Baleroy Mansion

A 32-room Chestnut Hill estate built in 1911, owned by George Meade Easby, great-grandson of Civil War General George Meade. The mansion is known for its "Chair of Death" — several people who sat in it reportedly died shortly after.

The Baleroy Mansion is a 32-room estate in Philadelphia's affluent Chestnut Hill neighborhood that has earned the title "Most Haunted Home in America." Built in 1911, the mansion was purchased in 1926 by the Easby family—a lineage tracing back to Easby Abbey in 12th-century Yorkshire, crossing to America in 1683 aboard the Welcome with William Penn, and counting three signers of the Declaration of Independence among their ancestors.

Shortly after the Easbys moved in, brothers George and Steven Meade Easby were playing by the courtyard fountain when something terrifying happened: Steven's reflection in the water transformed into a skull while George's remained normal. Steven died in 1931 from an undetermined childhood disease—the fountain incident seemingly a premonition of his fate.

The most notorious feature is the Blue Room and its "Death Chair," a 200-year-old blue upholstered seat allegedly once owned by Napoleon. The chair is haunted by a spirit named Amanda, who appears as a red mist. After four people died within days of sitting in the chair, George Easby consulted a medium who revealed Amanda had taken a liking to the chair but had no patience for others. One victim was Paul Kimmons, a former curator who was initially skeptical of the hauntings. After escorting a psychic through the mansion, he saw Amanda floating down the staircase. From then on, he saw her everywhere—in his house, on the street, in his car's rearview mirror. Feeling exhausted one day, he sat in the Death Chair to rest. He died a month later.

The ghost of Thomas Jefferson has been seen standing near a grandfather clock in the dining room. An elderly woman with a cane walks the upstairs hallway. Objects fly through the air—a respected minister was struck by an antique pot that flew "like a missile." After Major Easby's death, his son found a note that read: "The ghosts are here. Don't be afraid."

George Meade Easby died in 2005 at age 87, and the mansion was sold in 2012 after antiques, including the Death Chair, were auctioned off. The current owner has not seen the spirits himself but acknowledges "old house noises" including strange knocking sounds.