WASHINGTON − Donald Trump once said real estate runs in his blood.
In the late 1970s, he made a splashy entrance into the New York City real estate scene with the glitzy transformation of the crumbling Hotel Commodore into the Grand Hyatt. When he bought Mar-a-Lago, the South Florida estate built for socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post, he added a 20,000-square-foot ballroom. In Washington, DC, he turned the city's historic Old Post Office into a luxury hotel.
Now 50 years on, he has a new pet project: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Six months since he moved back into the White House, Trump’s Oval Office is bathed in a sea of gold and gives a glimpse of his maximalist design approach. Gold-colored appliqués on the fireplace, gilded mirrors and ornate Rococo-style 18th and 19th century dessert stands and flower vases from London and France sit on the mantle. The walls are chockablock with paintings of former presidents in heavily ornate gold frames. The Cabinet Room has been outfitted with new ceiling medallions and a grandfather clock.
“I picked it all myself," he said. "I'm very proud of it."
