In 1982, five years after they were married, Donald and Ivana Trump bought their first “starter" mansion. Set on a 3.3-hectare plot on a peninsula in Greenwich, Connecticut, US, the property was purchased for $4 million by the Trumps, who were then in their mid-30s.
At the time, Ivana was remodelling the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, New York, which Donald had recently acquired, and she opted to incorporate many of the design elements she was using for the hotel into her home. The result was a residence dripping in gold leaf, elaborate chandeliers and crown moldings. It was predominantly used as a weekend bolthole by Ivana, who died last week at the age of 73 after a fall in her New York home.
A three-storey rotunda foyer featured a suitably grand double staircase, while formal rooms offered views of Long Island Sound, an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. Pictures from the time of Donald posing in the property’s lavish foyer show intricate murals on the walls, marbled and mosaic-covered floors, statement sofas and oversized sculptures.
When the couple divorced just under a decade later, Ivana was granted with $14m, the Greenwich mansion she painstakingly decorated and an apartment in the Trump Place. She eventually sold the mansion for $15m and the new owners promptly embarked on a renovation project to tone down the interiors. They also added a tennis court, indoor lap pool, sauna and 4,000-square-metre extension for guest suites.
Known as Haroldlyn House, the property was originally built in 1939 for Robert Hillas, president of New York’s Super Heater company. Spanning more than 1,765 square metres, the Georgian colonial home now has eight bedrooms and 13 bathrooms across its main house and guest house.
In the mansion's main foyer, Ivana's ornate detailing has been replaced with dark wooden floors set against subtly textured walls, with an emerald green carpet running up the stairs. An oversized chandelier continues to hang overhead but creates much more of a statement now there are fewer distractions vying for the eye's attention.
Also new are a home theatre, putting green, multiple terraces and patios, tennis courts and three fully-equipped staff apartments.
The mansion was put up for sale in 2018 for $45m, which was later reduced to $38.5m, but it was subsequently taken off the market.
