high cost of maintenance for such a property which was already forty years old , would just be to much of an expense . Marjorie refused to think that Mir-a-Lago would vanish and be torn down like many of the other estates in the area and began exploing other options .
Post had turned to Plan B : Mar-a-Lago as winter White House , property of the United States . After she died , in 1973 , at age 86 , the Post Foundation pursued the idea . But in 1981 , the federal government declined , for the same reason the Floridians and the Smithsonian did . Mir-a-Lago was destined to go on the real estate market . Potential sales fell through for numerous reasons before eventually being sold in 1985 to Donald Trump for a reported $ 8 million for the estate and all its furnishings . Since Marjorie Merriweather Post ’ s dream was for it to become a lavish winter White House her dream for the mansion finally came true .
Right : April 1967 , Detail of Gothic stair showing tracery and spoon sconces . Opposite page : April 1967 , Looking down gothid stairway from second floor . Bottom : Panoramic view of West Palm Beach , North Palm Beach and Lake Worth . Artist : Pleuthner , W . K . Created / Published : 1915 .
Mar-a-Lago means " sea-to-lake " in Spanish , referring to the fact that the resort extends the entire width of Palm Beach , from the Atlantic Ocean to what is now the Intracoastal Waterway – formerly Lake Worth .
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