ROBERT GOELET,
86, financier and real-estate developer who was a leader in social circles here and in Newport, R.I., for many years, died yesterday in his home, 4 East 66th Street. He
was 86 years old.
Mr. Goelet, a man of taste and wealth, could make intricate financial decisions or select delicate, vines for lavish banquets with rare simplicity.
In his business dealings, which stemmed in good part from a large family inheritance, he had been connected with the
Chemical Bank New York Trust Company, the City Investing Company, the Fifth Avenue Corporation and the Real Estate Mortgage Commission.
His knowledge of food and
wines led a gourmet to write
in 1948:
"The connoisseur in any wine drinker would be complimented by a Christmas present of a Goelet Claret" • Holiday game would become an unforgotten food if eaten in the company of almost any of them.
This was after Mr. Goelet had sold several of his "cellars, to a distributor here. Two clarets in his collection were advertised to retail at $24 a fifth.
But it was for his wealth,
Which was said to exceed $50-million, and his acumen in handling real estate that Mr. Goelet was best known in this city. At one time. it was reported, the Goelet holdings included 55 acres stretching along the East Side from Union Square to 48th Street.
Notable Appearances
Mr. Goulet's appearances in
public were considered noteworthy.
Two years ago, when he strolled along Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday, a society columnist wrote:
"It isn't every day that
society watchers can get a look at Robert Goelet, 50 or more times a millionaire. But yesterday being Easter, elderly Mr. Goelet Vent to worship as is his custom at St. Thomas Episcopal Church"
The description touched on Mr. Goulet's full head of gray hair and his use of two canes to steady himself as he got out of his limousine.
He Was born here Jan. 9, 1880,
the son of Ogden Goelet and the former Miss May Wilson. His mother was the daughter of Richard T. Wilson, a Southern railroad magnate, and the sister of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Mr. Goelet was the eighth
generation of the Francis Goelet family of the Netherlands, which came to this city in 1676.
The Goelet fortune
was said to have originated
With Peter Goelet, a great-great-grandson of Francis.
Peter was an ironmonger during the American Revolution, and along with the Astor's. Rhinelander's, Shermerhorns and Lorillard's acquired vast real-estate holdings here. His sons, Peter and Robert Goelet, added to these investments.
$140 million in Property Roberts sons, Robert and
Ogden, continued to acquire property in Manhattan, estimated at one time to have been worth $140-million. Ogden was Robert Goulet's father.
On the son's 21st birthday, his father made him an out right gif t of $1-million, a Boston newspaper reported at the time. He had been graduated from Harvard College.
In World War I, Mr. Goelet
Was a captain in the infantry in France, first with the 77th 1 Division and later with the! 82d. He received the Silver
Star for gallantry at the
Argonne-Meuse battle.
After the war, he began taking an active part in the Newport social world.
In 1947, after having offered his family estate Ochre Court, to the United Nations as a site for its headquarters, Mr. Goelet presented it to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rhode Island for the establishment of Salve Regina College, the first Catholic women's college in the state. Ochre Court had been built around 1890 for several million dollars.
After making the gift. Mr. Goelet renovated Champs Soleil in Newport, where he and his family spent summers and entertained huge parties. The last at Champs Soleil was a buffet dinner-dance in September, 1964, for 400 persons celebrating the finish of the America's Cup races.
married First in 1904
Mr. Goelet married his first wife, Elsie Whelan of Philadelphia, in 1904. They had two sons, Ogden and Peter, and were divorced in 1914.
Five years later, he married Donna Fernanda di Villa Rosa, the Princess Riabouchinsky. This marriage ended in a divorce in 1924. The couple had a son, Robert Jr.
In 1925, Mr. Goelet married Roberta Willard, one of three daughters of Col. Joseph A. and Mrs. Willard of Newport. She had been voted the prettiest debutante there in 1916. Mrs. Goelet died in 1949. They had a daughter, Mary.
while at Newport, Mr. Goelet had been on the board of governors of Bailey's Beach and was a director of the Newport Country Club, in which he was the third largest stockholder. Both had been founded by his uncle.
He belonged to the Clambake Club in Newport and the Metropolitan, Harvard, Knickerbocker, Turf, St. Nicholas, Piping Rock and Tuxedo Clubs in New York.
A funeral service will be held at St. Thomas's on Wednesday at 11 A.M. Burial will be at
the Woodlawn Cemetery in the
Bronx.
