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The Untold Truth Of The Mar-A-Lago Resort
By TIM BUTTERS
Who Started It All?
Marjorie Merriweather Post, the owner of General Foods, was a very shrewd businesswoman. In 1922, she began a search of undeveloped land to find a spot where she could build her palace, and with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Lake Worth on the other, Post found the perfect 20-acre parcel of land.
Great Depression
Work on the Mar-a-Lago resort commenced in 1923 and finished in 1927, just as the Great Depression was waiting around the corner. Post spent the equivalent of $90 million to make her dream holiday home concrete, and its construction involved an army of 600 workers that Post ensured was well fed.
Opulent Grandeur
Architectural critics agree that Mar-a-Lago was a monstrosity thanks to the influence of Metropolitan Opera scenic designer Joseph Urban. Besides the gold fixtures, the 75-foot tower, and the imitation of Rome's Chigi Palace, many saw the mansion as an eyesore because it was trying so hard to impress.
Winter White House
In 1972, the federal government finally agreed to accept Mar-a-Lago as a gift. However, President Richard Nixon had no use for it; President Gerald Ford was indifferent to Palm Beach, and President Jimmy Carter regarded it as a rich person's plaything; so, the presidential estate was handed back to the Post Foundation in 1980.
A New Era
Five years later, Donald Trump purchased the resort for only $10 million after promising to obscure the inspiring view on his stretch of beachfront property between the mansion and the ocean. In 2018, Forbes valued Mar-a-Lago at $160 million, and when he became President Trump, it became his preferred getaway.