Was William Thompson da man? Or was it William Boyce Thompson? A dissident family faction weighs in.
The Inside Story of the Cumberland-Ely Deal: How William Boyce Thompson Outflanked the Guggenheims
I was recently sitting comfortably in a reading room of the Library of Congress, going through some papers left behind by Hermann Hagedorn, William Boyce Thompson’s biographer. I was minding my own business, trying to speed-read interviews related to the Magnate’s acquisition of a mining venture in Ely, Nevada, dreaming of my next cup of […]
Faint Praise Heard for New Boyce Thompson Release
We caught up with Boyce Thompson, Jr., on the eve of the release of his new album, Old Trains/Fast Tracks, to ask the reclusive “artist” a few questions about the forthcoming record, which has received faint praise, at best, from critics who dared to listen to preview copies. This is about the 20th album of […]
Rancho Joaquina Needed a Facelift Before It Could be Shown to the Public
The year was 1970. The occasion was the annual Phoenix Home and Garden Show. The opportunity was to open my great grandfather J.E. Thompson’s 46-year-old Rancho Joaquina estate for public viewing. The problem: It was a mess, inside and out. In stepped the local chapter of the American Institute of Interior Designers, along with The […]
Phoenician Officials Razed Mabel Thompson’s Historically Significant Phoenix Estate
In one of the greatest tragedies in Thompson family history, officials at the Phoenician hotel raised Mabel Thompson Filor’s historically significant Phoenix estate to make way for the Canyon Suites, a bland collection of luxury vacation cottages. A Starwood Hotel website — Starwood bought the Phoenician about 10 years ago — attempts to put the […]
Clergy Inhabit Mabel Thompson Filor’s Old Stony Point Estate
Mabel Thompson may not be as famous as her well-heeled older brothers William Boyce and Joseph Edward, but she was very wealthy nonetheless. Born in Butte, Montana, in 1886, Mabel married a stockbroker, Walter Filor, eight years her senior. He earned enough to buy Mabel a very impressive, 150-acre estate in Stony Point, New York, […]