HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
A 1920s NRHP-listed mansion turned upscale restaurant where the ghost of Agnew Hunter Bahnson — an inventor who died before seeing his estate finished — is said to walk the dining rooms.
450 N Patterson Ave, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Upscale restaurant with full dinner service. See website for current menu and pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic mansion converted to restaurant; main dining areas accessible. Period architecture may present threshold variations in some rooms.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1920 · Built in the 1920s for inventor and businessman Agnew Hunter Bahnson · Listed on the National Register of Historic Places · Converted to Spring House Restaurant in 2012 after rehabilitation · Named for a historic spring on the property, which remains a feature of the grounds
The Agnew Hunter Bahnson House was constructed in the 1920s for Agnew Hunter Bahnson, a businessman and inventor based in Winston-Salem. Bahnson held interests in industrial technology — he is associated with climate-control and air-filtration innovations — and built his residence in what was then an upscale residential area near downtown Winston-Salem.
The property's association with death during its construction is part of the haunting tradition: accounts describe Bahnson dying before the mansion was fully completed, leaving unfinished what he had planned as his permanent home. The house passed through subsequent owners and uses before falling into disuse.
The National Register of Historic Places listing formalized the property's architectural and historical significance. In 2012, local restaurateurs opened Spring House Restaurant in the rehabilitated mansion, naming the establishment for a historic spring that exists on the grounds. The restaurant positioned itself as an upscale farm-to-table dining destination, using the historic building as both its physical plant and its brand identity.
Visit Winston-Salem's official tourism blog and the restaurant's own historical materials both acknowledge the building's reputation for paranormal activity, treating it as a known part of the site's character rather than an unwanted association.
Sources
The Bahnson House's haunting tradition centers on the figure of its original owner. Local accounts describe Agnew Hunter Bahnson as having died before his mansion was fully finished — an unresolved departure that, in the logic of the haunting tradition, left him attached to the property. Visit Winston-Salem's official haunted-sites listing describes the presence as 'not ready to leave at the time of his death,' which captures the tone of the prevailing lore: a proprietorial ghost rather than a tragic one.
Staff and guests of the Spring House Restaurant have reported paranormal phenomena in multiple areas of the building. The specific phenomena described in available sources include unexplained sounds, an atmospheric sense of being watched, and objects or environmental conditions that shift without apparent cause. The accounts come from people working in the restaurant rather than organized paranormal-investigation teams; no formal investigation documentation has been located in sources available for this build.
The attribution to Bahnson specifically — rather than an anonymous presence — reflects the common pattern of ghost traditions attaching to the most historically notable person connected to a site. Because Bahnson died and his identity is documented, his attribution here is treated as local tradition. No specific incident of violence, suicide, or crime connected to the house has been identified in available sources; the lore frames the haunting as the attachment of a man to his uncompleted home.
Notable Entities
Dine in the 1920s Agnew Hunter Bahnson House, a National Register property converted to the Spring House Restaurant in 2012. Staff and guests have reported a persistent presence attributed to Bahnson himself, described in local accounts as 'not ready to leave.'
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Winston-Salem, NC
The Zevely House was built in 1815 by Vannimmen Zevely, making it the oldest surviving house in Winston-Salem. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Federal-style structure has served multiple tenants over two centuries before being converted into Bernardin's Restaurant.
Greensboro, NC
M'Coul's Public House operates in the former Piedmont Hotel building on W McGee Street in downtown Greensboro. The Piedmont Hotel served as a brothel for some portion of its history, reportedly into the 1960s. The building's transition to an Irish pub brought new life to the space but preserved the history of its former occupants — or so the ghost stories suggest.
La Crosse, WI
Built in 1880 by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway as a freight depot, the building served La Crosse's commercial rail traffic for decades before being converted to a restaurant. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.