Huguette M. Clark, the copper heiress and recluse, died today at age 104, registered under a fake name at a hospital in New York City, according to an article by Bill Dedham at msnbc.com.
Her Manhattan residence was at 907 Fifth Avenue at 72nd Street where she reportedly had a total 42 rooms on the 8th and 12th floors.
She was born in Paris on June 9, 1906, the youngest child of U.S. Sen. William Andrews Clark of Montana (1839-1925), known as one of the copper kings who served one full term in the Senate as a Democrat from Montana, from 1901 to 1907, despite having to give up the seat earlier in 1900 in a scandal involving bribes paid to legislators to send him to the Senate.
"While serving in the Senate in 1904, the 62-year-old widower shocked the political and financial world by announcing that he had secretly remarried two years earlier, and that he and his 23-year-old wife already had a 2-year-old daughter, Andr?e. A second daughter, Huguette, was born two years later. When Huguette was about 4, the family of four moved into a 121-room house at Fifth Avenue and 77th Street in New York City, stuffed with the senator's collection of French paintings," the article said.
"Her empty mansions, and a criminal investigation into the handling of her fortune, were the subject of a series of reports last year on msnbc.com. A criminal investigation continues into the handling of her money by her attorney and accountant, with detectives and a forensic accountant poring over the many years of Clark's financial records. An assistant district attorney was able to visit with Clark in the hospital, more than once, and to have a conversation with her, in both French and English. A state grand jury in Manhattan issued subpoenas for documents. It could be months before the investigation's conclusion is known," the article said.
"Though she inherited one of the great mining fortunes of the 19th century, she lived quietly into the 21st century, secluded in a spartan hospital room for more than two decades despite being in relatively good physical health. 'Madame Clark's passing is a sad event for everyone who loved and respected her over the years,' said Michael McKeon, spokesman for attorney Wallace 'Wally' Bock. 'She died as she wanted, with dignity and privacy. We intend to continue to respect her wishes for privacy.' The cause of death was not disclosed," the article continued.
"She was moved in mid-April from her private room at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York up to its medical intensive care unit, then in mid-May to a room with hospice care....Huguette Clark has been almost entirely alone, aside from her private nurse and occasional visits by her accountant. One of her attorneys represented her for 20 years without meeting her face to face, instead talking through a closed door....She was married in 1928, at 22, to William Gower, a law student and Clark family employee. The couple soon separated, had no children, and divorced in less than two years, in the summer of 1930. Thereafter she lived with her mother, Anna, in the apartments at 907 Fifth Ave. (at 72nd Street), occasionally receiving family visitors and a few friends, until Anna died in 1963," the article said.
Her various homes, the article said, "have been carefully maintained through all these years," adding that "the oceanfront estate in Santa Barbara remains furnished, with paintings on the walls, gardens tended, furniture carefully covered, the great house ready to be opened if she should send word of an impending visit. The country house in Connecticut has had extensive repairs, watched by a full-time caretaker who said he wasn't sure whether Clark was dead or alive. And the apartments in New York, with her collections of dolls and dollhouses as well as fine paintings and furniture, are visited regularly by housekeepers and her attorney."
Her Manhattan residence was at 907 Fifth Avenue at 72nd Street where she reportedly had a total 42 rooms on the 8th and 12th floors.
She was born in Paris on June 9, 1906, the youngest child of U.S. Sen. William Andrews Clark of Montana (1839-1925), known as one of the copper kings who served one full term in the Senate as a Democrat from Montana, from 1901 to 1907, despite having to give up the seat earlier in 1900 in a scandal involving bribes paid to legislators to send him to the Senate.
"While serving in the Senate in 1904, the 62-year-old widower shocked the political and financial world by announcing that he had secretly remarried two years earlier, and that he and his 23-year-old wife already had a 2-year-old daughter, Andr?e. A second daughter, Huguette, was born two years later. When Huguette was about 4, the family of four moved into a 121-room house at Fifth Avenue and 77th Street in New York City, stuffed with the senator's collection of French paintings," the article said.
"Her empty mansions, and a criminal investigation into the handling of her fortune, were the subject of a series of reports last year on msnbc.com. A criminal investigation continues into the handling of her money by her attorney and accountant, with detectives and a forensic accountant poring over the many years of Clark's financial records. An assistant district attorney was able to visit with Clark in the hospital, more than once, and to have a conversation with her, in both French and English. A state grand jury in Manhattan issued subpoenas for documents. It could be months before the investigation's conclusion is known," the article said.
"Though she inherited one of the great mining fortunes of the 19th century, she lived quietly into the 21st century, secluded in a spartan hospital room for more than two decades despite being in relatively good physical health. 'Madame Clark's passing is a sad event for everyone who loved and respected her over the years,' said Michael McKeon, spokesman for attorney Wallace 'Wally' Bock. 'She died as she wanted, with dignity and privacy. We intend to continue to respect her wishes for privacy.' The cause of death was not disclosed," the article continued.
"She was moved in mid-April from her private room at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York up to its medical intensive care unit, then in mid-May to a room with hospice care....Huguette Clark has been almost entirely alone, aside from her private nurse and occasional visits by her accountant. One of her attorneys represented her for 20 years without meeting her face to face, instead talking through a closed door....She was married in 1928, at 22, to William Gower, a law student and Clark family employee. The couple soon separated, had no children, and divorced in less than two years, in the summer of 1930. Thereafter she lived with her mother, Anna, in the apartments at 907 Fifth Ave. (at 72nd Street), occasionally receiving family visitors and a few friends, until Anna died in 1963," the article said.
Her various homes, the article said, "have been carefully maintained through all these years," adding that "the oceanfront estate in Santa Barbara remains furnished, with paintings on the walls, gardens tended, furniture carefully covered, the great house ready to be opened if she should send word of an impending visit. The country house in Connecticut has had extensive repairs, watched by a full-time caretaker who said he wasn't sure whether Clark was dead or alive. And the apartments in New York, with her collections of dolls and dollhouses as well as fine paintings and furniture, are visited regularly by housekeepers and her attorney."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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