In 1983, real estate tycoons and hoteliers Harry and Leona Helmsley bought the weekend retreat of their dreams. The newly acquired 21 room estate, known as Dunnellen Hall, was situated on 26 sprawling acres in Greenwich, Connecticut. The cost of the enormous house and surrounding property was a staggering $11 million.
Leona Helmsley was a flamboyant personality with a tyrannical behavior that earned her the nickname "Queen of Mean." Her ”motto” was – "We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes …", a saying identified with her for the rest of her life. She was later convicted of federal income tax evasion and other crimes in 1989 and served 19 months in prison (and two more months under house arrest), after receiving an initial sentence of 16 years.
Mrs. Helmsley set aside $12 million to a trust for the care of her beloved 8-year-old white Maltese, Trouble. (The dog itself was left to her brother, Alvin Rosenthal.)
Funny isn’t i? All the money in the world didn’t make her a happy person, and in the end, she still ended up just as dead as the poorest pauper.