FO U N TA I N S E E N F ROM T H E B OX WO O D G A R D E N
Differences between Marjorie and Edward’s views on religion (Marjorie was a Christian Scientist), business management, and entertaining resulted in their divorce in 1919. Within months she fell in love with and married E.F. Hutton, a successful New York stockbroker. In contrast to her first husband’s lessthan-satisfactory business performance, Hutton skillfully managed the Postum Cereal Company, and at Marjorie’s insistence he added the Birdseye Frosted Foods Company to its holdings. When the value of the corporation’s stock skyrocketed, Hutton changed its name to General Foods in 1929 and moved the headquarters to New York City. During the 1920s Marjorie’s vastly increased income allowed her to acquire a 54-room triplex apartment at Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street in Manhattan, a 176-acre country estate on Long Island called Hillwood, a 207-acre camp in the Adirondacks that was ultimately named Topridge, and a spectacular Mediterranean Moorish–style mansion in Palm Beach called Mar-a-Lago.
In addition to Adelaide and Eleanor, the daughters from her first marriage, Marjorie’s marriage to Hutton resulted in the birth of a third daughter, Nedenia, better known as actress Dina Merrill. During the Depression Marjorie curtailed her entertaining and contributed in many ways to helping the poor, including establishing food stations and canteens in New York City. Even so, she could not resist commissioning a new yacht in Kiel, Germany, in 1931. The 316-foot-long yacht, which she named Sea Cloud, had a staff of 71 and was the largest privately owned yacht in the world. During the 1930s she and her family sailed for four- to six-month periods to Europe or the Caribbean. Her second marriage ended in divorce in 1935— largely due to the couple’s political differences (she supported FDR; he did not) and extramarital affairs. While planning the divorce, she met and fell in love with Joseph E. Davies, a well-established Washington lawyer and fellow Democrat, whom she met at a Palm
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