Is Lucy a ghost or just a ghost story?

Round about this time of year, some of us are gathering around the old fire pit, roasting marshmallows and telling a few tall tales.  Lucy might well be one subject spoken about in these parts.

Back in 1993, the local Crossroads paper published a story about a certain little girl and an historic home, the Penny House, at 235 Philadelphia Pike in Wilmington, Delaware. Well, the family who lived in the house for 20 years has put the home on the market, and this could be an appropriate time to mention this tale.

The original Penny Farm stretched for many acres and reached Brandywine Blvd. in Bellefonte. Mr. Penny farmed most of the land until his death in 1797, when he left it to his sons, both cabinetmakers who could make you a coffin for $8. The brothers died in 1832 and 1843. For years later, Penny House ghost stories were peopled by (among others)  3 Continental soldiers, a husband and wife, and Abigail, who enjoys the dining room.

Jimmy Riccio and James Dykes, antique dealers, moved in in 1964. Children were heard romping upstairs, contractors heard footsteps upstairs in an otherwise empty house (they fled, leaving their tools behind). Riccio and Dykes decorated the back bedroom with child sized furniture and dolls. One story was that this room belonged to a young girl named Lucy.

While landscaping their backyard, the antique dealers added a statue of a little girl, which seemed to look best when it was facing the back bedroom. When Riccio's sister ordered a copy of the statue for her own yard, she found out the model's name.  It was Lucy.

Presently for sale for $289,900 with Carolyn Roland and Mary Norris of Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate.