[16] He inherited vast real estate holdings in New York, sometimes known as the Goelet Realty Company, which included the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the property between 52nd and 53rd Streets on Park Avenue which the Racquet and Tennis Club leased.

[16] After Goelet's death in 1941, his estate leased the land on which the sixteen townhouses were built, which were torn down and replaced by 425 Park Avenue,[18] which, at the time of the construction, it was one of the tallest buildings that utilized the bolted connections.

[20] It too was torn down and replaced by a new tower at 425 Park Avenue designed by architect Norman, Lord Foster, still on land owned by the Goelet family.

[27] Anne Marie was the daughter of Daniel Guestier, a director of the Orleans Railroad "who at one time was said to have been the wealthiest wine merchant of France and the owner of vast estates.

"[28] She received the French Legion of Honor for aiding French-American wives during World War II and for providing medical services to inhabitants in the vicinity of Sandricourt, the Goelet family estate outside Paris, after it was liberated in August 1944.

Together, Anne Marie and Robert were the parents of four children: After several months of ill health, Goelet died on May 2, 1941, of a heart attack, aged 61, in his brownstone on Fifth Avenue at 48th Street.

[26] In 1958, in Goelet's honor, his widow and four children donated $500,000 toward the construction of the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, where the grand staircase bears a plaque with his name.