Posted on 08/28/2010 6:40:22 AM PDT by Daffynition
He has worked at the Connecticut country mansion for most of his life -- but doesn't even know who his boss is.
The guard at the $24 million New Canaan estate of reclusive 104-year-old copper heiress Huguette Clark says he's never met the woman -- and didn't even know her name until yesterday, when a reporter asked.
He's hardly alone.
Few people know the details of the long, mysterious life of one of America's richest women.
'PRINCESS' OF BETH ISRAEL
Born in the waning years of the Gilded Age to a rapacious, hated mining magnate with a fortune worth what would be $3.6 billion today, Huguette Clark has lived like a hermit for more than half a century and has spent much of the past two decades secluded in a hospital, not even agreeing to see family members.
She is now reportedly under the control of an attorney in a case being probed by the Manhattan DA. The situation has been likened to the final years of the late socialite Brooke Astor, who also lived past 100.
But unlike Astor, who for most of her life was every bit the vivacious socialite, Clark has worked hard to hide from the limelight and used her millions to drop out and surround herself with a cocoon of pricey playthings, including an epic collection of French dolls, whose clothes she paid her servants to iron.
"Her closest friends have always been her dolls," one of her friends, Suzanne Pierre, 89, told msnbc.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Begin on Fifth Avenue in New York, 1922, in the Easter Parade. Huguette Clark, 15, walks with her father, William A. Clark, senator and copper king. He was the second richest American — or first, neck and neck with Rockefeller. Huguette, now 103, has no heirs. Where is she?
Is this who Glenn Beck was talking about a week or so ago? He went to one of her houses and he said it was like time traveling as there have been no updates to the home since the 30’s and the servants still work there and keep it up but no one ever lives there.
I used to sell Clark wire and other Clark products. It was good stuff.
If she really wants an heir, I’m available.
If she has no living family, or at least none that she is close to, then she is a very poor woman...
I said heir, not life estate beneficiary. I’d liquidate that puppy!
What a shame that this woman is ga-ga and introverted. At 104, she ought to be a wealth of historical information. My grandmother would have been her age had she lived, and I recall that it was always fascinating to talk to her about her life and the world as it was in her youth. Elderly people have so much to teach if only they had an opportunity to do so. Huguette Clark seems to have had a very sad life despite all that money. She had a sweet face in the photo included, and I love her outfit. Styles from WWI should come back. They were stylish and modest.
Paris Hilton - take note;)
Last known photo of Huguette Clark.
Inside the childhood home of Huguette Clark. The Fifth Avenue mansion was a high-tech marvel for 1910, with electricity and central air conditioning. Powering it required seven tons of coal per day, brought in by the Clarks' private subway line.
***Huguette Clark seems to have had a very sad life despite all that money.***
I suspect you are correct - but then, do we really know how she spent her time (before radio, TV and the internet)?
Wish I could remember the FReeper who thought Elin Nordegren didn’t deserve millions in her divorce from TWoods. Thankfully, Elin has her family, children and perhaps a professional life which will be far more valuable than money.
Thank you for reminding us.
Huguette's great wealth drew attention to her from newspapers of the day. This 1928 cartoon portrays "A Day in the Life of Little Huguette Clark." (International Feature Service, Inc.)
Sorta like Paris Hilton then?
Photographic styles have certainly changed. In old time photos, people seldom were seen smiling. None of the photos in the above posts evidence that Huguette was ever very happy. She was probably emotionally abused from the outset.
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