The summer home of the late billionaire philanthropist David Rockefeller on Mount Desert Island has sold for $19 million, with proceeds going to charity.
Rockefeller, who was the son of philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr., died in his sleep in Pocantico Hills, New York, on March 20 at the age of 101.
The real estate company that handled the sale, The Knowles Co., declined to identify the buyer, who paid the asking price only saying a limited-liability corporation has assumed ownership.
Ringing Point sits on 14.5 acres and includes towering forests, a granite pool and nearly a half-mile of rocky coastline
The property has been sold to an unidentified limited-liability corporation who paid the asking price of $19 million
The property sits on Mount Desert Island near the Arcadia National Park and it sale will fund several bequests in Rockefeller’s will
Money from the sale will help to fulfill several bequests in Rockefeller’s will.
In 2015, Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at $3 billion.
The property, called Ringing Point, sits on 14.5 acres sits on Mount Desert Island near Acadia National Park and includes towering forests, a granite pool and nearly a half-mile of rocky coastline.
He left $20 million to the Land and Garden Preserve of Mount Desert Island in Seal Harbor and $5 million to the Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
The Mount Desert Land and Garden Preserve is an outgrowth of the Island Foundation started by Rockefeller and and his wife Peggy as a way to provide permanent protection for land and gardens they loved.
The billionaire left $20 million to the Land and Garden Preserve of Mount Desert Island in Seal Harbor and $5 million to the Maine Coast Heritage Trust
The Mount Desert Land and Garden Preserve was started by Rockefeller and and his wife Peggy as a way of preserving the areas they loved
The seven-bedroom, 5,034-square-foot main home and estate were designed by Peggy Rockefeller in 1972
There also is a guest house and a secluded where David Rockefeller wrote his memoirs as well as an area for meditation
The property has wide grassy trail and includes rolling lawns and gardens, forest, a granite walking path with a railing along the cliff
The property was used by David Rockefeller and his family as their vacation home
The estate has a granite swimming pool, guest cottage, two-car garage and flower gardens, including a circular rose garden
In the grounds there is a large sculpture of a beetle, reflecting his avid interest in collecting the insects
Ringing Point was named after bell buoy located just offshore and built upon the foundation of Dane Cottage, which the Rockefellers tore down
Tim Glidden, president of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust told the Press Herald, Rockefeller was an ‘incredibly generous philanthropist for decades and he made a huge mark here in Maine.’
Glidden said his legactdirectly preserved about 30,000 acres and helped to protect about 100,000 additional acres working in partnership with towns, local land trusts and the state.
‘We are incredibly grateful to him and the family,’ he added.
The seven-bedroom, 5,034-square-foot main home and estate were designed by Peggy Rockefeller in 1972
There also is a guest house and a round ‘study’ along the cliff edge.
David Rockefeller died in March 2017 and had an estimated Fortune of $3 billion
His family has vacationed on Mount Desert Island for generations and he wrote his memoirs at a secluded study near the ocean.
The property has wide grassy trail and includes rolling lawns and gardens, forest, a granite walking path with a railing along the cliff.
There is a large rock in the midst of the forest that serves as a meditation spot.
The estate has a granite swimming pool, guest cottage, two-car garage and flower gardens, including a circular rose garden.
In the grounds is a large sculpture of a beetle, reflecting his avid interest in collecting the insects.
Ringing Point was named after bell buoy located just offshore and was built upon the foundation of Dane Cottage, which the Rockefellers tore down.
When he died, his 150,000 specimen-collection was donated to the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Rockefeller was the grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller and the youngest of six children born to John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
He graduated from Harvard in 1936 and received a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1940.
During World War II he served in the army, then began climbing the ranks of management at Chase Ban which merged with The Manhattan Company in 1955.
He was named Chase Manhattan’s president in 1961 and chairman and chief executive officer eight years later before retiring in 1981 at the age of 65 after a 35-year career.
The late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa shakes hands with David Rockefeller after a press conference in Rockefeller Center in New York in September 1998
David Rockefeller, then-chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank, pictured with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir after his arrival in Israel in March 1971
David Rockefeller was married to the late Margaret McGrath in Bedford, New York on September 7, 1940, and later went on to father six children with his bride
David Rockefeller (L) as then-president of the Chase Manhattan Bank, holds a briefcase near an airplane upon returning to New York City from Paris in October 1963; Rockefeller (R) at the 2011 David Rockefeller Award Luncheon at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City in March 2011
Rockefeller was estimated to have met more than 200 rulers in more than 100 countries during his lifetime, and was often treated as if he were a visiting head of state.
Under Rockefeller, Chase was the first US bank to open offices in the Soviet Union and China and, in 1974, the first to open an office in Egypt after the Suez crisis of 1956.
In his early travels to South Africa, Rockefeller arranged clandestine meetings with several underground black leaders. ‘I find it terribly important to get overall impressions beyond those I get from businessmen,’ he said.
With the passing of his sister and brothers, he became the guardian of his family’s fortune and head of a sprawling network of family interests, both business and philanthropic, that ranged from environmental conservation to the arts.
