[8] Mary was known as one of the viceregal leaders of the Ultra-fashionable 150, among Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Ogden Mills, Mrs. John Jacob Astor, and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr.[9] He had several yachts including a schooner, Norseman that was designed by William Townsend and built in 1881 at the Richard & Cornelius Poillon shipyard in Brooklyn.

[12] His final yacht was named Mayflower and was designed by George Lennox Watson in 1896 and built on the Clyde (Scotland) by J & G Thompson.

[13] Goelet and his wife owned a townhouse at 608 Fifth Avenue in New York City and a villa in Nice, France.

The home was built at a cost of $4.5 million and was the second largest mansion in Newport after nearby The Breakers, both designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt.

[5] On August 27, 1897, after over five years spent abroad, Goelet died aboard his yacht in the town of Cowes in the Isle of Wight after having been ill for two months.

[5] His family and body sailed back to the United States[19] and his funeral was held aboard his yacht in Newport and he was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York).