After four years of construction, the elaborate 17-acre estate opened in 1927 with the main home secured to the coral reef beneath it with concrete and steel to help it withstand hurricanes and tropical storms. Drawing from her European travels, Post envisioned uniting Spanish, Venetian, and Portuguese styles in Mar-a-Lago’s design.
American architect Marion Sims Wyeth designed the structure of the main home, and Post hired Viennese-born designer Joseph Urban, who also created production designs for the Metropolitan Opera, to oversee interior decoration of the estate. Urban, in turn, invited Viennese sculptor Franz Barwig to create whimsical animal motifs to adorn Mar-a-Lago’s exterior—including parrots, monkeys, ram’s heads, eagles, and griffins that can be still be seen today.
