Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune

I would love to have had a fairy godmother like the late Huguette Clark. She was the daughter of William Andrews Clark, owner of Jerome, Arizona's legendary United Verde copper mine, and, in his lifetime, one of the richest men in the world. Huguette was the rich princess bestowing gifts of great worth with her magic wand throughout her 105-year life.The book, written by Bill Dedman and Paul Calrk Newell, Jr., was published in 2013 by Ballatine Books.I loved the story of Gwendolyn Jenkins, an immigrant from Jamaica who became a nurse's aide. Jenkins helped take care of Irving Gordon, a Madison Avenue stockbroker who helped handle Huguette's investments and died of cancer. After his death, Huguette wrote her a lovely note, "a proper note" thanking her for his care. "She included a `little gift,' "a check for three hundred dollars." Her daughter said, "You'd better sit down, Mother, and let me read this letter over to you. This check is for thirty thousand dollars!"In another story, Huguette waved her magic wand to find the illustrator Felix Lourioux, who illustrated fairy tales in the French weekly, "La Semaine de Suzette," a favorite in her youth, and commissioned several works by him. Lourioux was also the early illustrator of Mickey Mouse books. She lavishly supported him and his wife Lily throughout their lives.Huguette spent a great deal of her considerable fortune on her very personal tastes in art and people. She supported as many as a hundred families in her lifetime--artists, craftspeople illustrators, and musicians; William Gower husband of less than a year and his new family; the Frenchman Etienne de Villermont, the love of her life whom she refused to marry and the wife he eventually married; relatives, friends, staff that helped take care of her many properties and nurses.The surprise of the book was that Huguette's passion was dolls. She spent millions of dollars on buying and outfitting them with costumes. She meticulously researched the period in which each doll came from and directed the building of the `house' or `castle' some were to live in as well as furniture and accessories to go with them. She extravagantly paid the artisans, sent gifts to their wives, children and grandchildren and continued to support the families after they died. (The collection is valued at $1.7 million.)I loved the story of the Japanese artist Saburo Kawakami who was hired to build a replica the lavish Hirosaki Castle, which included cutting shingles from a rare Japanese cedar for its roof. Huguette loved Japanese culture and history and collected rare Japanese Hina and other period dolls.As portrayed in the book, Huguette was exceptionally private, well-mannered, introverted, shy, generous, and kind, absorbed daily in private passions that gave her a great deal of pleasure. Not much more of her personality than that can be gleaned from the book. To his credit, Dedman tried hard--plugging through archives, bank drafts and written documents and interviewing anyone alive who knew her. Co-author Newell's scant five sidebars of conversations with Huguette on the telephone don't add much by way of illumination and left me wondering why the book included them.If I have a quarrel with the book it is that the book is very much a prize-winning journalist's approach to writing about someone whose life was so carefully guarded. Perhaps only a third of the book is about what can be gleaned about Huguette from descriptions of her art and doll collection, descriptions of the lavish homes she lived in and abandoned, and the people that received some of her generous gifts.Even the major love of Huguette's life ("Love of Half a Life") with the Marquis Etienne de Villermont gets a scant five pages, taken up in part with a few short affectionate notes between them: "It's Valentine's Day and I am thinking of you with great affection. I send you this bouquet but the mimosas are under the snow. We will take the boat in the middle of March, the United States. It will be a joy to see you. I can't wait, I hope you are well, will try to call you. Much love, always, Etienne." Another page or so of this segment describes the friendship that continued after he became married to someone else, which included Huguette's gifts to help them adopt a child and a description of some of the gifts she sent to that child.You have to admire a woman who was able to guard her privacy to that extent and live quite a full life absorbed by the pleasures and people she was drawn to. Up until her twenty-year stay at Beth Israel Medical Center, she stayed clear from fortune hunters, gossip, media attention, and family or friends that might only have cozied up because of that fortune.What is interesting is that the book documents the sadness of those aspects of a very wealthy person's life--attempts by Beth Israel to get her to sign over much of what remained of her fortune (politely called `cultivating the donor'). Equally sad is the lawsuit instigated by remnants of her family, most of whom had never met her, who wanted a piece of her fortune. Sad too the controversy surrounding Hadassah Peri, the nurse that devoted her life to taking care of Huguette while she was in the hospital and became perhaps her only friend and confidante. Huguette supported her with huge donations to her and her family ($31 million!) and left a considerable portion more to her in the will.There's a lot of captivating detail to interest the reader who can't get enough of the lives of the rich and famous.The most interesting and valuable segment of Empty Mansions is the 125 pages or so (almost a third of the book) devoted to William Andrews Clark, Huguette's father. For me, It is single best biography yet written about W.A. Clark, from his birth to a not so poor family, to his education, growth of his business empire, the building of his mansion in New York, and the dissolution the mansion and sale of the United Verde mine. The book offers a much more complex and interesting portrait of him than the one of Huguette.Perhaps this is where Newell added a great deal of value to Empty Mansions. Newell's father was Clark's uncle and Clark often visited him when he was in Los Angeles. Newell was writing a biography about Clark but "his health was failing, so only fragments of that work were completed." Newell took up that his father's work by organizing the archives, visiting museums and historical societies and developing friendships with some of the relatives that had known Clark. It was a visit to the Corcoran Gallery that revealed that Huguette was still alive (by this time she was already ensconced in Beth Israel Medical Center). Newell Jr. was quick to say that even his father had never met the very shy and reclusive Huguette.The segment on Clark included 18 pages of rich new information bout the battles between Marcus Daly (owner of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company) and Clark for control of political power in Butte. These include debunking some of the allegations of Clark's bribery for the United States Senate and its aftermath, which included the Daly Camp's bribery of some of the Montana legislators that had initially voted for Clark to recant their testimony. Clark eventually resigned in the swirl of controversy, then was reappointed to fill the vacancy.The book also debunks the veracity of Mark Twain's now famous and oft-quoted excoriation of Clark. "He is as rotten a human being as can be found anywhere under the flag." (It goes to show that negative accusations always stay more firmly in the mind that positive ones, especially when they are well-written.) Turns out Twain had been saved from bankruptcy and was a close friend of Henry Huttleston Rogers, CEO of Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the company which took over Daly's Anaconda Copper, a fabulous stock swindle story all on its own.Empty Mansions contains twenty-four pages of wonderful (and rare) color photographs and many black and white ones. My favorites were the black and white photo of Anna Clark's bedroom with her harp at Bellosguardo taken in 1940 by Karl Obert and the full page photo of the very lovely Huguette taken in 1943.In summary: Empty Mansions is a good read--especially for those of us who love the history of Jerome and all the byways it can take us on.

