Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman From Amazon: "Fascinating book about the wealthiest family in the US you've probably never heard of. The story of how the book ‘Empty Mansions’ came to be, in the words of Bill Dedman, one of its two authors, begins with ‘an exercise in American aspiration.’ And when Mr. Dedman, a journalist, embarked on that exercise, he could not have guessed how right that phrase would be. In 2009 he and his wife were looking for a house outside New York City. Just for fun, Mr. Dedman Googled real estate listings in the astronomical range. He found a markdown in New Canaan, Conn., a house that had gone from $35 million to $24 million and had one very unusual feature, even more unusual than its room for drying draperies. The place had been unoccupied since it was purchased. In 1951."
