A Cow, a Calf, and Red Cloth: Haunted Abram’s Delight

Reviewed by Josh N · Updated July 31, 2026 · How we verify

Some historians believe the price of the land under haunted Abram’s Delight included a cow, a calf, and a piece of red cloth paid to local Shawnee. That detail sits in the record beside a great deal else: a Quaker family that held the ground for almost two centuries, a limestone farmhouse that outlasted them all, and a single line in the documentary record noting that the place in Winchester, Virginia is reportedly haunted by several ghosts. The house is well documented. The ghosts are not, and this guide will not pretend otherwise.

Abram’s Delight at a Glance

The house was built in 1754 and is the oldest house in the city. It was owned by the Hollingsworth family for almost 200 years, was purchased by the city of Winchester in 1943, and opened as a museum in 1961. It was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1972 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Tours run each day from April through October.

Abraham Hollingsworth and the Land He Called a Delight to Behold

In 1728 Abraham Hollingsworth, grandson of Valentine Hollingsworth, a Quaker immigrant from Ireland, arrived in the Shenandoah Valley and settled in what is now Winchester. Around 1732 he received a land grant of 582 acres from Alexander Ross and Morgan Bryan, and later had to renegotiate the grant with Lord Fairfax. Some historians believe he was also required to pay local Shawnee members a cow, a calf, and a piece of red cloth for the land.

Hollingsworth, considered the founder of Winchester, described his land a “delight to behold.” He built a log cabin next to a natural spring, just west of where the present house stands. The cabin is gone, but its hand-dug well is still visible on the property. Historians believe a wooden stockade once surrounded the home and that Hollingsworth had begun construction of the present house before his death in 1748.

The House Isaac Built for Quaker Meetings

Abraham’s widow, Ann Robinson, inherited the property and died the following year. Their second son Isaac, a Quaker minister, inherited it and made plans for a house that could also serve as a Quaker meeting place. Simon Taylor was chosen to build it. He had recently completed Springdale for Colonel John Hite, now the oldest house in Frederick County, and the two homes share similar stonework. Once the house was finished, Quakers met inside it with the men sitting in the parlor and the women in the dining room.

The building itself is regarded as an “excellent example of a substantial eighteenth century Valley farmhouse.” The exterior is random rubble limestone on a stone foundation, with slate over the pitched roof and three interior-end chimneys, one at the end of the wing and one at each end of the original block.

Thirteen Children, a West Wing, and a Summer House on an Island

Isaac’s son Jonah and his wife Hannah had thirteen children and needed more living space. Around 1800 they added a west wing, using stone closely resembling that of the original portion. In 1830 their son David, a wealthy businessman and community leader, took possession of the home. He improved the house and the land around it, most notably by building a lake on the south side of the property, and he put a summer house on one of the islands in that lake.

The War, Three Unmarried Heirs, and Annie’s Bargain

David’s three children inherited the property in 1863, two years after the Civil War began. Winchester and the country around it suffered badly, and the Hollingsworth place was no exception: most of the trees were felled, the livestock was taken, and the farmland was left untended. None of the three children ever married, and they went on living in the house together until only the youngest, Annie, remained.

In the 1910s Annie made arrangements with two cousins that they could take ownership of the house if they would care for her in her old age. She moved out taking only her clothing, and the building sat unoccupied for almost thirty years. If any house in Winchester earned a reputation by standing empty, this was it.

Auction, Restoration, and the Museum That Opened in 1961

In 1943 the city of Winchester bought the home and the surrounding 35 acres, wanting to preserve the oldest house in the city and to take advantage of the water supply. What was left inside, including many antiques dating from the 17th century and paintings by Annie’s older sister Mary, went to auction in 1945. The Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society then spent nine years restoring the house, with Irvan O’Connell overseeing the overall project and Mary Boxley overseeing the interior work. The museum opened in 1961. A log cabin built in 1780, similar to the one Abraham raised beside the spring, was moved onto the property in 1967.

What Is Actually Claimed About the Ghosts

Here the record thins out to almost nothing. The property is described as reportedly haunted by several ghosts, and that is the extent of what the documentation supports. No named apparition, no dated incident, no witness account. Visitors looking for a catalogue of cold spots and footsteps will not find one attached to this house in the public record, whatever they may hear on the tour.

That absence is worth weighing. Two centuries of one family, a house that stood empty for thirty years, and a Civil War town that changed hands repeatedly are exactly the conditions under which ghost stories accumulate. Whether any of the reports amount to more than that atmosphere is not something the record settles.

Touring Abram’s Delight in Winchester

Abram’s Delight operates as a historic house museum and is available for tours each day from April through October. During the Christmas season it opens again for the annual Candlelight Tour and Open House, which is the most atmospheric way to see the limestone rooms. Besides the house and the relocated log cabin, the grounds hold a small perennial garden and an old gristmill that now serves as a gift shop and exhibit space. Abraham’s hand-dug well is still there to look at, which is closer to the eighteenth century than most visitors expect to get.

Address: Winchester, Virginia

See Abram's Delight for Yourself

Sources

• Abram's Delight
• National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form
• Homes, ghost stories part of Winchester history
• Abram's Delight
• NPGallery Asset Detail (National Park Service)
• Wikipedia: Abram's Delight

More Haunted Houses

Peyton Randolph HouseFerry Plantation HouseBrumder MansionOld State HouseVergennes Opera HouseThe White House Inn