Listing of the Week · Germantown, Philadelphia
A 1798 Mansion for $995,000 — With a Revolutionary War Battle Written Into the Deed
Nine bedrooms, ten fireplaces, two-and-a-half acres, and one very unusual obligation: once a year, you have to let an army show up on your front lawn.
Every now and then a listing crosses the desk that's less a real estate transaction and more a piece of living history with a price tag attached. This is one of those. Upsala Mansion — an early Federal-style estate on the edge of Germantown and Mount Airy in Philadelphia — just hit the market at $995,000. For a nearly 10,000-square-foot stone manor that predates the Constitution's ink drying, that number alone is worth a second look.
But the price isn't even the most interesting line in the listing. That honor goes to a clause buried in a seventy-page easement agreement attached to the deed.
Recorded in the Deed · Runs With the Land
Once a year, the owner must permit a re-enactment of portions of the Battle of Germantown on the front lawn.— Per the National Trust easement, as described by owner and listing agent Alex Aberle
Yes, really. The current owner confirmed that the battle reenactment is written into the deed, and that any future owner is obligated to allow it. The estate sits on the grounds where the Continental Army staged during the 1777 Battle of Germantown, and for decades the reenactment ran across Upsala's lawn and the lawn of Cliveden, the historic mansion directly across the street. The festival organizers haven't staged the tactical demonstration since 2019 — but the obligation is permanent. As the owner put it, it "runs with the land," for him and everyone who comes after.
So what does a million dollars buy here?
Quite a lot of house, as it turns out. Upsala was built for John Johnson III, a descendant of one of Germantown's earliest settler families, and stayed in the family until the 1940s. It spent the next half-century as a historic house museum before the National Trust took ownership, and in 2017 it became privately owned again for the first time in generations. Here's the snapshot:
Upsala Mansion · 6430 Germantown Ave
- Price
- $995,000
- Year built
- 1798
- Living area
- 9,820 sq ft
- Lot size
- 2.47 acres
- Bedrooms
- 9
- Bathrooms
- 1
- Fireplaces
- 10
- Parking
- 15 spaces
- Annual tax
- $12,863
- Style
- Federal / Colonial
Read that one more time: nine bedrooms and one bathroom. A future owner with a renovation budget and a tolerance for plaster dust has some obvious low-hanging fruit.
per square foot above grade — the kind of math that makes a Denver investor do a double-take.
For perspective, run that number against almost anything habitable along the Front Range and it stops looking like a typo only because the listing is real. Of course, price per square foot is the easy part. The hard part is everything that comes with a 228-year-old stone house.
The catch (or three)
This is where the romance meets reality, and where it's worth being clear-eyed. The rear wing is only partially renovated — a planned kitchen and in-law suite were never finished, so the next owner inherits both an unfinished project and the freedom to shape it. The preservation easement that protects the property also governs what can and can't be altered, which means restoration here runs through the Philadelphia Historical Commission and the National Trust, not just a contractor and a permit. And that single bathroom isn't going to add itself.
None of that is a dealbreaker for the right buyer. It's simply the trade you make for authenticity that can't be manufactured — and, to be fair, the owner has offered to stay on as a resource through the transition, easement and all.
Why we love a listing like this
We spend most of our time around here thinking about duplexes, triplexes, and the practical business of putting a roof over tenants' heads and a little income in your pocket. A nine-bedroom historic mansion with a battle reenactment clause is, admittedly, not that. But it's a useful reminder that "what you're buying" is almost never just the square footage. Every property carries its obligations, its easements, its quirks hiding in the fine print — Upsala just wears its quirks more proudly than most.
If you've got a spare million, a love of history, and no particular objection to musket smoke drifting past your windows once a year, the next chapter of one of Philadelphia's great old houses is officially available.
More on the property, including the full easement, photo gallery, and disclosure documents, is available at upsalamansion.com. Listing details and reporting via The Philadelphia Inquirer. Photos courtesy of Alex Aberle, Elfant Wissahickon REALTORS. Figures deemed reliable but not guaranteed; verify before relying on them.
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