From a modest home built by her father to the future First Lady of the White House: Melania Trump is the daughter of a car parts salesman - but she always dreamed of a jet set lifestyle

She's set to become America's First Lady, with a life cossetted in the extravagant luxury afforded only to the super-rich. And although Melania Trump's existence today (left) as the wife of a billionaire is far removed from her childhood (inset) in a communist state, it is the fulfilment of the dreams that she nurtured living in her own white house as a 16-year-old.
Now The Mail on Sunday has gone back to the young Melania's home town, spoken to some of her school friends - and tracked down that white house built by her father (top right).

The childhood of young Melania Knavs in the sleepy industrial town of Sevnica – now part of Slovenia – in the 1970s and 80s was unlike that of any previous First Lady.

                                                      Melania's Parents

Her father Viktor was a Communist Party member under Yugoslav dictator Marshal Tito, and as Melania grew up the family lived in a string of modest apartments.

But Viktor also displayed the capitalist ambitions which rubbed off on the daughter who would one day complete her extraordinary journey by taking up residence in Washington as the President's wife.

School friends remember Melania as a studious girl who preferred her books to playing – a long way from the woman who would pose for photos in a magazine wearing the skimpiest outfits aboard 'Trump Force One' – her husband's customised Boeing 727 (which he has since upgraded to a 757).

Her childhood neighbour and friend Mirjana Jelancic, 45, who is now the headteacher at the primary school in Slovenia which they both attended, said: 'She loved everything to do with art and design. She would renovate old things to make them like new, such as old baskets. Her family put them in the living room with flowers in.'

Ms Jelancic said that Melania, now 46, often showed off her diplomatic skills by acting as a mediator during playground disputes. She said: 'She had a strong personality. She would not be the first with an opinion, but she was intelligent and wise. She grew up in a society when there was not so much freedom. She knew that there was a bigger world out there because her mother had gone to fashion shows as part of her work.

'She wanted something more from life, but she never told me that she wanted to be a model. She liked knitting and making clothes.

'In those times, people were more or less equal, but her family had a sense of aesthetics. Her father always had a Mercedes and it was a ritual that Melania and her sister Ines would clean it every Saturday. 'She was always reading books, fashion magazines and catalogues. Kids would often call her to play, but she was busy reading.'

Melania, her parents and sister moved to an apartment in Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, when she was about 14, and she started at the city's Secondary School of Design and Photography.

But her family retained their links with Sevnica, building their own white-painted house with a balcony and staying there at weekends.

Her parents, who have lived in New York in recent years, still own the house and return once or twice a year. It even has a US-style mailbox. The couple were last there for a week in June when neighbours noticed they had bodyguards.

Melania was 16 when she was spotted by fashion photographer Stane Jerko in Ljubljana and he invited her to pose for him. He said: 'I saw this tall girl with long hair and long legs so immediately introduced myself. She was a little self-conscious when I first photographed her, but she learned very quickly and relaxed.'

Last week, her half-brother Denis Cigelnjak, 51, who lives in the former mining town of Hrastnik, 15 miles from Sevnica, said he hoped one day to meet Melania. 

Denis was born after Melania's father had a brief relationship before his marriage. Court papers show that Viktor Knavs denied being the father of Marija Cigelnjak's baby, but his paternity was proved by blood tests. 

Viktor has never met his son. Denis now works in an electrical tools shop and lives with partner Maja and their daughter Mimi, eight, in a grey apartment block. He said: 'I wish them well. I think she will make a good First Lady.' He said that one day he might meet Melania, adding: 'Maybe some day, somehow. I really want to see them.'