History of the Brazilian Court Hotel

jewelry from hotel guests over a three week period. Undercover police officers set - up a sting and ob- served Scott taking money they had planted in a room.

sure.

The Brazilian Court was designated a landmark by the Town of Palm Beach in July 1994. The Land- mark Preservation Commission had recommended the designation. In March of 1995 the RTC puts the hotel up for sale. A private auction accepting sealed bids was held in June in Houston, Texas. In July hotelier Peter Worth of New York announced that he had won the bid. The sale closed on November 9 at $11.5 million sale price. On November 14, 1995, the Town of Palm Beach Council okayed several variances to upgrade the structure. At the meeting it was revealed that health care magnate Abraham Gosman had actually pur- chased the hotel using Wirth as a front It has been a good ruse. Wirth on November 10 was making statements about returning the hotel to its Old World elegance. "The important thing for a hotel like this is to have a certain continuity ... the hotel speaks for itself ... it has such magic in it." Then, at the Council meeting Gosman announced that he planned to operate it as high - end retirement home and when it reopened next season "it will be closed except to residents and their children." This statement caught several on the council by com- plete surprise. Mayor Paul Ilyinsky commented later that he was saddened by the news. After ten years of condominium sales and legal quagmires, many were looking forward to the hotel returning to private ownership.

1990s

In 1990 the hotel's mortgage banker sued the hotel's owner Clifton S. Harrison and management company Brazilian Court Innkeeper for misappropriation of funds which landed the hotel in receivership. Semadeni, who had nothing to do with any misap- propriations, was fired by the court appointed receiv- er Paul Hykel in a contract dispute. Semadeni's sala- ry at the time was $92,880 a year. He took the oppor- tunity to form his own American Caledonian Man- agement Corp. By December 1990 the BC was under new manage- ment. Grand Heritage, which managed a number of resorts in the northeast, was hired to work with Paul Hykel, the court appointed receiver. This association was to last until the litigation in the court was settled. Former Chef Charles H. Mathews died Friday after- noon December 20, 1991 at the age of 82. He had been with the Brazilian Court for some 35 years and was responsible for keeping costs down in the kitch- en while producing great food. He retired when Bright retired not wanting to work under anyone else. He was of Austrian descent and had a very high temper. He could work with Bright Johnson, but on several occasions he flew off the handle, took off his hat and apron and walked out. Bright would have to get his wife Ruth Evelyn to sweet talk him back to the job. She was the only person who could calm him after one of his temper tantrums. The Chef was always good to us. We lived across the street on Australian Avenue and would often find a tray of breakfast pastries on the front porch when we awoke. Mathews specialty was pastries and he made the best strawberry pie in the world. At times he would prepare us dinner and his spareribs melted in your mouth. They were so tender you could actually eat the bones. He made some mean black - eyed peas and cornbread too. Ruth was able to get only one rec- ipe from his secret collection; Chef Mathews' barbe- que sauce. In 1992 the Resolution Trust Corp. gained control of the hotel when it took over the failed Texas thrift that held the mortgages. Most of the 134 unit owners deeded their property to the RTC in lieu of foreclo-

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