Inside the isolated world of Huguette Clark: Heiress refused to leave Fifth Avenue penthouse where she hid with thousands of DOLLS she dressed in custom-Dior and kept in elaborate homes Little could entice copper mining heiress Huguette Clark out of her solitary life in a vast Fifth Avenue apartment, except her love of dolls. The recluse, who died childless at the age of 104, had a collection of china dolls, and perfectly scaled houses and accessories for them, believed to be worth more than $2 million. And, although she was seldom seen in public, Ms Clark would come out of her lavish apartment if it meant adding to the collection. In their book, Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune, Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr. reveal how the heiress attended a Christian Dior fashion show - to search for doll's clothes. Generous: Huguette was shy, but not sad. Her friends and the few relatives who knew her describe her as cheerful, gracious, stubborn, and devoted to her art and her charity to friends and strangers. She poses in a Japanese print dress at about age 37 Collector: Huguette Clark, at about age four, sits with her doll collection on the porch of her father's mansion in Butte, Montana, in about 1910 An extract from the book recalls: 'The house of Christian Dior held fashion shows at the palatial French consulate in New York, just up Fifth Avenue from Huguette's apartment, with models showing the latest Parisian fashions. On the afternoon of one of these shows in the late 1950s, a familiar name showed up on the guest list. Revealed: The mysterious life of Huguette Clark is set out in the book Empty Mansions "Mrs Huguette Clark!" exclaimed the consul general, Baron Jacques Baeyens, who had married Huguette's niece. Look, she's not going to come. She's my aunt, and she never goes out. The representative from Christian Dior replied, "Oh, yes, she will. She wants to see the dresses to dress her dolls. As the book explains, Ms Clark, who was then in her 50s, did make a rare trip out to attend the show. Her enthusiasm for collecting dolls appeared to know no bounds. When she was 86, Ms Clark paid $30,000 for a pair of French dolls, but had authorized a bid to be made of up to $135,000. As well as being an avid collector, Ms Clark also developed her father's love of designing extravagant houses - albeit on a smaller scale. The heiress, who was briefly married in her youth, had among other items, German tabletop story houses and Japanese tea houses she had designed and commissioned to be built by an artist in Japan. 'She was just a delightful person,' said Caterina Marsh, her go-between with the artists in Japan. She developed an incredible knowledge about the art and culture of Japan. It was astonishing what she knew, all the legends and folklore. To me, she was the last of an era. The book, Empty Mansions, reveals how the retiring heiress sent a cable to a Bavarian doll maker in 1964 instructing her to be more careful of scale. Rumpelstiltskin house just arrived. It is beautifully painted but unfortunately is not same size of last porridge house received. Instead of front of house being 19¾ of an inch wide it is only 15½ inch wide. Please make sure religious house has front of house 19¾ of an inch wide. Would also like shutters on all the windows. Would like another Rumpelstiltskin house with same scenes with scene where hay is turned to gold added as well as scene before hay is turned but with wider front and also wooden shutters on every window. With many thanks for all your troubles and kindest regards. Huguette Clark, 907 Fifth Ave NYC. Ms Clark also enlisted the help of an Austria-Hungarian immigrant and his wife, who lived in Queens, to modify the dollhouses, and make soft furnishings for them. She was known to make frequent phone calls to the couple in the evenings to discuss her needs and, in return, gave generous cash gifts to the couple and their children. The couple's daughter, Linda Kasakyan, said Ms Clark liked to be able to move her dolls through the houses, and would become upset if they didn't fit. Perfectionist: Huguette designed and commissioned many tabletop reproductions of Japanese buildings: castles, tea rooms, houses, temples Keen: On a single day in 1993, when Huguette was 86, she bought two French dolls from the 1800s, including this Jumeau. She paid nearly $30,000 for the pair Ms Kasakyan said she called her father once with 'an urgent problem', telling him: 'The little people are banging their heads.' Ms Clark was known for her generosity, which led to a fight between her relatives and those named in a second will she wrote when she was 99 years old. Although in relatively good health, the elderly woman had moved permanently into New York's Beth Israel Hospital at the age of 85, remaining there until her death just before her 105th birthday. The woman, known as much for her stubborn streak as her generosity, is said to have felt so safe at the hospital that she fired a private nurse who tried to encourage her to move back home. The book's authors claim doctors at the hospital were also keen for their wealthy patient to remain. When she had been there for about a month, the authors claim Dr Henry Singman alerted the hospital to how Ms Clark 'was quite wealthy, the scion of a multimillionaire copper industrialist'. Memories: On a summer visit to Butte in about 1917, W. A. Clark posed with daughters Andrée, left, and Huguette at Columbia Gardens, the dance pavilion and family park that he built for the people of Butte. The girls were about 15 and 11 Artistic: Believed to be a self-portrait, this unsigned painting shows Huguette Clark in her twenties. At a time when most women painted with pastels, Huguette was a serious art student, mixing her own oil paints Deserted: Le Beau Chateau, set in 52 acres, was bought by Clark and remained empty for more than 60 years Recluse: Ms Clark rarely left her 42-room New York apartment overlooking Central Park in 70 years Stunning: In their heyday, Ms Clark's Fifth Avenue apartments were resplendent It is claimed that when the doctor told Ms Clark he was having to spend $20,000 to paint his house, she gave him a check for the full amount. Over 20 years Dr Singman and his family received $867,951 in gifts from Ms Clark; her surgeon Dr Jack Rudick and his wife received nearly $1.17 million as well as a further $1 million which Ms Clark's attorney alleged was a loan, but which the doctor claimed had been a gift. It is claimed that the hospital tried to get a 'supermega gift' from the heiress, of about $125 million, by allegedly telling Ms Clark a developer wanted the hospital building and the only way she could remain there was to pay the large sum to secure its future. However, Ms Clark remained sharp and requested a copy of the hospital's financial statement and, eventually, agreed to be moved. Tranquil: This is the view that Huguette abandoned, the view from atop her apartment building at 907 Fifth Avenue, with a vista of Central Park including the sailboat pond in the foreground Final home: This is the view from Huguette's last regular hospital room at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. From her window in room 3K01, one can see no sky at all, only the facing wall of another wing of the hospital According to NBC News, hospital attorney Marvin Wexler said it acted in her best interests. 'The indisputable reality is that Beth Israel rescued Mrs Clark from a secluded and extremely unhealthy existence that endangered her life,' Mr Wexler said, 'and then provided her a well-attended home where she was able to live out her days in security, relative good health and comfort, and with the pleasures of human company.' Ms Clark thanked the hospital for its care in her will, leaving $1 million of her $300 million fortune to it. She also donated a Manet painting worth $3.5 million to the hospital while she was still alive, which was sold.