NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) -- A combination of Southern antiques and
artifacts from India should provide a one-of-kind tourist attraction
at an antebellum mansion, say its owners, a group of Hare Krishnas who
have opened it to the public.
The Old South Society for Vedic Life, which has about 20 members,
recently acquired Gloucester House in this historic, Mississippi River
city and hopes to make it a popular spot for visitors.
"We're still in the process of decorating and furnishing. But we
went ahead and opened the house because it's so unique in itself. We
could show it even if it were completely empty. It's in all the major
picture books and is an example of one of the finest suburban villas
in Natchez," Nico Kuyt, leader of the Church Hill-based group, said
this week.
Kuyt said that while the list price for the home was $1.25 million,
the society paid only "a fraction" of that cost.
"It was a very reasonable price," he said. "We financed the
purchase, so now it's, `We owe, we owe, it's off to work we go."'
Kuyt said tours of the pre-Civil War mansion will cost $4 per
person.
"We have moved our cultural tour program about Vedic life down to
Gloucester. That's on the second floor," he said. "The first floor is
a period house, with an 1820s dining room ... and an 1830s library."
The parlor of the home is of the 1850-60 period.
The society distributed brochures this week to welcome centers all
over Mississippi to let people know the house is open for tours.
"Gloucester was on the Pilgrimage Garden Club tour until about two
years ago, when the last owner decided to take it off," Kuyt said.
"We're serious about tourism. We have plans for developing the house
very nicely.
"We plan on offering a very special, very unique tour -- not a
15-minute rush through," he said.
