Interesting factoid about Mar-a-Largo

[lapucelle]

From wiki:

Heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post...envisioned the house as a future winter retreat for American presidents and foreign dignitaries, and following her death in 1973 it was bequeathed to the nation. However, successive presidents declined to use the mansion, which was returned to Post's estate in 1980 and in 1985 was purchased by Donald Trump.

[northoftheborder]

1. I wonder if all that gaudy decoration is original.....

....or did Trump do that. It doesn't look much like a beach house, a vacation house, or a Florida house.

[lapucelle]

3. From what I've read about the house,

it was beautifully designed and decorated by Joseph Urban, one of the founders of the art deco movement.

It was certainly over the top in that overblown,1920's way, but it was not full of tacky gold leaf and fake French period furniture..

[Liberal In Texas]

9. Looked pretty gauche then:

[csziggy]

10. Some of the historic pictures don't look very Art Deco to me

Images from: http://www.historic-details.com/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/ngglegacy/xml/media-rss.php?show=10&page=1&mode=last_pictures

It reminds me of the decor of Ca'd'Zan, the Ringling mansion in Sarasota - a little bit of Spanish style and a lot of excess:

[lapucelle]

11. Definitely not Art Deco...it looks like the house from Citizen Kane

[Cha]

14. To me that is just gross.. tacky display of opulence

[csziggy]

15. Since we can't change what happened then I try to think of it as

Redistribution of wealth and a way for skilled craftswork to be kept alive. Apart from the money that went out to build those excessive palatial type places, people have to have the skills and to be paid to maintain them.

Of course I wonder how far this country could have gone if that money had been invested in healthcare, housing for ordinary people, education and infrastructure over the last one hundred years rather than being dumped into money pits where very few lived. I personally enjoy the quieter style of the Craftsman movement that saw so many modest homes built for regular families to live in, far more than I do the ostentatious decorations of Ca'd'Zan or Mar-A-Lago.

[DavidAbel]

2. Well...

Well f**k my old boots, as they say

[lapucelle]

5. Whoever "they" are, I will be quoting "them" in the future.

Welcome to DU!

[DavidAbel]

13. Thank you for the welcome

Glad to be on here.

FMOB!

Used this phrase a lot growing up, to express incredulous surprise, incredulous anger, and general incredulousness.

[lapucelle]

4. One of the reasons it was never used by the government

is the fact that it was very expensive to run.

[northoftheborder]

6. Oh, that is disturbing.....

That Art Deco would be considered historic, and probably beautiful.....too bad it was destroyed.

[csziggy]

12. I don't think it was destroyed - here are two pictures showing before and after

Trump.

First is black and white historic photo from the National Archives:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.fl0181.photos.053256p/

Second is from a puff piece about Trump's restoration of Mar-A-Lago:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3464605/If-want-know-Donald-Trump-run-White-House-look-operates-Mar-Lago.html

[panader0]

7. Also--it's haunted, or will be soon.

[northoftheborder]

8. This building is in the Historic American Building Survey in...

the Library of Congress.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Mar-a-Lago

It has detailed descriptions and also 120 photos of the original rooms. The house and interior is called Spanish Revival, and the few photos I viewed show it to have been very elaborate originally. Don't know about the colors, they are in black and white.