Not the first-born, not the apple of his father's eye, not as glamorous or poised as his sister Ivanka, nor as vocal as his big brother Don Jr, Eric Trump nevertheless remains a key part of the Trump inner circle. But even though he and wife Lara have been described by E News as the "most normal, least controversial Trump couple", Eric shares the family's penchant for controversy. And Eric's property portfolio is positively Trumpian. Click or scroll to take a peek inside some of his luxury homes, including his $2 million (£1.5m) Manhattan "starter home".
The youngest child of Donald and first wife Ivana, Eric Frederick Trump was born on January 6, 1984, while the family were living in a salubrious property on Fifth Avenue. He grew up in New York, but vacationed and spent weekends at his parents' trophy luxury properties in Connecticut and Florida. However, according to the Washington News, some summers were spent with his maternal grandparents Milos and Maria Zelnicek in the Czech countryside, where he and his older brother, Donald Trump Jr, learned to hunt.
Eric was only eight years old when his parents divorced, and so knew little about the circumstances surrounding it. While his father encouraged him to be competitive, his older siblings, Don Jr and Ivanka took him under their wing. Eric told New York Magazine that he considers his older brother his mentor, and that Ivanka tried to make him "cool".
Talk about being born in the lap of luxury. The Trumps called 800 Fifth Avenue their home when their two youngest children were born. Spread across 33 storeys, their luxury condo at the prestigious address came with all the amenities the super-rich have come to expect.
Years before he inhabited the White House, the former President lived in another expansive white house in Greenwich, Connecticut. Soon after Ivanka was born, the young couple bought 21 Vista Drive, an impressive waterfront estate, with eight bedrooms and 13 bathrooms. The 19,773-square-foot mansion, purchased for $4 million (£2.8m), was a favourite weekend getaway for the family.
According to realtor.com reports, the Georgian-style mansion was built in 1939 and was decorated in Donald's favourite Louis XIV style. Ivana was awarded the home after the couple's divorce in 1992, and in 1998 sold it to financier Robert Steinberg and his wife Suzanne for $15 million (£11.5m). The new owners gave the mansion a more contemporary revamp, putting in additional luxury amenities and listing it initially for a whopping $54 million (£41.4m), before slashing it to $45 million (£34.5m) and ultimately taking it off the market.
Soon after Donald set his sights on Manhattan, he began construction on his infamous property, Trump Tower, in 1979. Previously a department store, the 24-karat gold, 58-storey skyscraper now houses retail spaces and luxury residences. The family moved from 800 Fifth Avenue to their first Trump property in the Trump Tower soon after Eric's birth. Their penthouse triplex was later extended to make a huge 10,996 square foot space, according to Forbes. Although as Forbes also reports, the size of the family's triplex has been exaggerated over the years and is now at the centre of a civil case in new york.
Like his elder brother, Eric was shipped off to boarding school – The Hill School in Pennsylvania – after his parent's divorce. But Trump Tower remained a constant in the family's lives and has often served as the backdrop to many a celebration. Here is Trump at his 50th birthday, sharing a toast with his second wife Marla Maples, along with Eric, Ivanka and 400 guests at a Trump Tower party.
In 1985, a year after Eric was born, Donald Trump bagged another real estate coup. His current residence, the magnificent Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, was purchased for a bargain $8 million (£5.7m). As the Trump empire began to run into financial difficulties, Donald decided to transform a part of Mar-a-Lago into a members-only club in the early 1990s. He spent millions on renovating the historic estate, including a staggering $7 million (£5.4m) to cover the 20,000-square-foot ballroom in 24-karat gold leaf. Back in the day, the 128-room Spanish-Moorish-style palace was considered the Trump family's glamorous holiday home.
Following in his father's and brother's footsteps, Eric married his then long-term girlfriend, Lara Yunaska (now Lara Trump), in November 2014 at Mar-a-Lago in front of 400 guests. According to Page Six, it was truly a family affair with Ivanka as a bridesmaid, her husband Jared Kushner was the officiant and their daughter Arabella was a flower girl, and Don Jr was the best man.
Donald had Mar-a-Lago, and Ivana Trump bought her own Palm Beach estate – Concha Marina – two years after the divorce. As Ivana had been granted sole custody of the Trump children, this was considered their primary residence growing up. Ivana reportedly bought the idyllic, nine-bedroom ocean-front villa in 1994 for $4.4 million (£3.4m), and sold it in 2014 for $16.6 million (£12.7m), having, as reported by Palm Beach Daily News, decided to downsize now her three children were all grown up.
Trump's next notable real estate buy was the opulent 230-acre Westchester Seven Springs estate in 1996, for $7.5 million (£5.7m). While his main motivation was to transform it into a golf club, nearly two decades later Forbes reported that "no greens had been built". During that time, the property had become another of the family's holiday retreats. Seven Springs is also where, as reported by Business Insider, Eric proposed to Lara, with a ring from Ivanka's jewellery collection.
This was the spot where Eric and Don Jr were introduced to the family business. Eric recalls in a Forbes article that when they were in high school, the duo helped with its renovation, mowing fields, cutting down trees, laying marble and even doing electrical work. Even before the Trumps, Seven Springs had pedigreed owners. It was built in 1919 by financier Eugene Meyer, a chairman of the Federal Reserve. The main residence, a 50,000-square-foot, 15-bedroom mansion, boasts three swimming pools and is surrounded by 230-acres of land.
