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Mar-a-Lago

 Subject
Subject Source: Local sources
Scope Note: Between 1924 and 1927, Mar-a-Lago was built for Marjorie Merriweather Post by architects Joseph Urban and Marion Sims Wyeth. Upon her death in 1973, Post bequeathed the estate to the National Park Service with the intention that it serve as a Winter White House. However, due to insufficient funding for its upkeep and challenges in securing the property, it was returned to the Post Foundation by an act of Congress in 1980. In 1985, Donald Trump, then a businessman and real estate investor, purchased Mar-a-Lago and used it as a personal residence. In 1994, he transformed it into the Mar-a-Lago Club, a private members-only establishment offering guest rooms, a spa, and other amenities. Since 2019, Trump has declared the estate as his primary residence.

This group of records contains historical information on Mar-a-Lago such as images and postcards, newspaper clippings, architectural drawings, and blueprints completed by Wyeth and Urban, and Preservation Foundation newsletters from the 1980s-1990s.

Found in 19 Collections and/or Records:

Mar-a-Lago, 1981

 File — Box 1, Folder: 6
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

The Barbara Hoffstot collection preserves her efforts to create a historic preservation commission and community in Palm Beach, Florida, throughout the 1970s-1980s. It includes original and reproduction photographic material of her photographic survey of Palm Beach historic properties, as well as reports and personal correspondence.

Dates: 1981

Mar-a-Lago Exterior, 1988 - 1992

 File — Box 3
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

The Eugene Lawrence Collection contains photographs and newspaper clippings of and relating to properties designed and built by Eugene Lawrence and the Lawrence group between 1965-2013. Properties are both residential and commercial, and center in Palm Beach, Florida, although Lawrence did design buildings in other locations within the Palm Beach County, Florida region.

Dates: 1988 - 1992

Mar-a-Lago Interior, 1988 - 1992

 File — Box 3
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

The Eugene Lawrence Collection contains photographs and newspaper clippings of and relating to properties designed and built by Eugene Lawrence and the Lawrence group between 1965-2013. Properties are both residential and commercial, and center in Palm Beach, Florida, although Lawrence did design buildings in other locations within the Palm Beach County, Florida region.

Dates: 1988 - 1992

Newsletters, 1982-present

 File
Scope and Contents From the Series:

This series includes minor, seasonal publications by the Foundation, such as newsletters and other ephemera.

Dates: Other: 1982-present

Papers, 1941-2008

 Series
Scope and Contents

Includes files from Jane Volk and her involvement with Mar-a-Lago in the 2000s. See box labeled Jane Volk and Jane Day Research.

Dates: 1941-2008

Post, Marjorie M.

 File
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

The Research Files are a collection created by the Preservation Foundation. It includes newspaper clippings and various documents on significant topics and people in Palm Beach.

Dates: 1980-2024

Series V: Business Records, 1948 - 1993

 Series
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

Architectural drawings by John Volk encompass his work in Palm Beach, South Florida, the Bahamas, and throughout the United States. Artwork by Volk or draftsmen include renderings of many of these projects. Photographic materials extensively document Volk’s career and include personal photographs of Volk as a young man, with his wife Jane Volk, and social events in Palm Beach. Printed material includes periodicals that feature the work of Volk.

Dates: 1948 - 1993

Trump, Donald J.

 File
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

The Research Files are a collection created by the Preservation Foundation. It includes newspaper clippings and various documents on significant topics and people in Palm Beach.

Dates: 1980-2024