{"id":85,"date":"2016-01-20T10:26:31","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T10:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hb-themes.com\/themes\/highend\/church\/?page_id=85"},"modified":"2021-02-21T16:33:40","modified_gmt":"2021-02-21T16:33:40","slug":"our-beliefs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/new.awixacastle.com\/?page_id=85","title":{"rendered":"Detailed History"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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HISTORY OF OKELWOOD<\/p>

47 (SOUTH)\u00a0AWIXA<\/a>\u00a0AVENUE<\/p>

Updated Aug 22, 2008<\/p>

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October, 1708, Queen Anne of England confirmed John Mowbray’s purchase of land that was to become Bay Shore and Brightwaters. Mowbray, a tailor and teacher from Southampton, is said to have paid the fish-dependent Secatogue Indians “several eel spears” for the Bay Shore-Brightwaters land. The easternmost portion of the land was listed as “Aweeksa”. The Indians called other parts of the area which would become Bay Shore Panothicut or Penataquit , which experts believe meant “crooked creek.” The primitive early colony had no particular name, but some accounts say – without elaboration – that it was called Sodom in the early 19th Century. John Mowbray listed his early address as “Awixa<\/a>” giving credence to this being a possible early name for this portion of Bay Shore.(1) Bay Shore was known as Mechanicsville by 1842, probably, historians say, for the men who worked in mills and boatyards there. The name was changed back to Penataquit\u00a0 in 1849, but the Indian name proved unpopular because it was too difficult to spell. “Bay Shore” arrived in 1868 to reflect the community’s location on the shore of the bay just as the era of summer tourism was starting. (LI History.com)<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As per Harry W. Havemeyer in “Along the Great South Bay” 1500 acres of land around Awixa Avenue was subsequently purchased by Messrs Thurber and Clock<\/p>

December 1, 1896\u00a0\u2013 Elwood Mildeberger purchased the land from Lorenzo and Eliza J. Clock just prior to Lorenzo’s death.\u00a0Lorenzo Dow Clock died in 1897 and Eliza J. died in 1907 and are buried\u00a0together in the Oakwood\u00a0Cemetery,\u00a0Bay Shore, NY.<\/p>

1904<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elwood and Molly Drumm Mildeberger built a 12,500 sq. ft. home on the property and named it\u00a0Oakelwood\u00a0 – (Mr. Mildeberger pictured lower left in this historic photo)<\/a>.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The property was originally 13+ acres (now 3+). Mr. Mildeberger was reported to have had 13 gardeners and one full time person to stoke the fireplaces plus many servants in the home.\u00a0\u00a0The original house had a\u00a0beautiful wood front porch<\/a>\u00a0 which wrapped around to a gazebo (removed previous to picture) on the right side.\u00a0Elwood was a world traveler and collector. He collected Asian art and animal trophies. There was a suit of armor in the trophy room which was sold later to the\u00a0American\u00a0Museum\u00a0of Natural History for $12,000. The house was heated by the fireplaces only and lighting was from gas lights. One gas fixture still exists in the basement. The architect placed the house at a perfect angle so that all the family bedrooms had a beautiful and unrestricted view across the bay to the\u00a0Fire Island Lighthouse<\/a>. These beautiful views still exist unobstructed. Mr. Mildeberger (82) died\u00a0on\u00a0January 22 1943\u00a0at the Hotel Blackstone where he had been spending the winter. He is buried 3 blocks away from Oakelwood at the\u00a0Oakwood\u00a0Cemetery. There is a spot for Mollie Drumm Mildeberger (his second wife who was possibly a nanny in his extended family) reserved on the large Mildeberger gravestone, but she was not buried there. It is reported that she is buried in the family plot in Montreal.. You can see the Mildebergers listed in the 1930 Social Blue Book\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some of the Miltenberger’s close neighbors in the early 1900’s included E.F. Hutton, J.D. Adams<\/a>\u00a0(Adams Chewing Gum Company (Chicklets)),\u00a0Simon Rothchild<\/a>\u00a0(A&S Department Stores), and\u00a0 Allan Pinkerton (Pinkerton Security). Mr. Pinkerton’s father\u00a0Allan Pinkerton<\/a>\u00a0was the\u00a0Director of Secret Services\u00a0<\/a>for the Union Army during the Civil War. These and many other affluent residents came to the area in the early 1900’s and then moved to larger “Gold Coast Mansions” on the north shore of Long Island in the 1920’s.<\/p>

