My dad passed this Wall Street Journal story onto me today. It’s the story of Jakob Fugger, an extremely rich and influential banker that lived about 500 years ago. One of the philanthropic things he did was to build a village of small homes and apartments for people that needed them. The homes ranged in size from 500 to 700 square feet.
The property was put into trust and continues today with about 150 residents. The rent hasn’t gone up either. It costs about $1.23 a year but there’s one catch. Residents must pray daily for the Fugger and his descendants. To be precise, before moving in residents promise to say three prayers daily: the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary and the Apostles’ Creed. The required prayers aside this sounds like a pretty good idea for today’s collapsing housing market. Maybe someone in a position to create something amazing will read the article and take action. Maybe? Photo credit WSJ. Read the original article.
