THE 'winter white house'
Vintage Photos Show Mar-A-Lago Before Donald Trump Owned The Nearly 100-Year-Old Estate
Before former President Donald Trump owned Mar-a-Lago, it belonged to the richest woman in the US.
Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to her father's Post cereal fortune, built the Palm Beach, Florida, estate as her winter home. Construction began in 1924 and finished in 1927, making Mar-a-Lago almost 100 years old.
These vintage photos show what Mar-a-Lago looked like while Post lived there.
[Mar-a-Lago. Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images]
Post and her then-husband E.F. Hutton hired an architect named Marion Sims Wyeth to design the 114-room Mediterranean-style villa.
According to Mar-a-Lago's official website, Post and Hutton searched for the perfect building location for years. When they acquired what is now 1100 South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach, the property featured nothing more than swampland and dense thickets of brush.
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Worth, they named the nearly 20-acre estate "Mar-a-Lago," meaning "sea to lake" in Spanish.
[A gateway at Mar-a-Lago. Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images]
Post imported Dorian stone from Genoa, Italy, to build the home's arches, exterior, and parts of the interior.
The stones contain small seashells and fossils, according to Mar-a-Lago's website.
[The entrance to Mar-a-Lago. Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images]
Guests entered the main house through a wrought-iron and grille-glass door that opened into an ornate entrance hall.
The hall featured sculptures carved by Austrian sculptor Franz Barwig.
[The living room at Mar-a-Lago. Jack E. Boucher/Library of Congress]
In the living room, Venetian silk panels and carved arches added to the room's splendor.
The gold living room ceiling was inspired by the Thousand-Wing Ceiling at the Accademia in Venice, The Palm Beach Post reported.
[The dining room at Mar-a-Lago. Jack E. Boucher/Library of Congress]
The black-and-white marble floor in the dining room was sourced from a Cuban castle.
The design of the dining room was modeled after the dining room in the Palazzo Chigi in Rome, The Palm Beach Post reported.
[Marjorie Post's bedroom at Mar-a-Lago. Jack E. Boucher/Library of Congress]
Post slept in a bedroom adorned with decorative wall panels and carved wood furniture.
Despite its grand decor, Post only spent a few months out of every year at Mar-a-Lago.
[The grounds of Mar-a-Lago. Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images]
Post left Mar-a-Lago to the US government to use as a presidential retreat, but it proved too costly to maintain.
After 10 years, the government transferred ownership of the property to the Post Foundation.
To see more vintage photos of Mar-a-Lago, head to Business Insider.
