In the film, it appears as though Lois Wright only gave a box to Edith Bouvier Beale for her birthday. However, she also gave Edith the sign that reads, "The Great Singer, Big Edith Bouvier Beale".
The house was bought by Benjamin C. Bradlee, former editor of the Washington Post, and Sally Quinn, his wife in 1979. The pair completely re-did the house, but they only stay there in the month of August. During the rest of the year, the home is occupied by Frances Hayward.
Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale claimed that the house was haunted by the ghost of a sea captain, who used to climb a ladder into her room for midnight trysts. She also claimed the house was haunted by the ghosts of a woman and her daughter, who were the original residents of the house. However, the first resident of the house was Mrs. F. Stanhope Phillips, the daughter of the first editor of the Detroit Free Press, and she had no children.
The film was an accident in the sense that Albert Maysles and David Maysles came across Edith Bouvier Beale and Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale when involved in another project - a movie about (Jacqueline Kennedy's sister) Lee Radziwill's childhood. As part of research, the Maysles brothers were introduced to the two Edie Beales, and were captivated by their world. Deciding not to make the Radzwill film, they turned instead to the Beales, and a year after first meeting the two women, began filming.
The 'Bouvier' in the name refers to the family of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, a relative of the mother/daughter Beales. Story has it that Jackie was known to visit the Beales to drop off clothing and food.