Mrs. Alexandra Brown is dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. And while the register of her burial was hardly signed by Ebenezer Scrooge, her visitations at Palm Cottage do bear some resemblance to his business partner, Jacob Marley. And, like Marley, this patent fact must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the oft told tale of Mrs. Brown when one visits the historic cottage, made all the more enchanting by the magical sprinkles throughout the precious place, especially at Christmastide. Many anecdotes are told of this eccentric Neapolitan who inhabited the cottage along with her husband, Laurence (and their dogs), from 1946 until the mid 1970s when it was saved from the wrecking ball and acquired by the Naples Historical Society. According to volunteer, Don Bauer, there has been several Mrs. Brown sightings over the years seen and unseen. Take the time about 10 years ago when a Naples caterer came to the cottage to set up for an evening event. Finding no one responding to the doorbell, a great pounding on the door ensued; at which point, a woman descended the staircase, looked out at them from the window and disappeared. Eventually, the woman assigned to administrate the evening affair did arrive to open the door. When questioned by the caterer as to why she came to the window but failed to let them in, the woman insisted that no one had been in the house until she came to unlock it. "Oh there's all kinds of stories like that about her," said Bauer with the matter of factness of a seasoned volunteer. "Another time happened when a group of volunteers decided the flooring was badly in need of refinishing. They got the project underway and carefully numbered each piece of wood so it would be replaced in exactly the same place. They'd line their tools up at night but when they returned in the morning, someone had moved them." Bauer described the Browns as a rowdy couple who loved to party. "If the flag in the front yard was up, that meant there was a party that night and everybody was invited," said Bauer. "And they were inseparable from their dogs. They would even take them when they went to the movies at the old 3rd Street Theatre. They'd sit back smoking cigarettes and let their dogs have the run of the place." One person whom Bauer identifies as having the most frequent encounters with the ghost Mrs. Brown is the Executive Director of Palm Cottage, Judy Micelle.
View: Full Article | Source: Naples Sun Times
