Kevin . . . your comments light up my brain with happy memories: "No noise . . . quiet neighbors who have given us something to talk about." I think you remember that no one cared about the noise (who was in hearing distance?) . . . And "something to talk about?" Such a great comment since people went to Autour du Rocher to talk about anything & everything -- current-- on the island. Meeting there was vital to the Coconut Telegraph! An incredibly wild & memorable spot for which there was a "window" that would be hard to repeat today.
The Normandie was of the same era . . . though it pre-dated & survived Autour. As a result, I think that anyone seeking to build a new foothold on the Autour site would likely encounter a similar experience. In this vein, Wendy & I, as we renovated The Normandie, frequently had visits from local folks who stopped to survey what was happening. The visits came to be nightly fodder for us as we would get into bed, tired from days of renovation challenges, and revel in the stories of island residents, young & old, who stopped to check-out what was going-on and wound-up telling their personal stories of Normandie memories. They're legendary stories . . . and, of course, Autour has stories "in spades," by comparison.
I wish that I were younger . . . the opportunity to invigorate the Autour site is enormous -- it's among the most legendary island stories and will be, in the right hands, blessed with great success . . . as well as fun for all of us!