Owner of landmark in financial straits

"I'm hanging on by my fingernails," says the owner of Rogers' Christmas House Village.

By LOGAN NEILL, Times Staff Writer
Published August 23, 2007

Linda Brooke (left) and Amy Garrett shop at Rogers' Christmas House in Brooksville. Both from Alabama, it was their first visit to the landmark store.
	[Times photo: Maurice Rivenbark]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Maurice Rivenbark] What started as a seasonal venture by founder Margaret "Weenie" Rogers Ghiotto, Rogers' Christmas House Village blossomed into a year-round "Christmas Village" that drew customers from around the world.

BROOKSVILLE - For nearly two years, Donna Jones has owned one of Hernando County's most famous businesses, the Rogers' Christmas House Village. But whether the local landmark sees another yuletide season depends upon how Jones fares in court on Oct. 30.

Jones, who purchased the business in December 2005, says she is being sued because she hasn't paid her $10,000 monthly mortgage payment since March. Even if she had the $50,000 needed to bring her payments current, she's not certain it would save the business, which she says is deeply in debt.

According to Jones, things don't look promising. Though the doors remain open, she said she has no money to buy inventory as the busy Christmas season looms. She is struggling to make payroll for her 17 full-time employees and she has had to work out an arrangement with the power company to keep the lights on.

"I'm hanging on by my fingernails," Jones, 64, said Wednesday. "I'm not ready to throw in the towel, but unless I can find some help, there may not be any other choice."

Jones paints a somber portrait of the Christmas House, which has served as a Brooksville tourist draw for 35 years. What started as a seasonal venture by founder Margaret "Weenie" Rogers Ghiotto blossomed into a year-round "Christmas Village" that drew customers from around the world.

Jones blames her woes on several factors, including her own inattentiveness to business matters.

Less than a year after agreeing to pay $1.5-million for the Christmas House, she began running into financial trouble. In October, Margaret Rogers Ghiotto Trust filed a complaint of foreclosure against Jones.

After making a $400,000 down payment, she still owed about $1.1-million and had fallen months behind in her mortgage payments, according to court documents. The trust agreed to hold off on foreclosure proceedings after Jones agreed to pay $75,000 in overdue payments and attorney's fees, records show.

Jones said she was initially unaware of the delinquent payments because the business was being run by her half sister, Ann Chapman, and her brother-in-law, Bill Chapman. Jones, who also owns a denture clinic in Spring Hill, was forced to take out a mortgage on her Spring Hill home and sell land she owned in Costa Rica to pay the trust in November.

That same month, things soured further when Jones was hospitalized and was unable to keep regular tabs on the operation. Meanwhile, Jones said she was forced to leave everything up to the Chapmans, who she claims went on a spending spree doing renovations to the business' five buildings. The couple, she said, also ordered hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of inventory without informing Jones.

In January, while Jones was still recovering from her illness, the Chapmans suddenly closed the store and sent employees home. According to George Rodriguez, a former employee of Margaret Ghiotto's who now volunteers at the Christmas House office, the Chapmans disappeared shortly thereafter. Also missing were two office computers and cash from the businesses bank account.

"All I know is that there was $142,000 in the bank one day and only $2,000 the next day," Rodriguez said. "We had no money to pay bills."

Efforts to reach the Chapmans were unsuccessful.

Jones said she didn't notify authorities of the missing money and computers because it was "a family matter."

Nevertheless, the cash shortfall, coupled with mounting invoices on merchandise bought by the business, led to a snowball of despair for Jones.

"It's breaking my heart because I love this place so much," she said. "It brings joy to people and I don't want to be the one to take it away from them."

Brooksville City Council member Lara Bradburn said that closing Rogers' Christmas House would have a devastating effect on the town's business climate.

"You can't put the magnitude of it into words," Bradburn said. "To a lot of people, the Christmas House is Brooksville."

If Jones loses the property, Bradburn said she hopes the next buyer will maintain it as the Christmas House. Several Brooksville residents have previously expressed interest in the property, she said, including Tommy Bronson, who has plans to build a mixed-use development on a nearby parcel.

"It would be perfect for someone who knew Weenie and knew her vision not just for the Christmas House but for Brooksville," she said.

Neither Bronson nor any members of the trust could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Jones still hopes she can fulfil her vision for the property. Although she managed to muddle through a summer sales slump, Jones is unsure whether her inventory will sustain the business through the busy holiday season.

"It wouldn't be a good thing to have customers and nothing to sell," she said.

Logan Neill can be reached at 848-1435 or lneill@sptimes.com Staff writer Dan DeWitt contributed to this report.

[Last modified August 22, 2007, 20:43:07]