What Happened to the Many Mansions of Marjorie Post? (Mar-a-Lago)

have you ever wondered what it would be like to collect mansions and fill them with stolen art hi everyone ken here welcome to this house today we are exploring the very first penthouse in manhattan as well as several other mansions as we follow the life of marjorie merriweather post make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of this house marjorie meriwether post was born in the midwest town of springfield illinois in 1887 when she was 27 years old her father c.w post passed away leaving her his only child a 20 million dollar fortune or the modern day equivalent of about 530 million dollars cw had made his fortune by founding the postum cereal company and entrusted his daughter to grow it marjorie became the wealthiest woman in america upon her father's passing but she was keen to business and would grow her company far beyond her father's wildest dreams margaery had a brief marriage that was holding her back so she did something completely unheard of for the time she filed for divorce shortly after she married her second husband ef hutton together they formed a plan to buy up all of the competition they purchased brands such as jello maxwell house baker's chocolate and many more household brands with their new portfolio they rebranded the postum cereal company and by 1929 it had become the giant known as general foods margery and ef pioneered a new type of luxurious lifestyle together they purchased a home on millionaires row in manhattan along fifth avenue but the home would not last for long developers were knocking on their door with offers to buy them out but margery had no need for their money and continued to decline their offers as the city rapidly grew around them so did automobile traffic marjorie was feeling sick from the constant smell of exhaust and the sound of loud motors would give her migraines on a particularly bad day a representative from the george fuller company came to her door and offered to buy her house explaining that he intended to build a 14-story apartment building in its spot marjorie thought about it for a moment before making a counteroffer she loved the location and could not imagine calling another spot in manhattan home she would sell him the house on the condition that the george fuller company would build her a mansion on the top of the apartment building this was a feat that had never been done before no one had ever built a mansion atop a skyscraper near central park the george fuller company agreed to buy her out and built her mansion for 75 000 per year in rent they were both happy with this arrangement so the house was demolished and the apartment building was built with manhattan's very first penthouse sitting proudly on top marjorie loved her new home in the clouds she could finally enjoy the peace and quiet while breathing in clean air again the penthouse was absolutely massive with 54 rooms the entryway alone measured 44 by 44 feet the rooftop mansion would boast rooms for all of marjorie's interests she had a wine cellar a storage room specifically for storing freshly cut flowers rooms for storing her rare furs and many more the library was ornately pieced together from wood paneling and featured a painting of margery with her children and two of her favorite dogs the dining room was just as grand with south facing windows allowing natural light to flood in all day the breakfast room was clad in bronze and metalwork with stenciled ceilings the primary bedroom had a large terrace that overlooked central park the rest of the home featured modern bathrooms guest suites and rooms for her kids and dogs marjorie loved the space but had only signed a 15-year lease when that lease was up she moved out and george divided the penthouse up into nine separate units she had another house down in palm beach that she had built as her own slice of paradise her and ef would name the estate mar-a-lago which would go on to be donated to the national park service to be used as a presidential retreat upon marjory's death however mar-a-lago would quickly be sold off by the national park service to a private individual in 1985 but that is getting way ahead of the story let's go back to 1935. marjorie had grown bored again and was looking for her next thrill she divorced ef and married her third husband joseph e davies davies was an american ambassador to the soviet union he would spend a lot of time in russia and marjorie loved to travel she owned the largest private yacht in the world which she named the sea cloud she could pack for an entire year bringing not only clothes but 12 months worth of food and fresh water while in russia she started to acquire a massive art collection that had been seized from the romanov family by joseph stalin but the collecting did not stop there she purchased pieces that she knew had been looted from museums and had them packed aboard with her for her return trip to the u.s marjorie and joseph needed a stately home to display their gains now that they were back to normal life marjorie once again grew bored the excitement of sailing around the world and conducting one of the largest art heists in recent history had left her wanting something new her and her husband began searching for a home and found a stately residence in washington dc it was a georgian colonial estate that had been built in 1920 with 36 rooms this was exactly what marjorie was looking for she was excited to open this new chapter in her life but she wouldn't do it with joseph davies she divorced him purchased the hillwood estate and moved in with her art collection she hired alexander mcgilvin an architect to completely redesign the interior of the house she wanted framed views of the washington monument from the doors of her library she had her chandelier from catherine palace in russia suspended from the ceiling and the breakfast nook the rest of the house had plenty of space to display her collection of fine jewelry faberge art religious items and european artifacts the only thing she thought she was missing was a husband in 1958 she married her fourth and final husband herbert may herbert was an exciting businessman who held the title of master of fox sounds of the rolling rock hunt club but alas this marriage would not last and by 1964 they had divorced marjorie lived out the rest of her years in hillwood passing away of a long-term illness in 1973 her three daughters inherited the lion share of marjorie's wealth however she had become very attached to the hillwood estate and her fine art collection while she was still alive she arranged for the house and its contents to be donated to the smithsonian along with 10 million dollars to help maintain the estate today the estate is open to the public and can be visited throughout the year thank you all for watching i really hope that you enjoyed this video which of marjorie's houses was your favorite let me know down below in the comments also if you haven't already make sure to hit that subscribe button have you checked out our new merch shop yet get yourself a this house logo branded t-shirt to wear this summer i'd also like to take a moment to say a special thank you to our this house supporters whose names you can see on screen right now if you would like to see your name on the screen please join our membership program today i hope you have a wonderful day i'll see you next time on this house

Channel: This House

Views: 348,687

Keywords: marjorie merriweather post, marjorie merriweather post homes, marjorie merriweather post sea cloud, mansion, central park, history, history shows, historical photos, famous, interesting, original, this house, what is this, history documentary, documentary, documentaries, architecture, historic architecture, us history, architectural history, new york city, lost architecture, luxury, home tour, house tour, first penthouse, hillwood, adirondack house, mar a lago tour, mar-a-lago

Id: gxLSL3v1sCs

Length: 7min 5sec (425 seconds)

Published: Tue May 03 2022