THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140497
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
History is coming back to haunt the most famous haunted house in the city.
The Ferry Farm House, reputed to be the site of the dunking of the Witch of Pungo, is in the middle of a development dispute that will decide its future.
A local antiques dealer wants to turn the 169-year-old house, vacant since 1986, into a home. But neighbors say they were promised that would never happen.
Developers of the Old Donation Farm subdivision paid $100,000 to restore the house, which they donated to the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts for a museum. At the time the subdivision was developed, the city forbade use of the building as a residence.
Now, the house has ended up back in private hands and the neighbors' breathing room and backyard views are threatened.
Wilma M. House, the would-be-buyer, said she's sympathetic to the neighbors' concerns but should not be held responsible for something that's not her fault. All she wants, she said, is the house of her dreams.
``It's just a wonderful, wonderful old house. We want to retire there,'' she said. ``My husband and I have been looking for 15 years for a home to restore.''
The house reputedly has been haunted by Grace Sherwood, the Witch of Pungo, since she was locked in a cellar in 1706 where the house now stands. The building also sits on the site of the Second Court House of Princess Anne County, in use from 1735-1755.
House needs the city's help to change the zoning on the property, allowing its use as a house and enlarging the lot size to half an acre.
Her proposal goes before the Planning Commission today.
Neighbors say they will show up in force to protest the change.
``The discontent that's in the neighborhood is from the promises that have not been kept - the last (straw) is the sale of this house that was promised would never be a house,'' Robert G. Little said, sitting on his back porch, which overlooks the house.
Little and neighbor G. M. ``Mike'' Crump said they are not inclined to give in because they are so annoyed at the developers over drainage and other problems that have cropped up since the developer went bust.
They also are angry at the city for not adequately overseeing the developer and for allowing the arts center to return the house to private hands.
Records show that the arts center turned the house back over to the developer in 1990, but the transaction wasn't recorded until June of this year. The developer then sold the house. The new owners, listed on the tax rolls as ``Aaron H. Evans et. al.,'' now want to sell to the House family.
Homeowners said the land the house sits on was supposed to be common property, jointly owned by everyone in the subdivision. But because the developer never legally conveyed the property to a homeowner's group, there is debate as to who owns the land.
Glenn R. Croshaw, lawyer for 14 homeowners whose property abuts the Ferry Farm House, said he is hoping to get the Planning Commission to defer action on the house for several weeks to give all sides a chance to work out a compromise. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI/Staff
Wilma and Gary House, center, relax with their children, Rachel
House, left, and Melissa Carr, in front of the Ferry Farm House.
MAC GREGOR ENTERPRISE
The Ferry Farm House, center, in Virginia Beach.
Robert G. Little
Map
by CNB