May 20, 1945\u00a0\u2013 Property purchased by Florence Beech and Robert L. Coller from the widow Mildeberger.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Robert Coller sold his share and title was then transferred to Reginald (Rex) Beech in 1946 (1\/2) & 1949 in full, then to Barbara B. Carr (daughter of Rex Beech) in 1957. Barbara\u2019s son\u00a0 Rex Carr aka Cameron Scott came to visit Oakelwood in 2001. Cameron visited the house and provided history, photos (on this web site of Oakelwood from 1904 to 1963) and returned the entrance hallway fireplace mantel and accessories,. Subsequently more photos were provided by his brother Bill. Cameron\u2019s mother married Mr. Jim Carr in the house. Six children were born in the house to Mrs. Carr who now lives in\u00a0Florida. The House was sold at auction for $55,000 in 1963 due to the serious heating problems .\u00a0Many more historic photos of this family can be found throughout this website.\u00a0Barbara’s husband Jim Carr came to visit in April of 2011 (Barbara having previously passed away). He was accompanied by his their daughter Valerie Carr McNamara of Virginia who had many wonderful memories of her childhood at Okelwood. Mr. Carr promised to send more photos for the website.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 August 23, 1963 \u2013 Property was purchased by Mr. Joseph W. Koch and Mae G. Koch\u00a0 who raised 3 children here Ron, Diane, and Joan. Mr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Koch\u00a0 insisted that all property be removed from the house before purchase. A couch on the second floor actually had to be destroyed and thrown out the 3rd floor window to comply. The $55,000 was the asking price and it was Barbara Carr who actually found Mr. Koch after realtors had difficulty selling the property.<\/p>

Mr. Koch, a builder, specialized in the design and construction of nursing homes, did a major redesign of the house. He removed the front left gable and the front wood porch. He added a brick \u201ccastle like\u201d structure on the front\u00a0\u00a0and changed the chimneys to have a turret like top. He added a large (45×65\u2019) two story structure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0behind the kitchen\u00a0 in which he used the top structure as a trophy room. This room was used by later owners as a recital hall and a ballroom. There were two huge fireplaces (one on each floor) and the bottom floor (basement) has since had its fireplace covered up by a 45\u2019 bar when he basement was later converted into a cocktail lounge\u00a0\u00a0. He also changed the screened terrace on the back into a formal living room.\u00a0\u00a0He added a\u00a05 car garage<\/a>\u00a0and utilized the 3 windows from the removed gable on the second floor of the garage. He added cast iron baseboard heating systems and seriously damaged the beautiful yellow pine floors in doing so. In some areas additional luan wood flooring was overlaid, but on most areas carpeting became a must to cover the plywood that replaced the pine planks as plumbing was added. All the bathrooms were fashioned with urinals which were removed by the next owner.\u00a0\u00a0Mr. Koch collected animal trophies and kept them in what is now the Ballroom. There was a\u00a0suit of armor<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0sitting area\u00a0<\/a>of the turret stairway.\u00a0For 1975 photo’s click\u00a0here<\/a>. Mr. Koch lived in the room which is now the Master Dressing Room.\u00a0The mural over the main staircase was reportedly a lady in an evening gown. A wall of fish tanks was reportedly located between the kitchen and the sun room.<\/p>

February 1, 1980\u00a0\u2013 Property was purchased by William J. Ferguson, Jr.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0July 15, 1981\u00a0\u2013 Property was purchased by Storm Kheem and Chong Ja Kim<\/p>

Mr. Kheem spent over $700,000 (according to his daughter) renovating the home. He enclosed the 2 car garage (next to the kitchen) and shed (behind Mr. Mildeberger\u2019s gun room) into a massage parlor and Roman Bathing system including marble walls and ceilings, sauna and two large handmade tubs. He added marble floors in the formal living room, ballroom and cocktail lounge. A large fish pond\u00a0with waterfall was added to the front room (it encompassed almost the entire room and was filled with\u00a0Koi (Large hearty goldfish that can live 70 years)<\/a>. The fish were later (in 1999 by the Choi’s) placed in the swimming pool\u00a0\u00a0where they still lived for many years. The large freeform swimming pool was built during this period by a famous pool architect and was not used for 13+ years, until the present owners\u00a0refurbished the pool\u00a0<\/a>in late 2003. Mr. Kheem also converted the boat house into a guest house\u00a0next to the nature island\u00a0\u00a0with beautiful views down the river.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The house was seriously damaged and repaired in 1984 when Hurricane Gloria flooded the neighborhood<\/p>

April 1, 1995\u00a0\u2013 Property was repossessed by Bank of Seoul<\/p>

Vandals lived in the house during this period. Serious destruction occurred including the copper heating pipes being removed from the basement with serious flooding occurring. The Formal Living Room was seriously damaged as well.<\/p>

November 9, 1998\u00a0\u2013 Property was purchased by John and Dr. Jennifer Choi.<\/p>

