Where Does Donald Trump Live in Florida? Inside Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach

Where does Donald Trump live? His Florida home is Mar-a-Lago, an ocean-to-lake estate in the Town of Palm Beach. He bought it in 1985 and turned it into a private club in 1993. In September 2019 he filed paperwork naming it his permanent residence, per Bloomberg and the Washington Times. During his term the White House is where he spends the work week. Mar-a-Lago stays the declared home and the place he returns to most. This post covers the property and the place only.

Key takeaways

• Mar-a-Lago sits on the south end of Palm Beach island, on a parcel of roughly 17 to 20 acres that runs from the ocean to the Intracoastal.
• Reports put the 1985 purchase between $8 million and $10 million, depending on whether the beachfront strip is counted.
• The house dates to 1924 to 1927, built for cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, with about 126 rooms and 62,500 square feet, per WWD.
• Palm Beach has about 272 active listings with a median near $2.5 million, per our MLS feed as of September 2026.

Where does Donald Trump live in Florida?

Mar-a-Lago is in Palm Beach, the barrier island town in Palm Beach County. The estate sits south of the Worth Avenue shopping district, at the point where the island narrows and Southern Boulevard crosses the water from West Palm Beach. Its name means "sea to lake," and that is a literal description. The grounds touch the Atlantic on one side and Lake Worth, the local name for the Intracoastal, on the other.

That location matters to the story. The estate is not a house on a residential street. It is a walled compound with a club, ballrooms, guest suites and, inside it, a private family residence. Pure Equity does not publish private addresses, but Mar-a-Lago is a landmark with a public entrance, so the general location is no secret.

Palm Beach itself is small. The town is a thin barrier island with a year-round population in the thousands that swells each winter. Mar-a-Lago sits roughly at the midpoint, with the estate section to the north and condo buildings to the south.

Residents know the address mostly by its traffic. When the owner is in town, Southern Boulevard closes for motorcades, and the local paper runs a guide to where the public can stand to watch. Few homes anywhere reshape a neighborhood's daily routine like this one.

Inside Mar-a-Lago

Marjorie Merriweather Post, heir to the Post cereal fortune, commissioned the house in the 1920s. Work ran from 1924 to 1927. NPR and WWD describe about 126 rooms and 62,500 square feet, with a 75-foot tower, thousands of Spanish tiles, and imported Italian stone. Other accounts count 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms. The numbers vary by outlet because parts of the estate have been rebuilt and repurposed many times.

Post died in 1973 and left the estate to the federal government, hoping presidents would use it as a winter retreat. Upkeep cost too much, so the property went back to the Post Foundation in 1981 and sat on the market. Trump bought it in 1985. NPR puts the price near $8 million, and some accounts say the total reached about $10 million once the beachfront strip across the road came with it. Either way, it was a fraction of the estate's replacement cost even then.

For eight years the family used it as a private home. In 1993 Trump converted it into the Mar-a-Lago Club, and a declaration-of-use agreement with the town set limits on how the club could operate. One of those limits, widely reported, caps a member's stay at 21 days a year. The owner's family kept private quarters inside the compound, and that residence is where the family stays when in Florida.

Why Donald Trump chose Palm Beach

The 1985 purchase came first, long before any residency question. Trump had looked at Palm Beach property for several years. Mar-a-Lago was a famous estate that had failed to find a buyer at the price the foundation wanted. He got it for a discount and spent decades adding to it.

The residency move came much later. In 2019 Bloomberg reported that Trump had changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach. Florida has no state income tax, a point every outlet made at the time, and Trump himself said New York had treated him badly. Palm Beach also gave him a place he already owned and knew well.

The town had to sort out whether the 1993 agreement allowed him to live there. In 2021 the town attorney gave his opinion, per Forbes. The zoning code lets a private club house a bona fide employee, Trump qualified as one, and nothing in the agreement barred him from living at the club. The council took no action, and the question was settled.

Where else does Donald Trump live?

Before 2019 the primary home was the penthouse at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, which the family still owns. During the summer months the reported base shifts to the Trump National golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he keeps a residence on the club grounds. And during his term the official residence is the White House.

Each of those places has a different legal status. Trump Tower and Bedminster are owned through the family business and used as residences. The White House comes with the office and leaves with it. Only Mar-a-Lago carries the domicile filing, which is what state tax law and voter registration look at.

So the answer depends on the season and the calendar. Winter weekends and holidays tend to mean Palm Beach. Summer often means Bedminster. Mar-a-Lago remains the legal domicile throughout.

What homes near Mar-a-Lago cost

The south end of Palm Beach mixes large estates with older condo buildings along the ocean road. That mix shows in the numbers. Our MLS feed as of September 2026 lists about 272 active homes in Palm Beach. The median list price is near $2.5 million, and the average listing sits about 191 days on market. Condos make up much of the lower half, and estates near Sloan's Curve fill the top.

Across the Southern Boulevard bridge the market changes completely. West Palm Beach carries about 2,200 listings with a median near $310,000. Buyers who want the island feel at a lower entry point often start with condos or compare luxury homes across the county before committing to the island premium.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Donald Trump live now?

The White House is the working residence during his term. Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach is the declared permanent home, and he travels there often on weekends and holidays, as local coverage of each visit records.

Where in Palm Beach does Donald Trump live?

At Mar-a-Lago, the ocean-to-lake estate on the island's south end near the Southern Boulevard bridge. The family residence is a private section inside the club compound.

Where does Donald Trump live full time?

Mar-a-Lago has been his legal primary residence since the 2019 domicile filing. Time in Washington during a term and summers in Bedminster do not change the declared home.

How much did Donald Trump pay for Mar-a-Lago?

NPR puts the 1985 price near $8 million. Some accounts cite about $10 million for the estate plus the oceanfront strip across the road. Outlets differ, so treat it as a range.

Can you buy a home at Mar-a-Lago?

No. It is a private club, not a subdivision, and the residence inside is not for sale. Homes and condos on the surrounding streets of the south end do trade, and the island's median list price is near $2.5 million.

How big is Mar-a-Lago?

Outlets cite between 17 and 20 acres, running from the Atlantic to Lake Worth. WWD puts the built space at about 62,500 square feet across 126 rooms. The parcel is one of the largest single holdings on the island, which is why its assessed value runs far above any ordinary Palm Beach home.

Does Donald Trump still own Mar-a-Lago?

Yes. The estate has been in his ownership since 1985 and has operated as the Mar-a-Lago Club since 1993. No sale or listing has ever surfaced in public records or the press.

If you own a home in Palm Beach or anywhere in Palm Beach County and want a current number, request a free home valuation from Pure Equity. Buyers can browse Palm Beach listings or explore luxury homes across South Florida. Related reading: where Melania Trump lives and our roundup of celebrities who live in South Florida.

Sources

• NPR, The opulent history of Mar-a-Lago, long before Donald Trump
• Bloomberg, Trump says he is swapping New York for Florida as main residence (2019)
• Forbes, Trump can legally live at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach says (2021)
• WWD, History of Mar-a-Lago: from Post cereal heiress' estate to members-only club

Based on publicly reported information; details may change and are not independently verified by Pure Equity. We do not publish private addresses.