| Built | 1924–1927 |
| Architect | Marion Sims Wyeth (exterior) Joseph Urban (interior) |
| NRHP reference No. | 80000961 |
| Significant dates | |
|---|---|
| Added to NRHP | December 23, 1980 |
Who designed the architect of Mar-a-Lago?
Sims was an architect and educated at Princeton. He was also trained at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later joined Carrere & Hastings in U.S. One of the Wyeth’s famous work is that he built the governor of Florida’s mansion in Tallahassee. He also designed Shangrila in Honolulu, Hawai. Marion Sims Wyeth designed the architect of Mar-a-Lago.
Is there a golf course at Mar-a-Lago?
There are almost no golf facilities at the Mar-a-Lago Club. We say "almost" because there is a single practice putting green on the grounds. But that's it: no golf course, no other golf facilities. But wait, you say: Then how is President Trump playing golf every time he goes to Mar-a-Lago?
How much did it cost to build Mar-a-Lago?
The Grand Mar-a-Lago was completed in 1927 at the cost of $7 million and often the social life and activities of Hutton’s family were included in the society page columns of newspapers. In 1929 Post managed to host the day party with Ringling Circus at Mar-a-Lago.
Who was the first owner of Mar-a-Lago?
Marjorie Merriweather Post was the first owner of Mar-a-Lago, per Town and Country. Mar-a-Lago was designed to have 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms, at the cost of $7 million — double its initial price tag.
What is the Mar-a-Lago Club?
The primary business occupying the estate is the Mar-a-Lago Club, which opened in 1994 and operates as resort and hotel for dues-paying members, and rents out estate venues for private events. Operating the mansion as a club in this way, whilst continuing to live on the premises, allows Trump to significantly reduce his tax bill, by identifying a range of items used to maintain the mansion and his lifestyle as being legitimate business expenses.
How many rooms does the Mar-a-Lago Club have?
The 126-room, 62,500-square-foot (5,810 m 2) mansion since 1994 contains the Mar-a-Lago Club, a members-only club with guest rooms, a spa, and other hotel-style amenities. It is located in Palm Beach County on the Palm Beach barrier island, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Florida's Intracoastal Waterway to the west.
How many times did Trump visit Mar-a-Lago?
During 2018, President Trump visited Mar-a-Lago eight times prior to the seasonal closing in May.
How much money did Mar-a-Lago Club make in 2016?
According to financial disclosure forms filed by Trump, the Mar-a-Lago Club had $29.7 million in gross revenues in the period June 2015 through May 2016. The club had revenues of $25.1 million for calendar year 2017, $22 million in 2018, and $21.4 million in 2019.
What is the origin of Mar-a-Lago?
Origin of the name. The company identifies the name Mar-a-Lago as Spanish for "Sea-to-Lake", referring to the fact that the resort extends the entire width of Palm Beach, from the Atlantic Ocean to what is now the Intracoastal Waterway, but previously was known as Lake Worth .
When was Mar-a-Lago declared a national landmark?
Mar-a-Lago was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980. On April 18, 2012, the American Institute of Architects ' Florida Chapter ranked Mar-a-Lago fifth on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.
When was Mar-a-Lago added to the NHL?
Added to NRHP. December 23, 1980. Designated NHL. December 23, 1980. Mar-a-Lago ( / ˌmɑːrəˈlɑːɡoʊ /) is a resort and national historic landmark in Palm Beach, Florida, built from 1924 to 1927 by cereal-company heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post.
Who built Mar-a-Lago?
Mar-a-Lago was built by the heiress to the Post fortune. Marjorie Merriweather Post was the first owner of Mar-a-Lago, per Town and Country. Mar-a-Lago was designed to have 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms, at the cost of $7 million — double its initial price tag.
How many bedrooms are there in Mar-a-Lago?
When completed, Mar-a-Lago was a full 17-acre estate, with an 11,000 square foot house, 58 bedrooms, and 33 bathrooms. Inspired by palaces in Europe, and Spanish-Moorish architecture, it was all built to discriminating specification.
Why did the Post Foundation want to give Mar-a-Lago?
