← Back to the front page

The Actual History Behind the Mar a Lago Property

Larry Holzwarth February 3, 2021 30 min

Mar-a-Lago - President of the United States

20. Mar a Lago has had only two private owners in its over nine decades of existence

A portrait of Majorie Merriweather Post and her daughter with E.F. Hutton, later actress Dina Merrill. NPR

Marjorie Merriweather Post and Edward F. Hutton were the first owners of Mar a Lago, and Marjorie retained ownership of the property following their divorce. She held it through her subsequent marriages, and to all accounts never considered selling the property to another private owner. She envisioned all of her properties as valuable in support of education and government service. Unable to give them away in life, she established her foundation to do so after her death. Their opulence and extent prevented them from being maintained with the funds available, and her dreams for her properties, especially Mar a Lago, went unrealized. When the federal government returned Mar a Lago to the Post Foundation in 1981 the latter faced the obvious. It simply could not afford to maintain both the Palm Beach estate and Hillwood Estate.

Mar a Lago entered the real estate market, offered for sale to a private owner. The Post Foundation removed many collectibles and art, sending them to Hillwood Estate or to institutions, museums, and libraries across America. Much of furniture remained in place, and the Foundation spent millions of dollars to maintain the property pending a sale. At least ten potential buyers examined the property by mid-summer, 1981, though all balked at the asking price, which reached as high as $20 million that year. In 1985 the property sold for much less, to its current, infamous owner, who has kept it ever since.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“C. W. Post”. Jan Reid, Texas Monthly. March, 1987. Online

“Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post Is Dead at 86”. Obituary and Appreciation, The New York Times. September 13, 1973

“The insanely rich woman who built Mar a Lago actually wanted it to be a Winter White House”. Allen McDuffee, TIMELINE. April 28, 2017. Online

“The Ironic History of Mar a Lago”. Michael Luongo, Smithsonian Magazine. November, 2017

“Marjorie Merriweather Post and a Life of Difficult Privilege”. Erna P. Eaton, The Buffalo News. March 19, 1995

“Marjorie Merriweather Post: A Biography. Kenneth Lisenbee, Paul Bowles.org. Online

“A Tale of an American Royal, from Postum Labels to Mar a Lago”. Ivana Edwards, The New York Times. August 27, 1995

“Marjorie Post: Tales From a Grand Life”. Sarah Booth Conroy, The Washington Post. September 11, 2000

“Cereal Heiress’ Life is Rich Stuff”. Lois Spratley, Daily Press. March 26, 1995

“American Empress: The Life and Times of Marjorie Meriweather Post”. Nancy Rubin. 1995

“Mission to Moscow”. Joseph E. Davies. 1941