A Little History About Mar-a-Lago

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In 1924 Marjorie Merriweather Post bought 17 acres of land that extends from one side of Palm Beach Island to the other, touching the Atlantic Ocean in the east and Lake Worth Lagoon in the west. She spent between $7 and $12 million on specific materials she had sent in from all over the world. The 62,500 square feet estate was not finished until 1929. She would come to Mar-a-Lago in November of each year to stay and have her lavish parties. It took between 50 and 60 maids, cooks and security people to care of the place and her needs while she was there. In 1973 when she was in her 80s, she realized that her children didn't want to take on this huge responsibility, and it was costing her about $1 million a year to keep it up. She decided to give it to the government. The government felt it was too impractical and expensive to maintain. She had some of the wings closed off and stayed on. In 1985 Donald Trump came on the scene. He was 39 and was looking for a place to show off his wealth and he offered her $5 million which she rejected. He bought the strip of land in front of it in hopes of leveraging her into a sale. It worked and he acquired Mar-a-Lago for $8 million that same year. He also got all the furnishings. Trump was quick to realize how expensive this undertaking was and soon came up with the idea of making it into private club. He did $3 million in renovations and charged $100,000 for a membership and about $20,00 in annual fees. It became the place to be where you knew you had arrived. Trump branded the place as open to everyone, and it became the opulent place for the rich and powerful. There were several hundred members after a couple of years. The picture is from theweek.com