Today, Mar-a-Lago is strongly associated with former President Donald Trump, but the club boasts an intriguing history as both an estate and a national historic landmark.
The Palm Beach, Fla., property wasn’t always a members-only club or used for official matters. It was first a large mansion built by Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to what was previously known as Post Cereals (now named General Foods Corp.) to live in as a home.
After Post’s death in 1973, she willed the property to the National Park Service in the hopes it be used for state visits or as an official residence for presidents of the U.S. However, the cost of upkeep was more than what Post had initially provided, causing it to eventually be returned to the Post Foundation in 1981.
Marjorie Merriweather Post at a birthday reception honoring Queen Elizabeth II at the British Embassy.
In 1985, Donald Trump purchased the 17-acre Florida property for around $8 million, though some sources put the combined total cost to reportedly be around $10 million.
When he was president from 2017 to 2021, Trump used the estate as his “Winter White House,” and it was used as a vacation home during the winter months.
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