Her initial idea had been to give it to the state of Florida, but it declined. The Post Foundation then tried to give it to the federal government. President Richard Nixon even scoped out the property in 1974, per the New York Times, but the federal government ultimately declined the property in 1981. Both of them likely declined because the costs of maintenance would simply have been too high. Much like her penthouse would eventually need to be subdivided, Mar-a-Lago really wasn't useful to anyone in its current state.
How much is Mar-a-Lago worth?
Shutterstock. Marjorie Post's entire real estate portfolio, including Mar-a-Lago, would be estimated to be worth $1 billion today. Three of those properties were used to socialize with other millionaires and billionaires.
What was the first lawsuit against Mar-a-Lago?
But there were three long-term, high-profile lawsuits that were publicly fought by Mar-a-Lago. The first such lawsuit was litigation over an illegal, 80-foot flag. Donald Trump had the flag installed without a permit in the 1980s, and both its size and location violated local ordinances.
Why did Mar-a-Lago decline?
Both of them likely declined because the costs of maintenance would simply have been too high. Much like her penthouse would eventually need to be subdivided, Mar-a-Lago really wasn't useful to anyone in its current state. From the government's perspective, this was absolutely the right move.
Why were shacks built in Mar-a-Lago?
In the 1940s, shacks were erected throughout Mar-a-Lago for the support of returning veterans. Workshops for leather, sculpting, furniture repair, printing, and carpentry were all created to ease the transition, the Palm Beach Daily News explains.
Who designed the Mar-a-Lago house?
The main architect was Marion Wyeth, and Joseph Urban added touches to the interior and exterior, too. The Mar-a-Lago website describes the architecture of the house: "The main house is an adaptation of the Hispano-Moresque style, long popular among the villas of the Mediterranean.
When was Mar-a-Lago built?
Updated September 25, 2019. Mar-a-Lago, originally built in the 1920s as a residential estate, is in the news quite a bit these days. That's because its current owner, Donald Trump — make that United States President Donald Trump — is making frequent visits to the property. As president, Trump uses Mar-a-Lago as a getaway, ...
What does it mean to join a Mar-a-Lago?
For those kinds of members, joining a club like Mar-a-Lago (or Trump International Golf Club) is a means of collecting status symbols.
When did Donald Trump buy Mar-a-Lago?
Aerial view of the Mar-a-Lago estate in 1991, six years after Donald Trump bought it. Steve Starr/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images. He bought it from the Post Foundation for between $7 million and $8 million in 1985. It's the only time the Mar-a-Lago estate has been sold.
How many rooms does Mar-a-Lago Club have?
The Mar-a-Lago Club is part of the Mar-a-Lago estate, whose grounds include the 110,000-square-foot, 114-room mansion in which club members socialize, dine and lodge. The Trump family uses a separate, closed-off part of the club as a residence.
Where is Mar-a-Lago?
The Mar-a-Lago Club is on Palm Beach Island in Palm Beach, Fla., one of he wealthiest enclaves in America.
Who was the first owner of Mar-a-Lago?
The first owner of Mar-a-Lago, heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images. The Mar-a-Lago estate dates to the mid-1920s; the three-year construction of the house was completed in 1927.
Who designed Mar-a-Lago?
Marion Sims Wyeth designed the architect of Mar-a-Lago. (Shangri La) The mansion that post wanted to build would be the magnificent combination of Moorish, Venetian and Spanish art and architectural element. The dream project of Marjorie would be as beautiful as the grand Mediterranean villas.
When was Mar-a-Lago completed?
An undated photo of Tea and Card Party at Mar-a-Lago. (My Palm Beach Post) The Grand Mar-a-Lago was completed in 1927 at the cost of $7 million and often the social life and activities of Hutton’s family were included in the society page columns of newspapers.
How long did Trump wait to start Mar-a-Lago?
Trump has to wait 10 years to start The Mar-a-Lago Club because it look many years to get a permit; you know the society, rich and insular. The Clubs fees were $100,000 initially with an annual fee of $14,000. Recently, after Trump became President-elect the initial fees were doubled to $200,000.
Why did Trump refuse to buy Mar-a-Lago?
He wanted to make it a private club. But his offer was refused because the place was for residential use only.
How tall is the Mar-a-Lago flag pole?
The town has rules that don’t allow flagpoles longer than 42 feet but the pole inside Mar-a-Lago compound was 80 foot tall. The fine was $250 per day for this violation. Later, there was an agreement when Trump sued for his right to free speech and he reduced the size of the flag and the pole to 70 foot.
