Richard Hampton Jenrette is a self-proclaimed “house-aholic.” Over the past 40 years he has owned and restored a dozen old houses, most dating back to the early nineteenth century. He also rebuilt an antebellum hotel. Some of these properties were sold or given away, but he currently retains six of the finest. With the collection of early American houses came the next logical step, the collecting of period antiques to furnish the houses. Today, Mr. Jenrette owns hundreds of antiques, almost entirely American and many original to the houses.

Born in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 5, 1929, Mr. Jenrette is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina and received an MBA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business.

He served as Chairman of the Board of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. from 1974 to 1996, having been a founder of the firm in 1959. He is also the former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Described by The New York Times as “the last gentleman on Wall Street,” Jenrette’s distinguished career has included service on numerous corporate boards of directors and philanthropic groups.

Mr. Jenrette has received various awards for his historic preservation activities, including the Louise duPont Crowninshield Award, presented by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Hadrian Award, presented by the World Monuments Fund. In his Foreword to Mr. Jenrette’s book, Adventures With Old Houses, HRH The Prince of Wales wrote, “No wonder some of his admirers have described Dick as a one-person National Trust for Historic Preservation.”