Mar-a-Lago’s architectural splendor focus of new book
Visitors to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club might be too caught up in the distractions of a social or diplomatic occasion to notice all the splendors of the 1927 mansion cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post built in Palm Beach.
They might overlook the dozens of gilded cherubs embedded in the entrance hall doors, the grandfather clock that belonged to Post’s grandfather in the living room or the Moorish-influenced “Plus Ultra” tiles scattered throughout the property. A fitting nod to the house, plus ultra means “beyond the ultimate.”
Much has been written about Post’s home but there’s never been a comprehensive history of the property, said Palm Beach resident Olympia Devine.
She thought a book along the lines of “Palm Beach A Community Tribute,” a coffee-table book of the town’s history she produced with her late son, Troy, in 2014, might be in order.
“I was completely intrigued by the structure,” said Devine, who is a Mar-a-Lago Club member. “Every time I go, I see art- work and architecture I haven’t seen before because there’s so much to see.”
She started the project in late 2014, long before Trump was considered a viable presidential candidate. She didn’t approach Bernd Lembcke, the club’s managing director and executive vice president, to request its cooperation until early 2015.
“Mar-a-Lago’s being so much in the news was totally unexpected,” she said.
“Mar-a-Lago From Ocean to Lake” was produced in partnership with the Trump Organization, which had editorial control over its contents. Devine credits Lembcke as co-author.
“We were impressed by the quality and comprehensive nature of Olympia’s Palm Beach tribute book, which started the conversation about a similar book about Mar-a-Lago which would con-
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