easy as jabbing your finger at the
intuitive interface on the three-inch LCD display. www.kodak.com
4 N2, $860
The
first true competitor to Apple’s iPhone, Neonode’s attractive two-inch
screen responds instantly to pushes and tugs, letting you speedily
navigate menus and programs with nary a thought. The integrated 2 MP
camera and music- and video-playing features also prove a plus for
those looking to dial up a little entertainment. www.neonode.com
5 Nüvi 5000, $857
Easy
viewing and painless navigation take precedence in this
5.2-inch-display-equipped unit, designed to keep you from swerving
every time you glance over for directions. Voice-prompting, the ability
to save up to 10 routes, and the option to play MP3s, audiobooks, and
games via an integrated wireless FM transmitter also ensure a smooth
ride. www.garmin.com
6 Everio GZ-MG360B, $550
Effortlessly
capture baby’s first steps -- or your college graduate’s celebratory
walk -- with JVC’s svelte 680K-pixel hard disk camcorder, which offers
a hands-on scroll bar for easy, interactive navigation. With its 60 GB
of storable video, you’re guaranteed not to miss a thing. www.jvc.com
7 WiBrain-B1, $699
Prices
aren’t the only things shrinking on computers these days. Case in
point: a 1.15-pound, ultramobile PC that’s still blessed with a 60 GB
hard drive, a 1.2 GHz CPU, and an alluring 4.8-inch screen that you
won’t be able to resist groping. Windows XP compatibility, wireless
connectivity, and webcam features are awesome extras. www.dynamism.com
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