Bellosguardo, a reclusive heiress' historic home 

It was a dark and stormy night.

Agreed! Fantastic book

Thanks! Just put it on hold at the library. I'm in awe that someone has 40k/month for 70 years plus all the other houses and lifestyle expenses. That is a level of wealth I can not comprehend.

Thank you! This was truly wonderful to read and learn. I hope more people see it. On my way to Glacier Park, I passed through Butte and remembered seeing that Very Tall smoke stack. Now I know what I saw!

The father was rotten-a thief who stole from the state of Montana to earn his wealth. He was so corrupt that the first campaign finance laws in the US were written in his ”honor”. They were in place until the Citizens United case. Mark Twain had a few choice comments about him.

Keith stop pandering to the wealthy who could care less about your existence.

I love my McMansion! It's my castle friend.

Since we have no information on her thought life, it's presumptuous to say she never had the one thing she wanted or needed. Seems to me solitude was the one thing she craved the most and she achieved that. Being alone is not the same as being lonely. When you consider the tragic lives of the other 'million dollar babies' of her generation, I'd say apart from her health challenges she lived a great life. Most wealthy people are surrounded by sycophants who suck the life out if them. She avoided that fate by how she chose to live her life.

@@ellencarter2668 Very well said! Solitude can be glorious. I treasure it.

@@ellencarter2668Amen! My other half and I come from big families and have not visited or been visited by them in 20 years and we love it, too much drama and diapers, lol.😁😁

Who cares.

Surely the family made money on the backs of somebody

Sounds like a tremendous waste of resources better used elsewhere, but as long as you find it ‘interesting’.

@@Jack-eo5fn Why don’t you go away? Just a thought.

Do you know if the funds for the upkeep of this property come from her estate?

@@michaelkline884, yes that’s in the 2 biographies about her life. She paid the staff in each home very well. She talked by phone to the heads of staff regularly but the only one to actually meet her in person was the head of her NY house which had been her mothers home before her. All employees at her houses interviewed spoke very highly of her. She was especially generous to her “nurse” and the nurse’s husband and kids who were immigrant Latinos who lived in Queens. I don’t think the nurse ever asked for anything but Huegette gave her millions over 20 years. In fairness, the nurse practically abandoned her own family because H wanted her in her room sitting next to her 14 hours daily, including holidays and weekends. H realized the sacrifice of the family and continually wrote them generous checks, bought them nice cars, etc. She considered the nurse’s family her own fantasy family. They were her only regular visitors at the hospital. H was originally taken to the hospital as a cancer patient and had her right jaw removed which disfigured her face considerably. It was speculated this was another reason she didn’t appear in public or want people around her, except for this nurse. She also gave the hospital 1 million when alive, in addition to the daily rent for the room, and another million by bequest. Her estate was over 500 M at the time of her death. Her father was an angry US Senator from Montana in the early 1900’s but the family never lived there. He made big money from his copper mines in Montana but left the mountains an ugly toxic waste when he died. H obviously had childhood developmental issues of some kind but never diagnosed in those days. She later amassed the largest china doll collection in the world and kept many of the dolls in her hospital room to play with. I think she died in the 1990’s, leaving millions more to her nurse but very little to her nephews and nieces who later sued and won a fair amount in court. It was also proven in court that most of them never met her or tried to visit her. Most of her estate was left to art museums and the biggest beneficiary was the famous Corcoran Art museum in Washington DC. She left her 3 mansions to the cities in which they existed, to be used as museums of art for the public.

Well thank you for doing a better job of reporting than CBS. Now I'm going to look into the biography.

It is the height of selfishness and I don't understand why anyone would celebrate this as a good thing. Her properties and wealth could have gone to orphanges, treatment centers, even a sanctuary for endangered and sick animals or even as a sanctuary for the mentally ill, like she was. Because she was obviously mentally ill or perhaps her selfish ways brought in the madness. No wonder she lived so long. Only the good die young.

The family made money on the backs of somebody

Get started today at a local college or use online tutorials. It's a skill that you learn and then practice for hours every week for decades. One isn't born with the ability to draw or paint. I look at my early art and it's no different than any other child's, but I spent hours drawing and then took classes at a college where I learned fundamental techniques. You can do it, take the first steps.

