The insanely rich woman who built Mar-a-Lago actually wanted it to be a Winter White House
Believe it or not, the gold fixtures were her idea
Mar-a-Lago is exactly the kind of place its creator envisioned: a palatial center of attention worthy of the most extravagant parties and influential guests, which could even become, one day, a “Winter White House.”
That creator was the vastly rich—though of questionable taste—socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post.
In 1922, when she began scouring Palm Beach, Florida for a new parcel of land to build upon, she and her family already had a brand new mansion in the town. But the name Post gave it, Hogarcito, which translates as “Little Home,” betrays the ambitions the larger-than-life heiress to the Post cereal fortune harbored when it came to the half-acre residence.
The 35-year-old Post took her time going through the surplus of undeveloped land of early 20th century Palm Beach — a time when only 1,200 residents inhabited the treasured coastal space. As she literally crawled through jungle undergrowth, Post found the perfect location, with access to the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Lake Worth to the west. She settled on a 20-acre parcel, naming it “Mar-a-Lago” or “Sea to Lake” in Spanish.
Construction on Mar-a-Lago began in 1924 and Post turned to architect Marion Sims Wyeth, noted for designing many of Florida’s signature Gilded Age mansions, to oversee the project. But her insistence on the late-stage participation of Joseph Urban, a scenic designer for the Ziegfield Follies and the Metropolitan Opera, is what turned a masterpiece into a monstrosity in the eyes of many architectural critics. Wyeth even downplayed his involvement in the project.
Financier E.F. “Ned” Hutton, Post’s husband at the time (there were four, in all, and a fifth attempt with her doctor on her death bed), expressed his bewilderment at the estate to guests.
“You know Marjorie said she was going to build a little cottage by the sea,” said Hutton. “Look what we got!”
In a letter to her cousin, Dolly Morrow, Post admitted that Mar-a-Lago was putting a strain on her and her relations with her husband.
“The house here is about finished. It is very large and beautiful, but like all building operations, it has cost far more than we had even wild idea of. Apparently, building estimates are not worth the paper they are written on and, as a result, they have sunk our finances beyond anything we had imagined, so I have been having trouble with Ned about it….I have been having a d— hard time of it and it has almost taken the pleasure of the house itself….It means we have got to sell some of our Postum stock and you can imagine how unwilling we part with it.”
By the time the keys were handed over, 600 skilled workers helped build the ocher stucco behemoth, which included 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms. Antique Spanish tiles and stones from Genoa, Italy were central to Mar-a-Lago’s construction and a 75-foot tower offered stunning views of the sea and the rest of Palm Beach.
Bathrooms were outfitted with gold fixtures (not a Trump addition, it turns out) because Post felt they were “easier to clean.” And the formal dining room was a copy of Rome’s Chigi Palace. Every guest suite was decorated in a different style. Anthony Senecal, a former Mar-a-Lago butler and unofficial historian, boasted about the home’s “library, paneled with centuries-old British oak and filled with rare first-edition books that no one in the family ever read.”
But what Post saw as testament to artistic vision and artisan craftsmanship, others saw as a garish eyesore. No matter the response, Post wanted to see it and would often remain out of sight in an upper balcony, near the gold-crusted ceiling of the cavernous living room to watch the reactions of first-time visitors.
While Post — and Mar-a-Lago — may have been known for their grandiosity, both were hosts to great acts of generosity as well. In 1929, she invited Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to set up its big tent in her backyard for a benefit. Another time, she flew in the cast of a Broadway show and, after they gave a performance, put them up for a week.
In April 1944, the grounds were opened to offer occupational therapy to convalescing World War II soldiers in which buildings on the estate were transformed into workshops, studios and repair shops, and training was available in areas such as carpentry, and printing, among others. And veterans in need of counseling could receive it there.
In the 1960s, Post began spending more time in Washington, DC and began making plans for the long-term care and survival of Mar-a-Lago, beyond her death. She initially offered it to the state of Florida, but was turned down when officials considered the high operational costs for the estate.
Post then pitched Mar-a-Lago as a “Winter White House” to the federal government for presidential getaways and as a place away from Washington to entertain foreign dignitaries. When she offered to provide funds for the maintenance of the estate, the federal government accepted in 1972 — just one year before her death.
However, Richard Nixon preferred winter stays in Key Biscayne and peanut-farming Jimmy Carter found Mar-a-Lago distasteful, so the estate remained mothballed for nearly a decade. Ultimately, it was the annual maintenance cost of $1 million that caused the federal government to return the estate to the Post Foundation in 1981 after having been declared a National Historic Landmark just a year earlier.
After years of searching for a buyer, Donald Trump played hardball with the Post family and bought the estate in 1985 for a price lower than the original cost of construction 60 years earlier. In the end, he bought the estate and all of its furnishings and antiques for $8 million. For a decade, it remained his private residence before converting into an exclusive club that currently requires a $200,000 initiation fee along with $14,000 in yearly dues.
With Trump’s ascension to the White House and to the distaste of many, the garish estate in Palm Beach that stretches from the sea to the lake has, indeed, become the “Winter White House.”
