(Updated at 3:15 p.m.) Something eerie is going on at the Overlee property, and it has nothing to do with logistics of the pool renovation project. Workers report seeing an extra person lingering at the construction site — a ghost.
The news isn’t entirely surprising to those who know the history of Overlee. The Victorian clubhouse, which was recently torn down, had been built in the 1890s and came to be known as the Febrey-Kincheloe House. Ernest Febrey built the house and later it was inhabited by the Kincheloe family. After her husband’s death, Mrs. Kincheloe turned the house into Crestwood Sanitarium, a home for elderly Washington dignitaries.
But the ghost isn’t believed to be one of the sanitarium inhabitants. Mike Maleski, who is on the Overlee Board of Directors, said that for decades people have reported seeing a girl in Victorian clothing. Researchers think the girl is Margaret Febrey who died in January 1913, and was said to be 14 years old. A family member reported that the Febrey family stopped using the house after Margaret’s death.
Over the years, some managers for the property had lived in the upper levels of the house and encountered the ghost. Managers and contractors have reported seeing a girl in odd clothing near the stairs of the basement. In January, some crew members demolishing the house admitted to talking to a girl who fit the description, and they believe it was the Febrey ghost.
The Febrey ghost isn’t the only unusual activity that’s been reported on the property.
“There were other ghost stories as well,” Maleski said. “Music and strange noises and things. I don’t know if that’s been idenfitied as one person. Most people believe it’s from the time when it was a sanitarium.”
The Febrey ghost appears to be friendly and has chatted with numerous people on the property throughout the years, we’re told. She also has been known to enjoy playing with children at the Overlee pool.
Nobody has reported any additional sightings since January.