86, financier and real-estate developer who was a leader in social circles here and in Newport, R.I., for many years, died yesterday in his home, 4 East 66th Street. He
was 86 years old.
Mr. Goelet, a man of taste and wealth, could make intricate financial decisions or select delicate, vines for lavish banquets with rare simplicity.
In his business dealings, which stemmed in good part from a large family inheritance, he had been connected with the
Chemical Bank New York Trust Company, the City Investing Company, the Fifth Avenue Corporation and the Real Estate Mortgage Commission.
His knowledge of food and
wines led a gourmet to write
in 1948:
"The connoisseur in any wine drinker would be complimented by a Christmas present of a Goelet Claret" • Holiday game would become an unforgotten food if eaten in the company of almost any of them.
This was after Mr. Goelet had sold several of his "cellars, to a distributor here. Two clarets in his collection were advertised to retail at $24 a fifth.
But it was for his wealth,
Which was said to exceed $50-million, and his acumen in handling real estate that Mr. Goelet was best known in this city. At one time. it was reported, the Goelet holdings included 55 acres stretching along the East Side from Union Square to 48th Street.
Notable Appearances
Mr. Goulet's appearances in
public were considered noteworthy.
Two years ago, when he strolled along Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday, a society columnist wrote:
"It isn't every day that
society watchers can get a look at Robert Goelet, 50 or more times a millionaire. But yesterday being Easter, elderly Mr. Goelet Vent to worship as is his custom at St. Thomas Episcopal Church"
The description touched on Mr. Goulet's full head of gray hair and his use of two canes to steady himself as he got out of his limousine.
He Was born here Jan. 9, 1880,
the son of Ogden Goelet and the former Miss May Wilson. His mother was the daughter of Richard T. Wilson, a Southern railroad magnate, and the sister of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Mr. Goelet was the eighth
generation of the Francis Goelet family of the Netherlands, which came to this city in 1676.
The Goelet fortune
was said to have originated
With Peter Goelet, a great-great-grandson of Francis.
Peter was an ironmonger during the American Revolution, and along with the Astor's. Rhinelander's, Shermerhorns and Lorillard's acquired vast real-estate holdings here. His sons, Peter and Robert Goelet, added to these investments.
$140 million in Property Roberts sons, Robert and
Ogden, continued to acquire property in Manhattan, estimated at one time to have been worth $140-million. Ogden was Robert Goulet's father.
On the son's 21st birthday, his father made him an out right gif t of $1-million, a Boston newspaper reported at the time. He had been graduated from Harvard College.
In World War I, Mr. Goelet
Was a captain in the infantry in France, first with the 77th 1 Division and later with the! 82d. He received the Silver
Star for gallantry at the
Argonne-Meuse battle.
After the war, he began taking an active part in the Newport social world.
In 1947, after having offered his family estate Ochre Court, to the United Nations as a site for its headquarters, Mr. Goelet presented it to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rhode Island for the establishment of Salve Regina College, the first Catholic women's college in the state. Ochre Court had been built around 1890 for several million dollars.
After making the gift. Mr. Goelet renovated Champs Soleil in Newport, where he and his family spent summers and entertained huge parties. The last at Champs Soleil was a buffet dinner-dance in September, 1964, for 400 persons celebrating the finish of the America's Cup races.
married First in 1904
Mr. Goelet married his first wife, Elsie Whelan of Philadelphia, in 1904. They had two sons, Ogden and Peter, and were divorced in 1914.
Five years later, he married Donna Fernanda di Villa Rosa, the Princess Riabouchinsky. This marriage ended in a divorce in 1924. The couple had a son, Robert Jr.
In 1925, Mr. Goelet married Roberta Willard, one of three daughters of Col. Joseph A. and Mrs. Willard of Newport. She had been voted the prettiest debutante there in 1916. Mrs. Goelet died in 1949. They had a daughter, Mary.
while at Newport, Mr. Goelet had been on the board of governors of Bailey's Beach and was a director of the Newport Country Club, in which he was the third largest stockholder. Both had been founded by his uncle.
He belonged to the Clambake Club in Newport and the Metropolitan, Harvard, Knickerbocker, Turf, St. Nicholas, Piping Rock and Tuxedo Clubs in New York.
A funeral service will be held at St. Thomas's on Wednesday at 11 A.M. Burial will be at
the Woodlawn Cemetery in the
Bronx.
