We're standing outside a classic mid-century modern in the middle of Belgrade. Palm Springs California circa 1960. A typical falling-down Vojvodine farmhouse is next door, a concrete French villa stands across the street, and a 5-story Miami apartment building glistens on the street corner. Belgrade is great fun if you like variety in architecture.
But who built this place that looks as though Frank Sinatra lived there? The realtor proudly explains it was the family home of a famous celebrity folk-music couple from Yugoslavia's heyday. And, he just happens to have a key to it in his pocket.
We stroll from dusty room to dusty room. No one's lived here for a long time. Then, we walk into the biggest living room I've ever seen in Serbia. It's big for America even. Enormous. I suspect this unwieldy room, coupled with horribly expensive electric heat, is one of the reasons the place has been on the market for nearly a year now.
"They needed a very big room because this is where every musician in Belgrade used to come to visit and play," the realtor explains. We stand in silence for a moment, paying homage to those historic parties.
As we're leaving, I ask the realtor how much the celebrity connection affects the price. "Ah, it is very important" he says, "because you know if it is rich person then they must have used good building materials." OK, but what about a price tag on celebrity itself? He looks confused. Who would ever charge more for a place because a famous person once lived there? Americans must be even odder than he suspected.
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2 comments:
Funny Rosemary! But you know... this post is USELESS WITHOUT PICS!!!!
I think that if you are in a small village, a house may go for more if it was a celebrities home. Dragoljub Aleksic, a minor celebrity from years gone by in Serbia was from the village of Vina. We inquired about buying the house. It was way above normal price because he was famous. We didn't bite.
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