And Merriweather-Post did bequeath it to the federal government – with the intent that it be used as a sort of Camp David South. The NPS found that it was a money pit in upkeep (and that was before it being designated as historic), and it was (at the time) considered too expensive/impractical to properly secure. So Congress reverted it to the estate.
The sensible solution to Mar-a-Lago all along would have been to repurpose the main home site if possible to do so into something viable, and sell the rest of the land for redevelopment. Even a real succesful mogul who’d want to save the historic structure and set up a museum/arts college campus/conference center/ashram/whatever would reasonably want to sell the excess acreage, and any private buyers of that land would want to do something with it. And a whole bunch of people seemed to not want that to happen.
Yes. Exactly. A bunch of politically powerful residents and a city council all wanted to do something economically impractical. As long as somebody else was paying the freight.
I’m no defender of Trump, but this end state was 100% predictable 30 years ago. An agreement to do something majorly economically impossible will (in due course) turn into an agreement to accept the closest practical thing that develops by evolution.
Like Jefferson Davis’s house in Biloxi, it should be a tourist attraction.
It’s unfortunate that the Davis house is controlled by neo-confederates, but it shouldn’t be torn down. Instead it should, like Mar-a-Logo, be operated by the National Park Service.
I can see moving a statue specifically built to reinforce a lost cause/segregation message. But Marjorie Merriweather Post didn’t have it built to advance a right-wing cause. I don’t even think she was right-wing. Her 3rd husband was an FDR-appointed ambassador to the USSR.
This is a highly historic and beautiful residence that should be persevered. I want to, at a reasonable price, walk around the place.
Now, whether it should be persevered as in the 1920’s or as when a wannabe dictator lived there - I’m open to ideas.
Oh, for sure. But the thing is, “at a reasonable price” the NPS could not keep it as it is. The Posts knew they could not keep it up in the long run, that’s why they wanted to offload it on the NPS – and the NPS said no thank you, because they are not in the business of setting fire to money to preserve every single “historic” thing there is. And then the value kept dropping because nobody would buy it if they could not redevelop, until it dropped to the point you-know-who felt it was the right time to swoop in and put some conditions of his own.
The house surely can be preserved, but Palm Beach has to accept it will draw tourists and meeting groups, and that 2/3 of the estate be redeveloped, unless they want to buy it, or grant a conservation easement that zeroes the new owner’s taxes.
If she perseveres, she can probably read through the word errors.
Nowadays there are very few spellcheckers that you can’t configure or train out of a mis-correction. You (any you) just need to know how and have the willingness to expend the effort.
Burn it down and build a Super Wal-Mart on the property.
Wait! <light bulb over head> DON’T burn it down-- just install a Wal-Mart inside the existing structure. It will still blend into the landscape. That will solve everyone’s problem. Think of the tax revenue.
And there you may have an issue with any potential buyer. They’d have to do a thorough inspection to determine how much de-Trumpifying they’d need to do to the interior…