Despite never seeking public office, David Rockefeller wielded power and influence without ever seeking public office.
Among his many accomplishments were spurring the project that led to the World Trade Center.
Unlike his other brothers, John D. III and Laurance, who shied the spotlight and were known for philanthropy, he embraced business, traveled and spoke widely as a champion of enlightened capitalism.
He parted company with many of the wealthy on income taxes, calling it unseemly to earn $1 million and then find ways to avoid paying taxes on it.
From the Gilded Age to the Digital: 150-years of Rockefellers
John D Rockefeller, Sr (1839-1937) – founder of Standard Oil
John D Rockefeller, Sr, pictured here in Cleveland, Ohio in 1911
John D Rockefeller, Sr, who is widely considered the richest American of all time (adjusted for inflation), was the founder of Standard Oil, originally based out of Cleveland, Ohio.
Philanthropy was very important to him, and he passed that passion on to his children and grandchildren.
During his life, he donated more than $500 million to various charitable cause, according to History.com.
He also went on to found the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University. He married Laura Celestia Spelman in 1864 and the two had five children together.
He died at 97 years of age in Florida in 1937.
John D Rockefeller, Jr (1874-1960) – the only son of John D. Rockefeller, Sr
John D Rockefeller, Jr, seen here in New York City in 1929
John D Rockefeller, Jr was the only son and the last born of the five children of John D Rockefeller, Sr. He becamse a director of Standard Oil shortly after his graduation with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University in 1897.
He married his wife, Abigail ‘Abby’ Greene Aldrich in 1901 in what was considered to be the social event of the time, at the Aldrich mansion in Rhode Island.
Before his passing, he instilled the importance of giving back and the great responsibilty that comes with having lavish wealth in his children. He died of pneumonia in 1960.
John D Rockefeller Jr’s Children – the passing of David Rockefeller marks the end of an era
Abigail Aldrich Rockefeller Mauze (1902-1976)
Abigail Aldrich Rockefeller Mauze, in a portrait from the Rockefeller Archive Center
Abigail ‘Abby’ Aldrich Rockefeller Mauze was the first child and only daughter of John D Rockefeller Jr and Abby Aldrick Rockefeller. She was not known to step into the public eye and focused largely on charitable work. She was the creator and president of the Greenacre Foundation, which came into existence in 1968, and served to maintain and operate parks in New York state.
She was married three times, once divorced and twice widowed before passing away herself from cancer in 1976.
John Davison Rockefeller III (1906-1978)
John Davison Rockefeller III, seen here in a portrait completed in New York in 1962
John Davison Rockefeller III was the eldest son of John D Rockefeller Jr and Abby Aldrick Rockefeller. He devoted most of his time and attention to philanthropy while leaving the politics and banking to his brothers.
In addition to focusing on East Asain affairs, he famously made the initial donation to support Yale University’s Program on Non-Profit Organizations.
He died in an automobile accident in New York in 1978.
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1908-1979)
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller as he testified before the Noreland Commission into Nursing Home Abuses in New York in August 1975
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was elected governor of New York four times from 1959-1973 before resigning to become vice president of the United States under President Gerald R. Ford from 1974-1977.
He also served in the administrations of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. He had made several attempts at a presidential bid of his own but was not able to secure the Republican nomination.
He died of a heart attack in his townhouse office in 1979.
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (1910-2004)
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller, seen here in New York in June 1961
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller was a prominent member of the Rockefeller family during his 94-year-long life. He graduated from Princeton University in 1932 and attended Harvard Law School for two years before deciding against completing his law degree.
He married Mary French in 1932, who was a childhood friend of his and whose brother he shared a room with his bother, Nelson Rockefeller, while both were in attendance at Dartmouth. The two had three daughters and a son.
He used his fortune to fund conservation efforts as one of the earliest venture capitalists. He died of pulmonary fibrosis in July 2004.
Winthrop Rockefeller (1912-1973)
Winthrop Rockefeller (R) with his brother Nelson (L) at the Republican Convention in Miami, Florida in August 1972
Winthrop Rockefeller was the first Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction, and served two terms in that capacity. He moved to the state in 1953 after divorcing Barbara Sears Rockefeller.
He died of Pancreatic Cancer in 1973.
His son with his ex-wife, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, would later become Lieutenant Governor of Arkasnas before passing away in Little Rock, Arkansas of a bone marrow malfunction which led to a blood disorder in July 2006.
David Rockefeller (1915-2017)
David Rockefeller (L) with his brothers in New York in September 1967; (L-R) David, Winthrop, John D Rockefeller III, Nelson and Laurance
At 101, Forbes called him the world’s oldest billionaire. With David Rockefeller’s death on Monday, he became the last to pass of his generation of Rockefellers, ending an era for the revered family. Having worked well into his 90s at his office on the 56th floor of the namesake Rockefeller Center, he was also still very much a part of the New York City social scene. His love for art was unparalleled, championing their legacy of support for the Museum of Modern Art and appearing there at events as recently as last year. His life was littered with grandiose stories of exploring the world to welcomes usually observed for heads of state and spending his younger years rollerskating down Fifth Avenue, tailed by a limousine, according to The New York Times.