NEWARK, N.J. -- A final resting place at Donald Trump's golf course in New Jersey will surely cost a lot, but will be a bargain compared to some of the country's other swanky cemeteries.
Mr. Trump announced this week he is considering building a 1.5-acre cemetery next to his high-end golf course in Bedminster where members pay a lifetime fee of as much as $300,000. If they want to stay beyond that, they most likely will pay a membership fee that includes burial, Trump consultant Ed Russo says.
But the fairway to heaven won't cost what some premium plots cost elsewhere if the plan gets state and local approval.
Putting one's name on the most permanent of marquees can reach several million dollars at the most exclusive cemeteries in the country. In comparison, the median cost of a funeral was $6,560 in 2009, the most recent yearly figure from the National Funeral Directors Association.
At Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., a National Historic Landmark renowned for its landscaping, the choicest piece of pond-front property costs upward of half a million dollars, said Sean O'Regan, vice president of cemetery services and operations.
"While you're not purchasing real estate -- you're purchasing burial rights -- it's definitely location, location, location," Mr. O'Regan said.
The Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, which was designated last year as a National Historic Landmark, is popular among the wealthy and famous.
Burial arrangements can range from $600 for cremated remains to $3.5 million for a historic private mausoleum more than 100 years old, Woodlawn President John Toale said.
The Frank E. Campbell funeral home in New York's Manhattan is the go-to place for celebrity funerals. In its 115 years of business, the home has arranged final rites for the titans of New York industry, famous sports figures, politicians, and countless celebrities, Vice President Dominic Carella said.
"We fulfill any request, from private jets, to horse-drawn carriages," Mr. Carella said, adding that no request surprises him -- from arranging Dixie Land bands to a funeral procession with the rarest of collectible Ferraris.
"We've had funerals from $20,000 or $30,000, to a couple hundred thousand dollars," he recalls.
Mr. Carella said wealthy clients who wish to go quietly know the company's fee includes keeping personal details from the media and providing undercover security guards to keep the paparazzi at bay.
Large family plots and mausoleums have gone the way of many a celebrity marriage.
While wealthy and famous figures of the past customarily would be surrounded in death by family members, a modern-day mogul may be torn over which relatives or ex-relatives will share the burial plot.
"It's the changing dynamics of the family. Going back 20 years, if someone came in and said they had five children, they'd buy a grave for 15," Mr. Carella said.
Campbell used to build 12 to 15 mausoleums a year but now erects only one or two.
"People are moving. There are mixed marriages, interfaith couples. The number of people buried together is fewer," Mr. Carella said.
Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, N.Y., is another East Coast "destination" resting place.
Mr. Carella recently arranged a funeral there. He said the plot cost $450,000 and the mausoleum nearly $1 million.
First Published February 3, 2012, 5:00 a.m.
