Srila Prabhupada negotiating for fisher mansion
Ambarish : I found a palatial estate that was the Fisher Mansion and later became the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Center. We went there to look at it, and Srila Prabhupada immediately liked it. He mentioned, "Who would not like such a building?" Govardhan said, "Well, Ambarish doesn't like it." It was dirty, and there were dogs in it, and the neighborhood was really bad. I couldn't see what was going to happen to it, but Prabhupada had a vision of what this place could be. Govardhan said, "Ambarish thinks it's maya." Prabhupada said, "Yes, but Krishna is also maya, and maya can be utilized in the service of Krishna."
After we looked at the building, we went to see the man who owned it. We were sitting by his pool. He was materialistic and greedy and wanted as much money as he could get, but the neighborhood was so bad that I couldn't see how he was possibly going to get that much money, three-hundred-fifty thousand.
Prabhupada told the man that he liked the building. He said, "Of course, we're mendicants, we're monks, we don't have much money." He suggested that the man give the building. The man was cool. He didn't seem too shocked with that suggestion, but the real-estate lady almost fell over backwards in her chair, because she was counting on her commission. Her jaw dropped when Prabhupada said that. The owner was respectful and said he couldn't possibly do that, as he had invested money in the property.
So they settled on a price, and Prabhupada asked if Lekhashravanti and I could come up with the money. We ended up purchasing the building that way.
Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 2 by Siddhanta Dasa
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