One must begin by stating that the rather mysterious title, along with the beautiful and somewhat mesmerizing cover of Empty Mansions were the primary reasons for the purchase of the book. In the publishing world, it is a well known fact that the title and the cover of a book contribute greatly to the sales of the book. This is quite true. Something about the title, and the illustration of that great Clark Mansion, which rather sadly, no longer exists, were the factors which prompted the purchase of this book. Yet, once one begins to read Empty Mansions, the cover and the title no longer matter, for one realizes that a correct decision has been made in the purchase of this gem. The book draws one into its very pages, and thus it becomes quite difficult to place it down and walk away. Before I read this book, I had very little knowledge of the Copper King of America --- Mr. Clark. Little did I know that Clark County, Nevada was named after him, nor that his pursuit of wealth had left behind a major environmental disaster which effected both nature and man. Mr. Clark began with nothing, yet he became one of the wealthiest men of America and a Senator as well. The book focuses upon the building of his wealth, and the squander of his wealth: The accumulation of a vast fortune, and at times, the utter waste of that massive fortune --- due to human error, indecision, bad planning, human greed, lack of knowledge and most importantly --- lack of God given wisdom! It details his family life, and his two marriages. Mr. Clark was a rather interesting and intelligent man: Somewhat of a self taught and educated man. A most meticulous man who went as far as picking his second wife --- a much younger woman --- sending her to Europe, in order to mold her into the position of becoming the second Mrs. Clark years later. Quite a few times, in the reading of this book, sadly I found myself shaking my head in utter disbelief. Not because I was judging the Clark's --- for one never really knows as to why another human being chooses to live his life, or is forced to live his life in a certain manner. Rather, I merely shook my head for I was deeply saddened by the spending, the wasting and the destruction of so much in such an unbelievably, ridiculous way --- by both Mr.Clark and his heirs. For example, Mr.Clark's massive mansion in New York City took years to built and furnish. Antiquities were brought in from the entire world. Yet, due to bad planning, and lack of wisdom --- it was torn down. This great home, which was filled with museum piece collectibles, paneling, furnishings, etc. --- which could have, and should have been turned into a museum for all to see, to learn and to enjoy for ages to come --- was mercilessly destroyed! A massive grave was dug, and pieces were dumped into it, covered --- forever gone and lost! Disposed of as if they were merely trash! I wondered at the lack of wisdom shown in the utter waste of this massive fortune on the accumulation of empty houses --- which were fully staffed at all times --- dolls, doll houses --- built at prices which can enable one to purchase an actual house --- designer clothing for the dolls from Christian Dior, furnishings to accommodate the dolls, etcetera. The list is much too long , and the price tags absolutely unbelievable! Buy the book, and see as to what I am referring. It is a sad story. Yet, it is also a great study of the human nature and its faults. As to why Mr. Clark's daughter, Huguette Clark, chose to live her life as such --- that is another great mystery. A most captivating study of the nature of this particular family. One leaves the book with more unanswered questions than in the beginning: Wondering as to why it happened as such. Yes, there is indeed a museum in Washington D.C. which houses certain pieces of the unbelievably massive collection. Yet, it is very little in comparison to that which was lost through bad decision and greed.Why did it happen as such? Were Huguette Clark's decisions and choices based on fear, illness or manipulation? Was she so disenchanted with humanity and life that she created her own world as she chose to? So many unanswered questions. A most fascinating book about a most fascinating family. The reader will close the book --- a more knowledgeable person. That is always the sign of a great book.

