have you ever wondered what it would be like to collect mansions and fill them with stolen art
hi everyone ken here welcome to this house today we are exploring the very first penthouse in
manhattan as well as several other mansions as we follow the life of marjorie merriweather post
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this house marjorie meriwether post was born in the midwest town of springfield illinois
in 1887 when she was 27 years old her father c.w post passed away leaving her
his only child a 20 million dollar fortune or the modern day equivalent of about 530 million dollars
cw had made his fortune by founding the postum cereal company and entrusted his daughter to
grow it marjorie became the wealthiest woman in america upon her father's passing but she was
keen to business and would grow her company far beyond her father's wildest dreams margaery had
a brief marriage that was holding her back so she did something completely unheard of for the time
she filed for divorce shortly after she married her second husband ef hutton together they formed
a plan to buy up all of the competition they purchased brands such as jello maxwell house
baker's chocolate and many more household brands with their new portfolio they rebranded the postum
cereal company and by 1929 it had become the giant known as general foods margery and ef pioneered
a new type of luxurious lifestyle together they purchased a home on millionaires row in manhattan
along fifth avenue but the home would not last for long developers were knocking on their door with
offers to buy them out but margery had no need for their money and continued to decline their offers
as the city rapidly grew around them so did automobile traffic marjorie was feeling sick
from the constant smell of exhaust and the sound of loud motors would give her migraines
on a particularly bad day a representative from the george fuller company came to her door
and offered to buy her house explaining that he intended to build a 14-story apartment building
in its spot marjorie thought about it for a moment before making a counteroffer she
loved the location and could not imagine calling another spot in manhattan home she would sell
him the house on the condition that the george fuller company would build her a mansion on the
top of the apartment building this was a feat that had never been done before no one had ever built
a mansion atop a skyscraper near central park the george fuller company agreed to buy her out
and built her mansion for 75 000 per year in rent they were both happy with this arrangement so the
house was demolished and the apartment building was built with manhattan's very first penthouse
sitting proudly on top marjorie loved her new home in the clouds she could finally enjoy the peace
and quiet while breathing in clean air again the penthouse was absolutely massive with 54 rooms the
entryway alone measured 44 by 44 feet the rooftop mansion would boast rooms for all of marjorie's
interests she had a wine cellar a storage room specifically for storing freshly cut flowers
rooms for storing her rare furs and many more the library was ornately pieced together from
wood paneling and featured a painting of margery with her children and two of her favorite dogs the
dining room was just as grand with south facing windows allowing natural light to flood in all day
the breakfast room was clad in bronze and metalwork with stenciled ceilings
the primary bedroom had a large terrace that overlooked central park the rest of the home
featured modern bathrooms guest suites and rooms for her kids and dogs marjorie loved the space
but had only signed a 15-year lease when that lease was up she moved out and george divided
the penthouse up into nine separate units she had another house down in palm beach that she
had built as her own slice of paradise her and ef would name the estate mar-a-lago
which would go on to be donated to the national park service to be used as a presidential retreat
upon marjory's death however mar-a-lago would quickly be sold off by the national park service
to a private individual in 1985 but that is getting way ahead of the story let's go back
to 1935. marjorie had grown bored again and was looking for her next thrill she divorced ef and
married her third husband joseph e davies davies was an american ambassador to the soviet union
he would spend a lot of time in russia and marjorie loved to travel she owned the largest
private yacht in the world which she named the sea cloud she could pack for an entire year bringing
not only clothes but 12 months worth of food and fresh water while in russia she started to acquire
a massive art collection that had been seized from the romanov family by joseph stalin but
the collecting did not stop there she purchased pieces that she knew had been looted from museums
and had them packed aboard with her for her return trip to the u.s marjory and joseph
making out of russia like a band of thieves needed a stately home to display their ill-begotten gains
now that they were back to normal life marjorie once again grew bored the excitement of sailing
around the world and conducting one of the largest art heights in recent history had left her wanting
something new her and her husband began searching for a home and found a stately residence in
washington dc it was a georgian colonial estate that had been built in 1920 with 36 rooms
this was exactly what marjorie was looking for she was excited to open this new chapter in her life
but she wouldn't do it with joseph davies she divorced him purchased the hillwood estate
and moved in with her art collection she hired alexander mcgilvin an architect to completely
redesign the interior of the house she wanted framed views of the washington monument from
the doors of her library she had her chandelier from catherine palace in russia suspended from
the ceiling and the breakfast nook the rest of the house had plenty of space to display her
collection of fine jewelry faberge art religious items and european artifacts the only thing she
thought she was missing was a husband in 1958 she married her fourth and final husband herbert may
herbert was an exciting businessman who held the title of master of fox sounds of the
rolling rock hunt club but alas this marriage would not last and by 1964 they had divorced
marjorie lived out the rest of her years in hillwood passing away of a long-term illness
in 1973. her three daughters inherited the lion's share of marjorie's wealth however she had become
very attached to the hillwood estate and her fine art collection while she was still alive
she arranged for the house and its contents to be donated to the smithsonian along with
10 million dollars to help maintain the estate today the estate is open to the public and can
be visited throughout the year thank you all for watching i really hope that you enjoyed this video
which of marjorie's houses was your favorite let me know down below in the comments
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