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.
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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.
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