Wonderful read about a very unusual aristocrat who lived a secluded life, yet I was enthralled reading this book. She had the most amazing and unusual life where decisions she made was due to being an aristocrat yet miserable outside of her magnificent apartment in New York.

captures your attention, very interesting story

Interesting book on history!

an absorbing story of massive wealth, waste and greed. None of the characters are likeable, or even have much personality, but the houses, estates and the secondary players revolving around the action keep us interested. In the end I felt quite sorry for Huguette, an ageing lady doing her best to maintain her wealth and dignity in the face of an army of vultures. If she wanted to spend the last 20 years of her life in a hospital why shouldn't she?

This book has everything; money by the truckload, truly fabulous stuff and people who couldn't really appreciate any of it. Both Huguette and her mother were shy, sensitive souls whose way of dealing with life was to make it small, so that they could cope with it.Huguette was a kind and generous person with an artistic nature, possibly somewhere on the autism scale and lost without her family but she seemed happy with such a little life. Inevitably, being America, many of those around her took advantage of her generosity and by and large, she was happy to give.A really interesting, thought-provoking read from beginning to end.

I really enjoyed this book - it was well written and a very interesting and fascinating story. This span of this lady's life and that of her father is just quite incredible. It made me want to Google more about the case when I had finished the book to see what had happened since the book was published. This is the first book I read on my new Kindle - was very glad to read it on my Kindle as I could easily link to characters and see where they had been in the story earlier. My only disappointment is that the faily tre was so low res that it was unusable on the Kindle version so I felt a bit short-changed over that.

This is a fab read exploring the life of Huguette Clark, an elusive heiress with more money than most of us can even imagine. Shying away from the limelight, Huguette lived over a 100 years - yet most of her employees and extended family had never seen her, and for the last decades of her life couldn't even be sure if she were alive or dead...I had never heard of W.A. or Huguette Clark before reading this, but the book does a great job of covering the family history - and outlining how W.A. became so fabulously wealthy. Huguette's life comes across as equal parts mysterious and tragic and, I suppose, just goes to show that money really can't buy you everything.

Fascinating book about a true eccentric. I couldn't put it down. Throughout the story I was sure this lady had been preyed upon by every chancer who came into contact with her, but at the end my opinion totally changed and I felt that she knew exactly what she was doing, and good on her. Well worth buying.