The Price is Right
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September 9, 2009 at 12:06 PM
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| The 100-year-old house in a quiet Johannesburg suburb where Mahatma Gandhi lived as a young lawyer is attracting renewed attention as it goes on sale. The home, called “The Kraal” retains only nominal features from Gandhi’s times there between 1908 to 1910, as it has been extensively modified and expanded in the intervening years. The property attracted few bids when it first went on the market, but media coverage spurred a flurry of interest and a bidding war, which has reportedly been joined by a couple of Indian industrialists, Gandhi’s great grand daughter Kirti Mohan and Coal India. Nancy Ball, whose original asking price for the property was $322,000, now says that price “was out for us, by virtue of the historical significance of the place.” Gandhi lived off and on in South Africa for 21 years and honed his political and social activist skills in the country. The sellers profess that they are looking for buyers who will preserve Gandhi’s legacy. “There is a sort of Gandhi brand, just as there is a Mandela brand. And there are people out there who want to acquire it for that value,” Ball told a newspaper. “We’re not going to let that happen.” Sure. |
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