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

In 2009, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Bill Dedman discovered a grand home that had sat unoccupied for nearly sixty years, leading him to uncover the story of Huguette Clark, a reclusive heiress who died at age 104. Despite owning palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, Clark lived for twenty years in a simple hospital room while in excellent health. Her life raises questions about her control over her $300 million fortune and the management of her wealth. Dedman collaborated with Clark's cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., to tell her story. Huguette was the daughter of W. A. Clark, a self-made copper industrialist, controversial senator, railroad builder, and founder of Las Vegas. She grew up in New York City's largest house, a 121-room mansion, and owned paintings by Degas and Renoir, a Stradivarius violin, and an extensive collection of antique dolls. Rather than simply accumulating treasures, she used her wealth to give gifts to friends and strangers, pursue her own work as an artist, and protect her privacy. The Clark family history spans three generations of American history, from Pennsylvania log cabins to Montana mining camps. Huguette held a first-class Titanic ticket from 1912 and was affected by the 9/11 attacks. The book features more than seventy photographs and explores her father, mother, sister, French boyfriend, nurse who received over $30 million in gifts, and relatives contesting her inheritance.