Mr. And Mrs. Choi spent one year starting to clean up the house. According to them, they put over $500,000 into renovations and were just getting started when they decided to sell the home.<\/p>

November 10, 2000\u00a0\u2013 Property was purchased by the writer of this website and then sold in 2014 after extensive renovations.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The present owners purchased the home with the intent of returning it to its original grandeur. Initiating a 10 year project they committed to taking the house back 100 years in its interior state. Slowly the house and its furnishings will be renovated and furnished. In addition a history would be compiled using this website and its primary method of recording.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Over 40 10 yard dumpsters of garbage and construction debris were initially removed from the house. Painting and plastering took over 13 months. Reconstructing floors took over 4 months. All floors on the 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0and 3rd floors were returned to their\u00a0original wood designs<\/a>\u00a0with flooring from other parts of the house. Radiant heat was added in the\u00a0kitchen<\/a>\u00a0(1st<\/sup>\u00a0floor heating was poor) and the kitchen and formal dining rooms were completely redone. Door knobs and transom hardware of the period were stripped, repaired and replated. Additional door knobs of the period were added. A new\u00a0Mahogany deck\u00a0<\/a>was added over the formal living room. The roof was replaced on the boat house. The house was completely rewired and made \u201cintelligent\u201d. Remote control alarms, cameras, audio, video, and networking wire installed, Hundreds of miles of wiring was painstakingly run carefully through the interior. A suit of Spanish armor\u00a0was placed in the entrance hallway. The two rooms which were originally the billiard room and trophy room (Mildeberger) were made into\u00a0one large formal dining room.<\/a>\u00a0The floor in the billiard room was original 1904 yellow pine. Since there was no real floor in the adjacent trophy room, the yellow pine floor was carefully removed and used to redo the floors on the\u00a02nd<\/sup>\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a03rd floors<\/a>\u00a0including the servant\u2019s quarters which had only a sub floor built in 1904. The room with the\u00a0fish pond\u00a0<\/a>was converted into an entrance sun porch\u00a0. The\u00a0swimming pool<\/a>\u00a0was completely refurbished by\u00a0Stardust Pools<\/a>\u00a0in the late summer of 2003. As it was not possible to stop the leaking a\u00a0fiberglass shell<\/a>\u00a0was constructed inside the pool and the decking was completely replaced with\u00a0Nicolock<\/a>\u00a0pavers by Emerald Isle Masonry. All appliances (filters, heaters, pumps, brominator and lines) were replaced. A hot tub was added in one of the smaller side areas of the pool. with a waterfall flowing into the pool. Restoring the grounds is another ongoing project. Sprinkler systems were updated, flower beds returned, and the lawns are being slowly restored. In the summer of 2004 a kitchen\/ bar was added to the rear of the Ballroom utilizing the present outside fireplace. In 2005 we replaced all windows in the formal living room with custom windows from\u00a0Tri-State Window Factory<\/a>. Sliding glass doors were also replaced. In 2006 we redid the home intelligence system with HAI. We also completed the\u00a0Master Suite<\/a>\u00a0interior design. In 2007 we added a home theater to the\u00a0Bar\/Theater<\/a>.\u00a0 Each year we continue to improve on the landscaping. We also chose at least one room per year to redecorate in the style of the early 1900′\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 s.<\/p>

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As the house became livable, the owners started donating its use to charities. Please click here to learn more about our charitable work –\u00a0CLICK<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since the house was called “The Castle” by neighbors since the renovations were completed in 1964 the present owners continued using the name “The Awixa Castle” in\u00a0 addition to “Oakelwood” which seems to have stopped being used after Mildeberger.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Please click on the site index below where you will see 100’s of pictures of the house dating from 1904 to the present and listed alphabetically by room or area.<\/p>

2014-6-27 – Property was sold to The Riley’s who loved castles. We have some pictures from their listing as they have put the home up for sale in 2019.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0THE HISTORY OF “AWIXA NY”<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SITE INDEX – INCLUDING 100’S OF PAST AND PRESENT PICTURES<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HISTORY OF OKELWOOD 47 (SOUTH)\u00a0AWIXA\u00a0AVENUE Updated Aug 22, 2008 \u00a0 October, 1708, Queen Anne of England confirmed John Mowbray’s purchase of land that was to become Bay Shore and Brightwaters. Mowbray, a tailor and teacher from Southampton, is said to have paid the fish-dependent Secatogue Indians “several eel spears” for the Bay Shore-Brightwaters land. The …<\/p>\n

Detailed History<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-85","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.awixacastle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.awixacastle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.awixacastle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.awixacastle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.awixacastle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/new.awixacastle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/85\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":655,"href":"https:\/\/new.awixacastle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/85\/revisions\/655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.awixacastle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}