19. Marjorie gave Hillwood Estate to the Smithsonian Institution
In her will, Marjorie Merriweather Post specified numerous artifacts and works of art at Mar a Lago and Camp Topridge transferred to Hillwood Estate. Among them was the 79-foot, two-ton dining room table at Mar a Lago, where a facsimile table replaced it. The entire Hillwood Estate, with its extensive collections of priceless art, manicured gardens and grounds, and all of its buildings bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution, for use as a museum. With the estate came an annual endowment to help pay operating expenses and maintenance costs. As with her other donations, a clause specified if the property was not used in accordance with her wishes, its title would revert to the Post Foundation.
Hillwood already included extensive display galleries, including those containing the Faberge Eggs and rooms dedicated to specific periods and types of art. However, at the time of her death it also served as Marjorie’s primary residence. Experts from the Smithsonian determined the modifications necessary to convert the estate to an operating museum were extensive, and an endowment for maintenance and operation ($10 million) insufficient for the needs. By 1975, two years following Marjorie’s death, the endowment produced $450,000 annually. The Smithsonian returned Hillwood Estate to the Post Foundation, which has operated the estate as a museum of the arts, and of Marjorie’s life and achievements ever since. The grounds continue to be used for special events and entertainment.
