Valerie Hill Ghost Hunt, Stephens City, Virginia

Valerie Hill Ghost Hunt

Stephens City, Virginia

For over two hundred years, something has waited in the shadows of Valerie Hill. Revolutionary War captain Peter Rust built this manor between 1805 and 1807, its walls rising from the labor of enslaved hands. During the Civil War, it served as a field hospital where the wounded and dying were carried through its halls. The house has changed owners. The land has been converted to vineyard and wine tasting room. But the structure itself has never forgotten what occurred within its walls.

When the winery opened in 2012, activity that had remained dormant for decades awakened with a force that terrified the new owners. Within three weeks, one owner abandoned all skepticism. The other needed only two. What they encountered was not subtle. It was not occasional. It was relentless.

The Attic

In 1823, the sheriff of Frederick County declared Peter Rust’s nephew, Benedict, insane and ordered the family to sequester him from public view. The Rusts complied by constructing a locked room in the east side of the attic. A tiny, airless space with a single pass-through window. Scorching in summer. Freezing in winter. Benedict Rust spent most of his life confined there, hidden from the world.

No records document when or how he died. Those who shamed families were not granted official burials. Their graves remain unmarked. But investigators believe Benedict never left.

Owners and staff refuse to enter the attic. The one time a former employee and an owner’s daughter ventured inside, they were met with a loud, all-encompassing scream that filled the entire space. They interpreted it as a warning. They did not return.

Audio recordings captured in the attic have documented a whispered male voice responding to investigators. When asked for a name, the voice replied after fifteen seconds of silence: “Benedict.”

Heavy disembodied footsteps are heard running up and down the staircase from the attic. Witnesses describe the footsteps increasing in speed, as if pursuing someone. The sounds occur when the building is confirmed empty. They happen in the morning. They happen at night. They do not stop.

The Upper Floors

Multiple witnesses have reported a black figure in the upstairs green room. Two owners encountered this figure late at night. One awoke to see it standing in the doorway. The figure approached, leaned over a sleeping person, then retreated and appeared to float away. Another owner described the apparition as a tall form, six or seven feet in height, showing only head, shoulders, and torso. It lingered in the room before dissipating.

A past owner’s daughter repeatedly saw the figure in the green room during her time in the house. She was not the only one.

A past owner’s son witnessed an apparition of a man in a blue uniform resembling a soldier near the staircase. Other witnesses, including children, have reported seeing this same figure. Sometimes he is holding a gun. The house was used as a Civil War field hospital. Investigators believe he remains on duty.

A woman in a long, floor-length dress has been seen standing on the staircase landing. Three people observed her looking out from an upstairs window after the building had closed for the evening. Her face was stoic. Her hair pulled into a bun. When witnesses looked again, she was gone.

Second-floor activity includes doors slamming when no one is present and disembodied voices that cannot be traced to any living source. In the blue room, an investigator asked if anyone was there. On the EVP recording, a whispered voice replied: “Several of us, all the time.”

Ground Floor and Cellar

A drawer in the first-floor foyer repeatedly opens on its own. Attempts to secure it with tape overnight have proven ineffective. By morning, the drawer is open. The tape is undisturbed.

Customers at the tasting bar have reported hair pulling and unexplained physical contact. Blonde-haired women wearing ponytails are targeted most frequently. Some leave the building immediately.

A former owner reported a woman’s voice in the cellar telling him to “go away.” That owner believed something at the property was angry. He was not wrong. A woman’s voice asking for help has been heard in the cellar, but when the former owner descended the stairs, the voice always told him to leave.

What You Will Experience

Guests will be granted late night access to the manor house at Valerie Hill for a professional paranormal investigation. You will be paired with experienced team members in small groups and taken on rotation through the property’s most active areas. Following the guided investigation, you are free to explore alone if you choose.

Three separate paranormal research teams have investigated this location. Two concluded there are three intelligent hauntings at Valerie Hill that react to people and their surroundings: a young boy and a middle-aged man who remain together, and a grouchy older man who believes visitors are violating his personal space. Numerous residual hauntings replay events from the past without awareness of the present.

Professional ghost hunting equipment will be provided. Snacks and refreshments will be available throughout the evening.

This is not a haunted attraction. This is not theater. Valerie Hill is an active location with documented, consistent paranormal activity spanning decades. Former owners have all reported the same experiences. Current owners will not live in the house.

What’s Included in the Ghost Hunt

Your after-hours investigation includes:

• Exclusive after-hours access to Valerie Hill Vineyard & Winery

• Ghost hunting vigils in areas tied to reported activity

• Structured investigation sessions led by experienced Haunted Rooms America investigators

• Use of professional paranormal equipment, including EMF detectors, trigger objects, thermal imaging devices and motion sensors, plus EVP sessions run by our team

• Free time to investigate independently

• Optional Estes Method sessions run by our team during free roam

• Snacks and refreshments provided

Equipment and recording: Guests are welcome to bring their own ghost hunting equipment (EMF meters, spirit boxes, REM pods and similar). For the privacy of other guests and venue security, photography, video and audio recording are not permitted at any point during the event.

Final Warning

The property was built on land that has seen two centuries of suffering. Revolutionary War history. Enslaved laborers. Civil War casualties. A nephew confined to an attic room for most of his life. Owners who opened the winery in 2012 and immediately encountered activity they described as terrifying.

If you enter this location, you will not be alone. The footsteps will come. The voices will whisper. The figures will appear. Benedict is still locked in the attic.

The soldier still patrols the staircase. The woman in the gray dress still watches from the window.

Access to the Valerie Hill Winery for overnight investigation is extremely limited. This is a working winery. Public ghost hunts are rarely permitted. If you believe you can face what waits inside this Revolutionary-era manor, secure your place now.

Tickets are limited. The spirits are not.