The real estate Mogul turned President of the United States of America, Donald Trump has collected a lot of gems over the course of time, from isolated estates with exuberant mansions to fortresses in the clouds.
Surprisingly enough, Trump’s design aesthetic in most of his properties are contrasting to America’s past or future of design. More ornate, European, embellished and not just a small pinch of gold. Here are 10 interesting facts about Trump’s houses that architects should know about.
Fact #1:
Starkly contrasting the interiors of the White House, the Grand penthouse, in the controversial Trump Towers consists of 3 floors and is bathed in marble and 24k gold. With views of the Central Park, the penthouse, is designed by Angelo Donghia in Louis XIV Style, to recreate the extravagance of Palace of Versailles.
Bathe in rococo styled gold-trimmed furniture, marble floors, columns, tables, and walls, frescoed ceilings, bronze statues, and crystal chandeliers, right down to the toilet seat. Yes, a golden toilet seat, when he could have bought a Van Gogh painting instead.
Fact #2:
Trump reportedly has claimed that the penthouse is 33,000 sq. ft., but city records indicate that it’s actually only 10,996 sq. ft.
Fact #3:
Trump’s another getaway is the massive mansion in New York Bedford. The 40,000 sq.ft mansion sits in the midst of a lush forest, and boasts of 3 swimming pools and 60 rooms. With 15 bedrooms, it houses 4 more bedrooms than the White House.
Fact #4:
The 1919 Georgian mansion with its stone façade and pitched roofs is surprisingly less ornate than its New York City’s counterpart, with tasteful furniture and interiors that are rich but not overtly ostentatious.
Fact #5:
Trump’s gigantic mansion in Florida, was built in 1927 by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, envisioned it to someday become a future retreat of U.S Presidents. A 20 acre estate, meant to be given to the U.S Government after her death, but was returned due to its high maintenance costs. It was later bought by Trump, who now calls it his “Winter White House”. Little did she imagine life coming a full circle in this manner?
Fact #6:
This 128 room mansion in Palm Beach is 2 time the size of the White House with 5 times as many bedrooms, however some parts are given out for exclusive members.
Fact #7:
Trump’s initial offer for the property was $ 28million, but as the markets slumped in 1985, he ended up with the property by shelling out only $8million for the house along with the original furniture.
Fact #8:
Construction: As an extension to the existing Hispano- Moorish structure, he built a 20,000-square-foot ballroom with $7 million in gold leaf. The architecture of the original structure is a style long popular among the villas of the Mediterranean, the structure is built in a crescent-shape.
The upper and lower cloister along the concave side of the building faces Lake Worth. A seventy-five foot tower tops the structure, affording a magnificent view in all directions for miles.
Three boatloads of Dorian stone were brought from Genoa, Italy for the construction of the exterior walls, arches and some of the interior. The stone was chosen for its quality of aging rapidly and for its adaptability to intricate carving. Upon close examination, tiny seashells and fossils can be seen in this distinctive stone of the ocean-to-lake villa. Approximately 20,000 Cuban roofing tiles, and 2,200 square feet of black and white marble from an old castle in Cuba, which was used for the dining room floor.
Fact #9:
Trump purchased the land between Mar-a-Lago and the ocean from Jack C. Massey, the former owner of KFC, stating he intended to build a home that would block Mar-a-Lago’s beach view, in order to buy the property himself. As architects, we can all agree how views and vistas play an important role especially for a property of that scale.
Fact #10:
This structure is actually hurricane resistant and anchored by concrete and steel to a coral reef. However, Trump received $17 million as insurance payment for “damage” after the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane season, to the landscaping, roofing, walls, painting, leaks, artwork in the tapestries, tiles, Spanish tiles, the beach, the erosion, when the house was never seriously affected.
