Obama's Childhood Home In Indonesia Up `For Sale!!!!!!!

by **J The Kidd** Wed Oct 29, 2008 12:48 am

As Election Day grows near, anticipation that Barack Obama may
become the next president has sent a steady stream of visitors to the
colonial-era Jakarta house he lived in as a child, from potential
buyers and journalists to an entrepreneur who wants to turn it into the
"Sweet Home Obama Bar."

Tata Aboe Bakar, the 78-year-old owner, is in no rush to move out.
His family has lived in the airy, cream-colored house, located on a
sprawling plot of land in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in
Indonesia's capital, since it was built in 1939, reports the Associated
Press.

"My brother was born here, my parents died here," he says, as he
recalls the curly haired boy who moved into the two-bedroom pavilion
within the compound with his pregnant mother and Indonesian stepfather
in 1970.

But with a potential price tag of $3 million - and even more if Aboe
Bakar can believe one broker's claims that a U.S. Embassy official is
ready to pay five times the market price if Obama wins - he says he'll
seriously consider it.

Tristram Perry, the embassy's public diplomacy officer, was not aware of any such proposal.

Obama's family moved to Indonesia in 1967 and spent two years in a
humble home where chickens and ducks cackled in the backyard and two
baby crocodiles slithered around in a fenced-off pond.

They relocated to what is describe as a small, red-tile roofed pavilion
with art deco windows on Taman Amir Hamzah Street when Obama was 9 and
stayed there for the next two years.

Among those who have expressed interest in the house has been Bart Bartele, a Dutchman who owns several popular pubs in Jakarta.

He says he offered to rent the pavilion that had been home to the
presidential candidate so he could open a cafe featuring an
"Obama-blend coffee," a mix of Kenya and Java beans. He'd also serve
"stroopwafels," a carmel-type treat brought to Indonesia during the
centuries-long occupation of the Dutch, according to the reports.

"The idea is to have snacks, simple food and maybe some merchandise,"
Bartele said, adding that he was not certain, with all the recent
interest, if Aboe Bakar would go for it. "We'll see. It's mostly just
for fun anyway."