HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Private Residence at Painters Crossing
Media, PA
Research updated May 2026
Age
Private property — no public access
Cost
Free
Not open to the public.
Access
Limited Access
Suburban arterial road; no public access to grounds
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1837 · Painters Crossing Local History · Edwards Family Residence · Rebuilt After 1987 Fire
The site at Painters Crossing and Rose Tree Road in Middletown Township has held two consecutive houses. The first, built by the Murchison family in the early nineteenth century, was destroyed by fire some years after construction; family lore preserved in regional sources records that several members of the Murchison family died in the blaze and were interred in a hillside crypt beneath an oak tree on the property.
The Edwards family built a new stone residence in 1837 on the surviving foundations of the Murchison house and named it Chroledale. The home passed through subsequent ownerships and became known by the name of the Heilbron family, who lived there as recently as January 1980.
In April 1987, a bed-and-breakfast operator took over the property and began restoration. A fire that year destroyed much of the rebuilt structure, but the project continued, and the house was reconstructed in 1988. Of the original 1837 fabric, only sections of the stonework piers, walls, and foundation remain. The current owners have publicly stated that they do not experience or report any paranormal activity at the residence.
Sources
The Heilbron Mansion's folklore was popularized in Harold Cameron's now-out-of-print book Night Stalks the Mansion, which collected accounts from earlier residents. Three named presences appear in that material: a child reported in upstairs rooms, a maternal figure associated with the library, the grand staircase, and the upstairs hallway, and a third figure connected to the driveway and front porch and identified in the older lore as a man who had been enslaved and hanged from a tree on the property.
The historical record for these specific figures is thin and lacks independent corroboration through deed records, court documents, or contemporary newspaper reporting. The current owners, who undertook reconstruction after the 1987 fire, have publicly stated that they do not experience the activity described in the older accounts.
The mansion is a private residence and is not open to visitors. Discussion of the legend on Haunt Bound is therefore limited to the existing published material and the property's documented physical history; no new investigation, sighting, or first-person account from a living named witness is being asserted.
View the property from the public roads at the corner of Painters Crossing and Rose Tree Road. The mansion is a private residence; do not approach, photograph the building, or enter the grounds. Current owners report no paranormal activity.
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