ROBERT GOELET,
86, financier and real-estate developer who was a leader in social circles here and in Newport, R.I., for many years, died yesterday in his home, 4 East 66th Street. He
was 86 years old.
Mr. Goelet, a man of taste and wealth, could make intricate financial decisions or select delicate, vines for lavish banquets with rare simplicity.
In his business dealings, which stemmed in good part from a large family inheritance, he had been connected with the
Chemical Bank New York Trust Company, the City Investing Company, the Fifth Avenue Corporation and the Real Estate Mortgage Commission.
His knowledge of food and
wines led a gourmet to write
in 1948:
"The connoisseur in any wine drinker would be complimented by a Christmas present of a Goelet Claret" • Holiday game would become an unforgotten food if eaten in the company of almost any of them.
This was after Mr. Goelet had sold several of his "cellars, to a distributor here. Two clarets in his collection were advertised to retail at $24 a fifth.
But it was for his wealth,
Which was said to exceed $50-million, and his acumen in handling real estate that Mr. Goelet was best known in this city. At one time. it was reported, the Goelet holdings included 55 acres stretching along the East Side from Union Square to 48th Street.
Notable Appearances
Mr. Goulet's appearances in
public were considered noteworthy.
Two years ago, when he strolled along Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday, a society columnist wrote:
"It isn't every day that
society watchers can get a look at Robert Goelet, 50 or more times a millionaire. But yesterday being Easter, elderly Mr. Goelet Vent to worship as is his custom at St. Thomas Episcopal Church"
The description touched on Mr. Goulet's full head of gray hair and his use of two canes to steady himself as he got out of his limousine.
He Was born here Jan. 9, 1880,
the son of Ogden Goelet and the former Miss May Wilson. His mother was the daughter of Richard T. Wilson, a Southern railroad magnate, and the sister of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Mr. Goelet was the eighth
generation of the Francis Goelet family of the Netherlands, which came to this city in 1676.
The Goelet fortune
was said to have originated
With Peter Goelet, a great-great-grandson of Francis.
Peter was an ironmonger during the American Revolution, and along with the Astor's. Rhinelander's, Shermerhorns and Lorillard's acquired vast real-estate holdings here. His sons, Peter and Robert Goelet, added to these investments.
$140 million in Property Roberts sons, Robert and
Ogden, continued to acquire property in Manhattan, estimated at one time to have been worth $140-million. Ogden was Robert Goulet's father.
On the son's 21st birthday, his father made him an out right gif t of $1-million, a Boston newspaper reported at the time. He had been graduated from Harvard College.
In World War I, Mr. Goelet
Was a captain in the infantry in France, first with the 77th 1 Division and later with the! 82d. He received the Silver
Star for gallantry at the
Argonne-Meuse battle.
After the war, he began taking an active part in the Newport social world.
In 1947, after having offered his family estate Ochre Court, to the United Nations as a site for its headquarters, Mr. Goelet presented it to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rhode Island for the establishment of Salve Regina College, the first Catholic women's college in the state. Ochre Court had been built around 1890 for several million dollars.
After making the gift. Mr. Goelet renovated Champs Soleil in Newport, where he and his family spent summers and entertained huge parties. The last at Champs Soleil was a buffet dinner-dance in September, 1964, for 400 persons celebrating the finish of the America's Cup races.
married First in 1904
Mr. Goelet married his first wife, Elsie Whelan of Philadelphia, in 1904. They had two sons, Ogden and Peter, and were divorced in 1914.
Five years later, he married Donna Fernanda di Villa Rosa, the Princess Riabouchinsky. This marriage ended in a divorce in 1924. The couple had a son, Robert Jr.
In 1925, Mr. Goelet married Roberta Willard, one of three daughters of Col. Joseph A. and Mrs. Willard of Newport. She had been voted the prettiest debutante there in 1916. Mrs. Goelet died in 1949. They had a daughter, Mary.
while at Newport, Mr. Goelet had been on the board of governors of Bailey's Beach and was a director of the Newport Country Club, in which he was the third largest stockholder. Both had been founded by his uncle.
He belonged to the Clambake Club in Newport and the Metropolitan, Harvard, Knickerbocker, Turf, St. Nicholas, Piping Rock and Tuxedo Clubs in New York.
A funeral service will be held at St. Thomas's on Wednesday at 11 A.M. Burial will be at
the Woodlawn Cemetery in the
Bronx.
