It’s official: Donald Trump has left Washington D.C. once and for all, and already begun setting up his new home at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Frequently referred to as the former president’s “Winter White House” during his 4-year term, the sprawling estate is located on an island off the coast of Palm Beach and will now become the Trump family’s permanent place of residence.
But aside from being home to a twice-impeached, headline-inducing president-turned-private citizen, what else do we know about Mar-a-Lago? Well, here are some quick facts about Trump’s new home-away-from-White-House.
Before Trump’s name ended up on the deed, Mar-a-Lago was owned by Post cereal heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post.
She commissioned the construction of the 62,000 square foot estate, which began in 1924 and finished in 1927 , with an ultimate price tag of $7 million (more than $100 million today).
Situated on 20 acres of land, the impressive mansion boasts 128 rooms (including 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms), as well as three bomb shelters and one 29-foot-long marble top dining table.
It was a “Winter White House” decades before Trump ever took office.
While on her deathbed in 1973 , Marjorie donated her beloved Mar-a-Lago to the U.S. government to be used as a retreat for presidents, a so-called “Winter White House.”
“Mrs. Post, 85, has provided that the place be turned over to the Government at her death, along with a $200,000 per-annum trust fund for upkeep,” TIME magazine reported of the generous donation in 1973, also noting it “seems designed to make the isolation of the presidency a bit more splendid than it ought to be.”
In 1981, the government returned Mar-a-Lago to the Post foundation, citing its $1 million upkeep cost.
While certainly beautiful, the resort went largely unused by officials and its grounds reportedly fell into disrepair. Although Congress put forward $100,000 yearly, in addition to the Post foundation’s promised $200,000 annual contribution, its maintenance costs were just too hefty for the government to afford.
The Post foundation listed the resort for sale at $20 million and yes, this is where Trump finally comes in to the picture.
Little interest from buyers meant Donald Trump was able to buy Mar-a-Lago at a bargain price.
Some sources claim the future POTUS scored the resort for just $5 million, while others insist it was actually around $7 million. At the time of his purchase, the New York Times said the final sale price was not publicly released, though it was rumored to have been somewhere in the $10-15 million range.
Over the next few years, Mar-a-Lago underwent some extensive renovations , including the addition of five tennis courts, a waterfront pool, and a 20,000-square foot ballroom.
In 1990, Trump’s spending sprees had eventually caught up to him and he faced such financial difficulty that he once put Mar-a-Lago up for sale.
During that period, TIME reported the resort was listed at an asking price of $30 million and when it failed to sell, Trump devised a plan to have it separated into smaller subdivisions.
But when locals resisted those plans, he relented, and in 1993 he eventually re-launched Mar-a-Lago as a new private club with a resort and hotel available to fee-paying members.
Over the years, some big-name celebrities have appeared at the club.
These include Celine Dion and Billy Joel, who have both put on concerts hosted at Mar-a-Lago.
Michael Jackson also honeymooned at the resort with his ex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley, and even Trump celebrated his third marriage to Melania Trump on the Mar-a-Lago grounds.
It costs $200,000 to secure a membership fee at the Mar-a-Lago Club.
The initial price upon its conception was $50,000 before growing to $200,000. In 2012 , that fee was cut to $100,000 — which some speculated was in response to a decline in memberships — but the price was once again raised to $200,000 in 2017 after Trump was elected president.
Even once someone has purchased their costly membership to the private club, they must still pay an additional $14,000 (plus tax) in annual dues.
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While he was in office, Trump spent a total of 133 non-consecutive days at his Mar-a-Lago resort, largely for golfing retreats.
The property also hosted a number of high-powered visitors during Trump’s presidency. It was there that he hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in early 2017, and then Chinese President Xi Jinping for a two-day summit a few months later.
Mar-a-Lago was also where Trump took his first official trip as President of the United States for the Red Cross Ball in 2017 .
Some of Mar-a-Lago’s neighbors would prefer Trump settled down elsewhere post-presidency.
According to the Washington Post , some Palm Beach residents have gotten together to write a letter, which was delivered to both town officials and the Secret Service in December, all but demanding Trump reconsider his Mar-a-Lago abode.
“There’s absolutely no legal theory under which he can use that property as both a residence and a club,” Glenn Zeitz, a local homeowner, told the Post . “Basically he’s playing a dead hand. He’s not going to intimidate or bluff people because we’re going to be there.”
In 1993 when the mansion was turned into a private club, Trump signed an agreement with the town saying he cannot live there for more than three consecutive weeks in a year.
h/t: The Independent , The Guardian , Town and Country Magazine , TIME
