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This variation in the windows of different stories is by no means an uncommon feature of Philadelphia houses, and, as in this instance, often came about as the result of alterations. Grumblethorpe was built in 1744 by John Wister, who came to Philadelphia from Germany in 1727 and developed a large business in cultivating blackberries, making and importing wine in Market Street west of Third.

Of these the door of Grumblethorpe is unique in having a double stile in the middle, giving almost the appearance of double doors. Three-panel double doors, such as those of Mount Pleasant, Solitude and Port Royal House, were less common than any of the four principal types mentioned, and were little used except for a few decades after the middle of the eighteenth century.

The kitchens and the servants' quarters are located in a separate building to the rear, a brick-paved porch connecting the two. This custom, as in the South, was characteristic of the locality and period. Erected about 1747 by Thomas Shoemaker; Grumblethorpe, 5261 Germantown Avenue, Germantown.

Wyck, Cedar Grove in Harrowgate, Northern Liberties, and Wynnestay in Wynnefield, West Philadelphia, are good examples. Most two and a half story houses have shutters on the first story and blinds on the second, as instanced by Upsala, Grumblethorpe, Loudoun, Glen Fern and the Perot-Morris house.

It has been successively occupied by Norton Johnson, Doctor William N. Johnson and Miss Sallie W. Johnson, all descendants of the builder. Like Upsala, Grumblethorpe, at Number 526 Main Street, Germantown, opposite Indian Queen Lane, displays ledge-stone walls except for its façade, which is plastered, and it has the same returns of the eaves like a penthouse roof across the gables.

Grumblethorpe presents the anomalous reverse arrangement of six-paned sashes on the first story and nine-paned sashes on the second story. Still oftener six-and nine-paned sashes were combined in the same window, the larger sash being sometimes the upper and again the lower.

Similar dormers, differing chiefly in the detail of the moldings employed, are features of the Morris house; Wistar house, Fourth and Locust streets; Wynnestay, Wynnefield, West Philadelphia; Wyck; the Johnson house; Carlton, Germantown; and Chalkley Hall, Frankford. Grumblethorpe and Bartram House have dormers of this sort with a segmental topped upper window sash.

Quite as many unknown persons came to Grumblethorpe, however, for bread was baked every Saturday for distribution to the poor. During the Battle of Germantown, Grumblethorpe was the headquarters of General Agnew of the British Army, and in the northwest parlor he died of wounds, staining the floor with his blood, the marks of which are still visible.

However, the wing flights of stone steps on the sidewalk leading to a broad landing before the door and the handsome wrought-iron rail lend individuality and rare charm to this notable example of a familiar type. The doorway of Grumblethorpe, Number 5621 Germantown Avenue, Germantown, differs little in general appearance, if considerably in detail, from that of the Powel house.

Stoops divide themselves into four principal classes, of which the first, consisting only of a single broad stone step before the doorway, perhaps hardly warrants the term. As at Grumblethorpe and the Morris house, these broad stone steps often had no ironwork other than a foot scraper set in one end or in the sidewalk near by.