While Donald Jr went to the University of Pennsylvania, after graduating from high school in 2002 Eric broke from family tradition and attended to Georgetown University. He graduated in 2006 with a degree in finance and management, and then joined the Trump Organization as Executive Vice President, focusing on its golf properties and vineyard.
Having joined the Trump Organization, it was inevitable that Eric would end up buying a Trump property as his starter home. His bachelor pad was a 1,350-square-foot apartment on the top floor of the Trump Parc East development, overlooking Central Park.
Eric reportedly paid $2 million (£1.53m) for the three-bedroom apartment in 2007. It then became his and Lara’s family home after they wed in 2014. In 2016, when Donald Trump was on the cusp of the Republican nomination, he used a loophole only available to real estate developers to “sell” Eric two adjacent apartments in the same building for just $350,000 (£268k) each. In February 2016, the Trump Organization had actually advertised the apartments for $790,000 (£605k) and $800,000 (£612k), before selling them to Eric for half the listed price.
Donald used this family-friendly deal to transfer wealth to his son without incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in gift taxes. Normally, if an owner sold a property for so much less than its true market value, they would have to pay gift tax on the difference. ProPublica reported that “personal gifts that are worth more than $14,000 in a year are subject to up to 40 per cent in federal taxes. But as the building’s developer selling the units for the first time, Trump had lots of flexibility within the law to determine the value of the apartments."
The three apartments were combined to create a 2,675-square-foot penthouse with four bedrooms and five bathrooms. The open-plan living room provided plenty of space for the couple and their children. After Donald’s election loss, the family moved to Florida, listing the home for rent in January 2021 for $17,000 (£12k) a month, but the listing was removed not long after.
Westchester was always a special place for Eric, having spent weekends and summers at his father’s Seven Springs estate in his youth. It became such a favourite that Eric and Lara acquired a mansion of their own in a village nearby – Briarcliff Manor. Briarcliff Manor has been known to have quite a few famous, estate-owning families, including the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers.
Though the price and other details of the purchase have been kept under wraps, you do often get glimpses of the home on Lara’s and Eric’s Instagram. Unlike other Trump family real estate purchases that make headlines, there is no way to confirm how much the couple paid for their mansion. However, homes in the neighbourhood have sold for an average of $7 million (£5.4m), according to Zillow.
Before their move to Florida, the couple split their time between their homes in Westchester and Manhattan. Westchester proved to be the ideal weekend getaway from life in the Big Apple, especially while his father was POTUS. Their home has a calm and rustic feel that mixes classic and contemporary. The numerous double-height windows take advantage of the picturesque views. Eric’s choice of interiors is in stark contrast to his father’s, as seen in this image of the sitting room. The couple favour a more contemporary aesthetic with a neutral colour scheme, something the Westchester pad shares with the Manhattan penthouse.
While the Trumps officially moved to Florida after the elections, with Donald’s Mar-a-Lago estate constantly making headlines the family “discreetly” swept up a second Palm Beach home next door to Mar-a-Lago in 2018. Spread over 10,455 square feet, the “white house” boasts eight bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms. It was reportedly bought by a company linked to the ex-president, called 1125 South Ocean LLC, after the home's address.
The company, which listed Eric Trump as president and Don Jr as vice president, bought the home from their aunt, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry for $18.3 million (£14m) in 2018. Originally put on the market with Lawrence A. Moens Associates Inc in March 2021 for $49 million (£38m), it was relisted this year for $59 million (£45m).
The luxury mansion sits on just over half an acre of land, with access to 194 feet of prime ocean frontage. If that’s not enough, there are plenty of other spaces to relax within the property, including a private swimming pool, a number of stunning terraces with panoramic ocean views, a library and a wet bar.
The listing states that the two-story house was built in 1956, has multiple living areas and a formal dining room and showcases Melania Trump's makeover of its interiors. The all-white exterior extends into the interiors; she has transformed this sunroom into a chic neutral space, keeping the focus on the calming beachfront views.
Another perk of this house, given its proximity to Mar-a-Lago, is that the owners (like all the residents of Woodbridge Road) also have access to the Mar-a-Lago private members' club, waiving the standard initiation fee of $200,000 (£153k) to join. Although, if they do take up the offer, the residents are still required to pay yearly membership dues of $14,000 (£11k) and spend a minimum of $2,000 (£1.5k) per annum on food.
Eric and Lara's current main residence is a $3.2 million (£2.5m) Mediterranean-style villa in Florida. Bought in March this year, the five-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom home is 9,981 square feet and sits on 0.6 acres. It is said to be the largest residence of the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter and is also just five miles from Don Jr’s $9.7 million (£7.4m) Admiral’s Cove home.
Resembling a historic Tuscan estate home, the ivy-covered property was recently renovated and takes on a clean and contemporary interior. The double-height ceiling and the pale colour scheme in the open-concept living area underscore the sheer expanse of the space.
The gourmet kitchen takes on an all-white colour palette, is clad in marble and is kitted out with the latest high-end appliances from Wolf, SubZero and Miele. According to Lara’s Instagram, this seems to be the kids’ favourite room. Other VIP features of the mansion include a backyard pool, a full cabana bath and an outdoor kitchen.
The enormous master suite boasts twin closets and a safe room. This space has a touch of understated glitz to it, but nowhere close to Donald’s over-the-top, King Midas’ golden touch tastes. It leads to a sprawling spa-like bathroom and French doors that open out onto the manicured grounds.
Loved this? Follow us on Facebook for more homes of the rich and famous