“A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.” -Mark Twain
The Associated Press reports:
Jeffrey Nichols, the Twain House and Museum’s executive director since April, says officials now recognize that a $19 million visitor center that opened in 2003 was too ambitious and costly.
The gingerbread Gothic home was built in 1874 by the author and humorist who, coincidentally, often struggled with debt and had to sell the home in 1903. It was here that he wrote his masterpiece, “Huckleberry Finn.”
“The museum saw a great opportunity to expand and to better preserve and spread Mark Twain’s legacy, but in retrospect, it did overreach,” Nichols said.
In that regard, the Twain House is like private homes throughout America where residents expanded during heady economic times or used home equity credit lines, subprime mortgages and private loans they now struggle to repay.
I guess we can add Twain to our new reality show lineup.
Source:
Twain, Wharton Homes Among Historic Houses In Financial Jeapardy
Stephanie Reitz
The Associated Press
June 17, 2008