86, financier and real-estate developer who was a leader in social circles here and in Newport, R.I., for many years, died yesterday in his home, 4 East 66th Street. He
was 86 years old.
Mr. Goelet, a man of taste and wealth, could make intricate financial decisions or select delicate, vines for lavish banquets with rare simplicity.
In his business dealings, which stemmed in good part from a large family inheritance, he had been connected with the
Chemical Bank New York Trust Company, the City Investing Company, the Fifth Avenue Corporation and the Real Estate Mortgage Commission.
His knowledge of food and
wines led a gourmet to write
in 1948:
"The connoisseur in any wine drinker would be complimented by a Christmas present of a Goelet Claret" • Holiday game would become an unforgotten food if eaten in the company of almost any of them.
This was after Mr. Goelet had sold several of his "cellars, to a distributor here. Two clarets in his collection were advertised to retail at $24 a fifth.
But it was for his wealth,
Which was said to exceed $50-million, and his acumen in handling real estate that Mr. Goelet was best known in this city. At one time. it was reported, the Goelet holdings included 55 acres stretching along the East Side from Union Square to 48th Street.
Notable Appearances
Mr. Goulet's appearances in
public were considered noteworthy.
Two years ago, when he strolled along Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday, a society columnist wrote:
"It isn't every day that
society watchers can get a look at Robert Goelet, 50 or more times a millionaire. But yesterday being Easter, elderly Mr. Goelet Vent to worship as is his custom at St. Thomas Episcopal Church"
The description touched on Mr. Goulet's full head of gray hair and his use of two canes to steady himself as he got out of his limousine.
He Was born here Jan. 9, 1880,
the son of Ogden Goelet and the former Miss May Wilson. His mother was the daughter of Richard T. Wilson, a Southern railroad magnate, and the sister of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Mr. Goelet was the eighth
generation of the Francis Goelet family of the Netherlands, which came to this city in 1676.
The Goelet fortune
was said to have originated
With Peter Goelet, a great-great-grandson of Francis.
Peter was an ironmonger during the American Revolution, and along with the Astor's. Rhinelander's, Shermerhorns and Lorillard's acquired vast real-estate holdings here. His sons, Peter and Robert Goelet, added to these investments.
$140 million in Property Roberts sons, Robert and
Ogden, continued to acquire property in Manhattan, estimated at one time to have been worth $140-million. Ogden was Robert Goulet's father.
On the son's 21st birthday, his father made him an out right gif t of $1-million, a Boston newspaper reported at the time. He had been graduated from Harvard College.
In World War I, Mr. Goelet
Was a captain in the infantry in France, first with the 77th 1 Division and later with the! 82d. He received the Silver
Star for gallantry at the
Argonne-Meuse battle.
After the war, he began taking an active part in the Newport social world.
In 1947, after having offered his family estate Ochre Court, to the United Nations as a site for its headquarters, Mr. Goelet presented it to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rhode Island for the establishment of Salve Regina College, the first Catholic women's college in the state. Ochre Court had been built around 1890 for several million dollars.
After making the gift. Mr. Goelet renovated Champs Soleil in Newport, where he and his family spent summers and entertained huge parties. The last at Champs Soleil was a buffet dinner-dance in September, 1964, for 400 persons celebrating the finish of the America's Cup races.
married First in 1904
Mr. Goelet married his first wife, Elsie Whelan of Philadelphia, in 1904. They had two sons, Ogden and Peter, and were divorced in 1914.
Five years later, he married Donna Fernanda di Villa Rosa, the Princess Riabouchinsky. This marriage ended in a divorce in 1924. The couple had a son, Robert Jr.
In 1925, Mr. Goelet married Roberta Willard, one of three daughters of Col. Joseph A. and Mrs. Willard of Newport. She had been voted the prettiest debutante there in 1916. Mrs. Goelet died in 1949. They had a daughter, Mary.
while at Newport, Mr. Goelet had been on the board of governors of Bailey's Beach and was a director of the Newport Country Club, in which he was the third largest stockholder. Both had been founded by his uncle.
He belonged to the Clambake Club in Newport and the Metropolitan, Harvard, Knickerbocker, Turf, St. Nicholas, Piping Rock and Tuxedo Clubs in New York.
A funeral service will be held at St. Thomas's on Wednesday at 11 A.M. Burial will be at
the Woodlawn Cemetery in the
Bronx.
