12. Marjorie divorced Joseph Davies in 1955
Marjorie Post and Joseph Davies divorced in 1955, after 20 years of marriage which produced no children. The extensive collection of art and other valuables they had purchased from the Soviets were equitably divided between them. Later, after Davies died, she purchased back many of the items from his estate. Rather than display them at Palm Beach, she kept more and more of her possessions, and spent more of her time, at her new estate at Washington, called Hillwood. That name derived from a previous home on Long Island of the same name, which later became Long Island University Post. The home she shared with Davies in Washington, named Tregaron, remained in his hands following their divorce. She purchased Hillwood as her new Washington home.
Hillwood, which was known as Arbramont when she acquired the property, was the largest privately held estate in Washington, bordering Rock Creek Park. World War II had shifted the center of society in America. Rather than the movers and shakers residing in the private enclaves of the rich, attention shifted to the war-expanded government in Washington and need for influence there. Marjorie concentrated her efforts on expanding, decorating, and landscaping Hillwood following her divorce from Davies. At the same time, many of the Palm Beach socialites whom she led found the mansions and estates in the community too expensive to maintain for use just in the winter. By 1955, Palm Beach’s first heyday was at an end.
