Rookwood

Although when Nick died in 1931 The New York Times had estimated him to be worth $16 million, in actual fact he was worth just a fraction of that, leaving - after taxes - just under $700,000. That's still the equivalent of about $12 million today, but for a man thought to be worth more than twenty times that - and who had his finger on the pulse at the height of the Gilded Age - it was a considerable drop in fortune. 

Alice had never been enamored with Cincinnatti and she was even less complementary about her home there: "Rookwood... was enchanting, it was so awful... It was a series of brick boxes connected by a large 'Italian style' brick tower. There was a large picture room full of rather dismal landscapes by early 19th century Swedish painters. Nothing very good. It was a very expensive home to run - it required a minimum of five servants - and I couldn't afford to keep it when Nick died. The Longworths were artistic, charming and gifted but they had very little concern about their sources of income. The rents fell off, the taxes increased and somehow, they didn't seem to notice with the result that there really wasn't very much money in the estate when old Mrs Longworth died".   

Today the "Rookwood" name is known for the pottery that has been manufactured here since 1880, started by Joseph's daughter, Maria Longworth Nichols Storer.