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TR U M P STR A TEGI ES FO R R E A L ESTA TE

looks for ways to turn his properties into huge cash cows that are so
profitable he would never contemplate selling them. Mar-a-Lago is
an outstanding example of this.

INVESTING CASE STUDY

MAR-A-LAGO

Mar-a-Lago isanexquisitemansionand estate in Palm Beach,
Florida, that was built in the 1920s by Marjorie Merriwether Post,
the Post cereal empire heiress who later married E. F. Hutton, the fi-
nancier. The mansion consists of 118 rooms with 67 bathrooms, and
62,500 square feet of floor space on 19 acres. No expense was
spared to build it. For example, over 17,000 ceramic tiles used in the
property were made in the sixteenth century. Marjorie Merriwether
Post imported the tiles from Italy. At one time, over 300 artisans
were brought in from Europe to work full time on Mar-a-Lago. Dur-
ing the estate’s heyday as a winter home for lavish entertaining, she
employed 60 people—30 working inside as butlers, maids, laun-
dresses, cooks, and other jobs, and 30 working the outside as gar-
deners, handymen, chauffeurs, and security guards. Yet, only she and
Dina Merrill,herdaughter, lived on the property.
When Marjorie passed away, Mar-a-Lago was conveyed to a trust
established by the Post family. Because of the magnificence of the
building and its furnishings, the trust donated it to the federal govern-
ment to be used as a museum. It was never successful as a museum
because there were not enough fee-paying visitors to warrant the ex-
penses involved in maintenance and operation. It wasn’t long before
the government gave it back to the trust. The trust had no viable al-
ternative but to put the estate up for sale. However, the trustees
wanted the buyer to preserve this valuable historic treasure. Donald
Trump decided to bid on it and although he was not the highest bid-
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