Winchester Mansion Pictures                                page 3

There were several stairways in the mansion that led nowhere. This stairway stops at the ceiling. Perhaps Sarah was trying to trick the bad spirits.

This is the bedroon where Mrs. Winchester slept after the 1906 earth quake. She died in this room. The furniture items you see here are authentic period pieces, but they didnot belong to Mrs. Winchester. Her will said that all her furniture will be auctioned off after her death. Note the window panes in the doors on the left. There are 13 rows of small panes running top to bottom. (The 13th row at the bottom is lost in a shadow in this picture.

This chimney rises four stories, only to stop short just inches from the ceiling. A tradition holds that ghosts visit and escape through chimneys, which could explain why there are over 40 fireplaces in the Winchester mansion.

The seance room was a secret room deap in the heart of the mansion. Here Sarah would go each night at midnight to consult with the spirits about her building planes. The spirits would direct her what to build next. The spirits told her if she stops building that she will die that night. This room has one enterence, but three exits. One exit is the door in, the second is a door that opens onto thin air (a ten foot drop to the kitchen), and the third exit is through a raised closet door. In this photo you can see guests exiting through the closet door. The other side of the door didn't have a door knob, making it impossible to re-enter that way. On the right wall (not shown here) there were 13 coat hooks, said to hold 13 colored cloaks that Sarah wore during seances.

This is the only known picture of Mrs. Sarah Winchester to exhist. When it was takes is un-known.