"Villa Oheka" (Palm Beach)

USA / Florida / Palm Beach / North County Road, 691
 mansion / manor house / villa, historic landmark
Built in 1929 by financier and arts patron, Otto Hermann Kahn to designs by Maurice Fatio. As with other properties Kahn owned, he named his Palm Beach estate, Oheka. O from Otto, HE from Hermann and KA from Kahn. Kahn's wife, Addie, directed her London decorator, Curtis Moffett to do the interiors in the latest modern designs. Unlike the grand period rooms in the Kahn's other homes, this house had chrome, indirect lighting with white, yellow and beige leather furniture. After Kahn's death in 1934, the house was owned by the Graham-Eckes School. In the 2000s, the property was purchased by businessman, Robert Cohen, who converted it back to private use.

Otto Kahn on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Hermann_Kahn

Photos of when property was the school: tinyurl.com/3r87gga

Kahns' Long Island Gold Coast estate: wikimapia.org/#lat=40.8293653&lon=-73.4481525&z=15&l=0...

Kahn's Manhattan townhouse: wikimapia.org/#lat=40.7847171&lon=-73.957563&z=19&l=0&...

Decorator Curtis Moffat: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Moffat
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Fatio
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   26°44'18"N   80°2'8"W

Comments

  • the photos don't match the house selected.
  • I graduated from Graham-Eckes Prep Schools in June of 1969, and the photo above is probably the one and only, but it is the ocean exposure which very few people saw, unless they were students there, or later residents. Graham-Eckes was a co-ed prep school, and the only one in the USA in that school year. I wanted to go there, because I wanted to take the accredited art courses that were not available in my home town. When I was accepted there on a working scholarship, I jumped on the opportunity. Even then it was obvious that some modifications had been made to the structure to accommodate the school. The fenestration on the ocean front, above, had been modified somewhat. And a three story modern structure which had a garage, dining hall, offices, and a penthouse reception room, between the original garage and the main house. Also, Dr. Inez Graham had purchased parts of the Dodge estate which had occupied much of the area above the Evergaldes Club golf course. Using these architectural parts from that neighboring estate. Miss Graham had supervised the building of a 'chapel' on the south west corner of the colonnade which overlooked two tennis courts that appeared to be original material. She also filled the 'chapel' with gilded chairs that also were said to have come from that purchase. For some reason we were told that the estate had previously been called the Garibaldi Estate, and Otto Kahn was not mentioned at all. When Otto Kahn built this house in 1929, he named it 'Oheka', as he had done a previous house in Palm Beach and also his Long Island 'Castle' and his yacht. There was another estate in Palm Beach with a similar ocean facade. Graham-Eckes was then painted a beige color with the red tile roof. The accommodations for the men were much more austere, and were on the other side of North County road from the main house. The men's dormitory looked like something that had come out of Sears catalog. On the next corner was another wooden chapel that had some connection with the Episcopal Church. The third block was smaller than the other two and bordered on Lake Worth where the docks were for the sailing team.
This article was last modified 11 years ago