What is the gold leaf in Mar-a-Lago?
The gold leaf in Mar-a-Lago is the exact copy of Thousand Wing Ceiling in the Academia in Venice but the religious symbols were replaced by other symbols and secular coat of arms. The replacement of religious symbols was Post’s idea. Mar-a-Lago in 1928. (Palm Beach Daily News)
How tall is Mar-a-Lago?
Post with her friends at Mar-a-Lago. (My Palm Beach Post) Mar-a-Lago has the 75-foot tall tower from where her guests would be refreshed by the mesmerizing water scenes. The historic Estate was between Lake Worth and Atlantic Sea from where the name Mar-a-Lago was inspired. It means sea-to-lake in Spanish.
What is Mar-a-Lago's story?
Decades after Marjorie Merriweather Post thought she had accomplished her greatest ambition, Mar-a-Lago’s story, which might have once been a reminder of Palm Beach’s opulent past, today has the good fortune of playing an even more prominent role in the nation’s history. *.
What was the Mar-a-Lago compound converted into?
The compound’s staff and service buildings were converted into art studios, private counseling offices, radio repair shops, motor mechanic garages and rooms to show training films. By the time the couple returned to Palm Beach in 1948, it had been seven years since they last stayed at Mar-a-Lago.
How long did Mar-a-Lago stay closed?
Mar-a-Lago remained shuttered for five seasons. Following the couple’s diplomatic posts abroad, they made only brief visits in the early 1940s to Palm Beach, where they focused mainly on a number of charitable events.
When did the federal government buy Mar-a-Lago?
Finally, after years of lobbying efforts, the federal government acquired Mar-a-Lago by an act of Congress in October 1972. When Post died the following year, she believed Mar-a-Lago had realized its ultimate destiny.
When did Mar-a-Lago host a luncheon?
In 1929 , Mar-a-Lago hosted a luncheon for Grand Duke Alexander Michaelovitch, father of Prince Nikita, presumptive heir to the Russian throne. There was a card party benefit for the Animal Rescue League. In March 1929 came their first of several circus benefits. “I still have a movie of it,” Post later recalled.
Who designed the master's house?
By then, the couple’s architect, Marion Sims Wyeth, and his associate Maitland Belknap had already created drawings for a “master’s house, another for the children, another for guests, and other unique features,” according to a report at the time in The Palm Beach Post.
How much did Trump pay for Mar-a-Lago?
Mar-a-Lago was returned to the Post Foundation in 1980. Five years later, 40-year-old New York real estate developer Trump paid a recorded $5 million for Mar-a-Lago, then considered something of a white elephant, and reportedly bought the furnishings for another $3 million.
Weddings & Events
For weddings, galas and private parties, The Mar-a-Lago Club is beyond compare.
Private membership
It would be our pleasure to acquaint you with the benefits of membership.
How much did it cost to build Mar-a-Lago?
Post, who had inherited the Postum Cereal Company from her father and who then went on to become America's richest woman, finished building Mar-a-Lago in 1927 at a cost of $7 million (that equals to about $120 million today).
What is the history of Mar-a-Lago?
A History of Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's American Castle 1 The 128-room mansion in Palm Beach was built by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1927. 2 Trump purchased it for $5 million in 1985 and turned it into a private club 10 years later. Now he calls it the "Winter White House." 3 A new book by a group of Miami Herald journalists, entitled The Grifter's Club: Trump, Mar-a-Lago, and the Selling of the Presidency, offers an investigative account of what really goes on inside Mar-a-Lago's walls.
Why is Mar-a-Lago closed?
JIM WATSONGetty Images. In March, Mar-a-Lago temporarily closed its doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Three visitors, including a press secretary to Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, had tested positive for the coronavirus after visiting the club for an event hosted by the President Trump.
When did Trump turn Mar-a-Lago into a private club?
Trump turned Mar-a-Lago into a private club in 1995 and built a 20,000-square-foot ballroom with $7 million in gold leaf. He commandeered a coat of arms that British authorities in 1939 had granted to Joseph Edward Davies, Post's third husband, then replaced "Integritas," the Latin word for integrity, with "Trump.
Who designed the Florida governor's mansion?
