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See a sample reprint in PDF format. Order a reprint of this article nowJAKARTA, Indonesia—Hundreds of thousands of tourists flock each year to the Virginia estates of George Washington, at Mount Vernon, and Thomas Jefferson, at Monticello. Now, a Dutch businessman in Jakarta is hoping a Nov. 4 victory for Sen. Barack Obama will turn a house where he once lived into a presidential landmark—though on a much smaller scale.
Bartele Santema, who runs a string of bars in the Indonesian capital, already has a name for the cafe-museum he wants to open where Sen. Obama lived between the ages of 8 and 10 with his mother and Indonesian stepfather: Sweet Home Obama.
Mr. Santema says he is negotiating a deal with the owner, a 78-year-old retired Indonesian naval officer whose father rented the house to Sen. Obama's family. The businessman, who has offered to rent the rundown 1939 Dutch-style colonial bungalow for $500 a month, says he is a fan of the Democratic presidential contender. ""I hope one day Obama will come here and I'll meet him,"" Mr. Santema says. ""That would be a great experience.""
In his vision, the place would become a Dutch-style coffee house festooned with Obama memorabilia, such as photos of ""Barry,"" as the chubby schoolboy was nicknamed while in Jakarta. ""It's not a place we'd get drunk and drink beer,"" he says. Instead, Mr. Santema plans to offer Barack Blend coffee—a mix of Kenyan and Indonesian beans—as a house specialty.
Tata Abubakar, the home's owner, says he hasn't decided whether to accept Mr. Santema's rental offer. Mr. Abubakar says an Indonesian man has offered to buy the house. But that would involve selling Mr. Abubakar's family home in the same compound, something he isn't sure whether he wants to do. Mr Abubakar's 1,200-square-meter compound, including both houses, is probably worth about $1 million, not including the Obama factor.
Mr. Abubakar remembers Sen. Obama as a child who disliked having his hair ruffled by adults. He also recalls an incident in which the young Obama lost a pet white poodle and cried for two days. But other than that, he was just the tenant's kid.
Syahrial, Mr. Abubakar's son-in-law, lives with his family in the house where Sen. Obama once stayed. He says he has received many foreign visitors since the Illinois senator chronicled his time there in his memoir, ""Dreams From My Father."" ""I'm proud, but also exhausted,"" Mr. Syahrial says, smoking a pungent clove cigarette. ""If he wins, we might have to lock the doors.""
The Jakarta house is just one of several sites attracting attention from association with Sen. Obama. Many people in Indonesia—which has more Muslims than any other nation—are thrilled with the connection and overwhelmingly favor him, according to local polls.
""He was not the smartest guy in class but he was modest, open-minded and really diligent,"" remembers Rully Dasaad, a former schoolmate at the Besuki Elementary School. ""I think his rich background and experience have given him a lot of depth and a broad view.…He is the bridge between America and the rest of the world, especially the Muslim world.""
Childhood friends say they are disturbed by some U.S. media coverage that labeled Besuki an Islamic ""madrasa,"" or religious school, that taught the Quran and little else. ""This school was a normal public school,"" Mr. Dasaad says. ""There were Chinese Buddhist pupils, Hindus from Bali, Christians and Muslims. Everyone was mixed up.""
Sen. Obama's father, a Muslim from Kenya, and his mother, Ann Dunham, met while studying at the University of Hawaii. When Sen. Obama was 2 years old, the couple separated. Ms. Dunham later remarried an Indonesian, Lolo Soetoro, a geologist, and the family moved in 1967 to Jakarta, at the time one of the poorest major world capitals. Sen. Obama lived in two houses in Indonesia before returning to Hawaii to be with his maternal grandparents in the early 1970s. The first house was in a village south of Jakarta.
When his stepfather landed a job with a Western oil company, the family moved to what was then an upscale part of town, renting a small house. But unlike other expatriates, Sen. Obama's family couldn't afford to send him to an international school. The area, though still relatively prosperous, is now rather run-down relative to Jakarta's gleaming office blocks nearby.
Just months ago, few people in the neighborhood had heard of Sen. Obama or knew where he once lived, says Mr. Santema, who spent a few weeks searching for the house. A recent visitor drew blank stares when asking for the home's current owner, but things soon became clearer: ""Ah, you are looking for Obama's house,"" said a security guard. ""It's just around the corner, to the right.""
Write to Tom Wright at tom.wright@wsj.com and Yayu Yuniar at yayu.yuniar@wsj.com
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