@@aaron___6014 One day several years ago, I picked up a pencil and pad and began drawing , something I hadn't done since I was a child. Back then I drew stick figures, and can count on one hand the number of times I tried drawing anything. Well, I was pleasantly surprise at the results and wondered how I was able to do such a relatively good job. I attribute it to looking at my and also other people's faces all my life, in magazines and in person. I've also been wearing makeup since I was a around 14, so that may have helped. I imagine how much better I would be, if I took classes and maybe I will one day. Right now I'm more interested in sewing classes.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY: CLAIR DE LUNE

The is a fluff piece similar to Pauley herself. Empty and vacuous.

Most foundations gets private donations either from wealthy donors or through fundraising auctions and dinners during the year. As to the costs I’m sure millions to maintain.

@@kelseyluis2011 Another commenter read her biography and said she left behind $500m when she died. Most of it was donated to art museums. If $50m is left in her foundation and the dividend yield is 3%, the annual dividend is $1.5m. The video says the maintenance of this mansion is $40k/month which is about $0.5m/year. She left behind 2 other mansions too.

Had a 24/7 STAFF at each location. CA, NY , CT. That means security too.

Sad, sad, sad

No soul to begin with

Many, sadly! Sitting empty as investment

The homelessness just on the west coast of the U.S., nevermind the rest of the country... heck, just in the state of Calofornia, where a property like this and all the money utilized to maintain it, could better be served yet this segment celebrates the madness of one selfish woman and the wealthy who continue to maintain this as the ultimate lie. What a waste. CBS should be ashamed for publicizing such extravagance during this difficult time in our nation's history.

Her sister died of an illness when she was young. Huguette had many leaches and was smart enough to cast them off and only keep those around her who were not grifters and vultures.

She more than likely didn't care about them either

Nonsense. There were probably one quarter of the people in the US as there are today so taking up this amount of land was no big deal. Her home is a place of beauty, serenity, peace, and employed many people for decades. These people were confident in their abilities due to the fact that they accomplished, built and created, people who GOT IT DONE instead of just slacking around complaining. Huguette chose to stay in the hospital, why do you cattily speculate that she was afraid to leave? You don't know that at all. Jealousy of others accomplishments and taste are unbecoming.

Booo

She did both.

Hahaha

She left her property to charity. That's the opposite of selfishness.

It would last long as a homeless shelter. Lol

Why are you being mean

@@katiel1979 Because we just got a new dishwasher & I put our old broken dishwasher on Facebook for free, for anyone collecting scrap metal & a guy came & got it within 20 minutes! Because he was doing everything he could think of to make an extra $20!! And he's not a drug addict. I know the guy! He's a family man doing his best!

AGREED

@@peggygibbons479 what does your dishwasher have to do with a mansion

@@marla591 agreed she’s mean

What's your point in how that relates to this story? Or are you just a troll?

This is California's Karma. Stolen from Mexico, mined, and prostituted to the highest bidder to hurn out filfth. California will become a state that if an earthquake doesn't fully exorcisize it from the rest of the U.S., it's policies will. Such a disgrace.

she would be mistaken as the help

It's called freedom, baby!🌈🌈Besides, I'm 58 and have no children to starve, people pop out kids like clown cars and expect the rest of us to feed them!😘😘

@@davidhennen7045 I am not your baby... I am talking about Mankind and being kind.

Maybe a little research may have been good. He got rich from banking and copper mines long before he was a senator. It's just like the sign says at the national parks, don't feed the animals because they become dependent and will not hunt for themselves.

Materialism & greed. Ppl can live well buy nobody needs a castle! Jesus wouldn't live in a castle. He lived poor ..even as the king of all kings!

Let us start with the fact u know little of the old man's biography. He made his fortune in copper mines and railroads including the line to Las Vegas NV where the county is named Clark. You imply he embezzled money as a politician which is untrue, though his money certainly helped his campaign for the US Senate seat. Do you have such hostility to the shallow untalented creeps of modern day Hollywood who live in even more lavish mansions?

Shame on you, get a job.

@@jefferycocking9218 poor troll Jeffery doesn't understand how economy works !