1744 Germantown summer home of merchant John Wister; British General James Agnew was carried here mortally wounded during the 1777 Battle of Germantown and died in the front parlor, where the bloodstain remains visible on the floorboards.
5267 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Admission ticket required; check philalandmarks.org for current rates. Operated by Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks (PhilaLandmarks).
Access
Limited Access
1744 stone house with original floorboards, steep staircase to upper floors, and uneven thresholds. First-floor parlor (with bloodstain) is partially accessible.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1744 · 1744 Wister family stone house · Site of British General James Agnew's death (October 4, 1777) · Contributing property to Colonial Germantown National Historic Landmark District · Continuously Wister-family-occupied for 160+ years
John Wister, a Philadelphia merchant and wine importer, built Grumblethorpe in 1744 as a summer retreat for his family in then-semi-rural Germantown. The stone facade and oak structural timbers came from the property itself - stones quarried on-site and joists hewn from Wister Woods nearby. The house was originally known as 'John Wister's Big House'; the name 'Grumblethorpe' was given by Wister's grandson Charles Sr. and refers to an English place name.
The Wister family lived in Grumblethorpe for more than 160 years, eventually making it their year-round residence after the 1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic drove them out of the city center permanently.
The house's defining historical event occurred during the Battle of Germantown on October 4, 1777. While the Wisters were sheltering at a different family property, British forces occupied Germantown and used Grumblethorpe as a billet. British Brigadier General James Agnew was struck by an American sniper during the battle and carried back to the house, where he died of his wounds in the front parlor. The bloodstain on the original wide-plank floorboards is still visible and is the centerpiece of the museum interpretation.
In 1941 Frances Wister - founder of the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks - donated her ancestral family home to PhilaLandmarks. Between 1956 and 1967 PhilaLandmarks executed a major restoration. The house is a contributing property within the Colonial Germantown Historic District, which holds National Historic Landmark designation. It operates today as a house museum focused on 18th-century Germantown domestic and Revolutionary War history.
Sources
According to 6abc News, The Lineup, and Visit Philadelphia, the most frequently reported paranormal phenomenon at Grumblethorpe is associated with the still-visible Agnew bloodstain on the front parlor floor. The museum's education director and other staff members have described seeing a black, low-to-the-ground shadow that appears to spin or roll between rooms; some accounts describe it rising as a mist from the bloodstain itself.
The second commonly cited entity is Justinia. According to Philly Ghosts and PA Haunted Houses, Justinia was an orphan taken in by the Wister family after her father died in the 1793 yellow fever epidemic; she worked as the household's housekeeper. Justinia reportedly baked bread every Friday night to distribute to the poor on Saturday mornings. After her death (date uncertain in available sources), her spirit is said to manifest most often on Friday evenings, accompanied by the unmistakable smell of fresh-baked bread in rooms with no oven activity.
The Lineup and Loco Mag also describe additional reported phenomena: doors that open and close on their own, soft footsteps on the upper floor, and visitors feeling a sudden chill at the parlor bloodstain. The bloodstain itself has resisted attempts to clean or remove it; PhilaLandmarks educators interpret it as preserved evidence of Agnew's death and a focal point of the property's history.
The paranormal lore at Grumblethorpe is unusually well-documented for a Philadelphia historic home, with a major-network local-news segment (6abc) and a national paranormal-history feature (The Lineup) providing reporting beyond the standard ghost-tour ecosystem.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Guided tour of the 1744 Wister family home with focus on Battle of Germantown history, including the front parlor floorboards where British General James Agnew died on October 4, 1777 and a still-visible bloodstain remains. The garden has been restored to its 18th-century appearance. Staff have shared accounts of paranormal experiences in interpretive context.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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