Architects Marion Sims Wyeth and Joseph Urban designed the estate, which sits on 20 acres that border the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Florida's Intracoastal Waterway on the other. (Wyeth also designed the Florida governor's mansion in Tallahassee ).
How high is the Palm Beach flag pole?
The original, installed in 2006, was on an 80-foot pole though Palm Beach ordinances forbid flag poles to be higher than 42 feet; a violation carries a daily fine of $250. Trump sued for $25 million, claiming his right to free speech was being violated.
Who built Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach?
Palm Beach might have been having déjà vu, and not only because President-elect John F. Kennedy wrote his inaugural address at his father’s estate in the town’s North End. The woman who built Mar-a-Lago in the 1920s and presided over it for almost half a century, Marjorie Merriweather Post, had gone to great lengths to turn ...
When did Mar-a-Lago open?
In 1944, she offered her grounds to World War II veterans who needed occupational therapy. In 1957, she opened Mar-a-Lago to the International Red Cross Ball, and the gala event has been held there many times since—but not this year.
What was the original Mar-a-Lago proposal?
And the original Mar-a-Lago proposal, the one bound in red leather, was to donate it to the state of Florida for a center for advanced scholars, but state officials also balked at the maintenance costs. By 1968, according to other papers in the archive, Post had turned to Plan B: Mar-a-Lago as winter White House, property of the United States.
When was the Everglades Costume Ball finished?
It was finished in 1927. That March, Post and her second husband, Edward F. Hutton, had a few score guests over for dinner before the annual Everglades Costume Ball. The hosts wore costumes evoking the reign of Louis XVI.
When did Florida begin construction?
Construction began in 1923 and kept some 600 workers busy, even though, as Murray notes, “Florida entered the Depression earlier than the rest of the country.”. The mistress ensured that her workers wouldn’t go hungry.
Overview
Mar-a-Lago is a resort and national historic landmark in Palm Beach, Florida, built from 1924 to 1927 by cereal-company heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post. The 126-room, 62,500-square-foot (5,810 m ) mansion since 1994 contains the Mar-a-Lago Club, a members-only club with guest rooms, a spa, and other hotel-style amenities. It is located in Palm Beach County on the …
Origin of the name
Mar-a-Lago means "sea-to-lake" in Spanish, referring to the fact that the resort extends the entire width of Palm Beach, from the Atlantic Ocean to what is now the Intracoastal Waterway–formerly Lake Worth.
History
Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post Cereals business, paid for the house to be built with her husband Edward F. Hutton. She hired Marion Sims Wyeth to design it, and Joseph Urban to create interior design and exterior decorations. Post spent US$7 million (equivalent to $109 million in 2021), and it was finished in 1927.
Trump presidency
President Trump referred to Mar-a-Lago as his "Winter White House", and on occasion his "Southern White House", which is what Post originally intended for the property.
Mar-a-Lago has a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) for communications with the White House Situation Room and Pentagon. The Mar-…
The Mar-a-Lago Club
The primary business occupying the estate is the Mar-a-Lago Club, which opened in 1994 and operates as resort and hotel for dues-paying members, and rents out estate venues for private events. Operating the mansion as a club in this way, while continuing to live on the premises, allows Trump to significantly reduce his tax bill, by identifying a range of items used to maintain the mansio…
Legal issues
Trump received a $17 million insurance payment for hurricane damage to Mar-a-Lago after the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, for damage to the "landscaping, roofing, walls, painting, leaks, artwork in the tapestries, tiles, Spanish tiles, the beach, the erosion", as he described. Anthony Senecal, Trump's former butler at the resort and later its "in-house historian", said some trees behind the resort had been flattened and some roof tiles were lost, but "That house has never be…
See also
• List of residences of presidents of the United States
• List of presidential trips made by Donald Trump (2017)
• List of presidential trips made by Donald Trump (2018)
• List of presidential trips made by Donald Trump (2019)
Further reading
• Blair, Gwenda (2000). The Trumps. p. 364.
• Blaskey, Sarah; Nehemas, Nicholas; Ostroff, Caitlin; Weaver, Jay (2020). The Grifter's Club: Trump, Mar-a-Lago and the Selling of the Presidency. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1529362695.
• Leamer, Lawrence (2019). Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump's Presidential Palace. Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1250177513.