As the story goes, Sarah Winchester feeling very guilty of the deaths that came from her familys creation of the Winchester Rifle could not bring herself to live happily with the wealth her family had receieved from the sales. When a psychic told her that the only way to appease the ghosts of those killed by the Winchester Rifle was to build a house large enough to house them all, Sarah took it to heart.
In 1884, Sarah L. Winchester began a construction project of such magnitude that it was to occupy the lives of carpenters and craftsmen until her death thirty-eight years later. The Victorian mansion, designed and built by the Winchester Rifle heiress, is filled with so many unexplained oddities, that it has come to be known as the Winchester Mystery House. Sarah Winchester built a home that is an architectural marvel. Unlike most homes of its era, this 160-room Victorian mansion had modern heating and sewer systems, gas lights that operated by pressing a button, three working elevators, and 47 fireplaces.
THE STORY
The history begins at the height of the Civil War when Sarah Pardee met and married William Wirt Winchester, the son of the manufacturer of the famous Winchester Repeating Rifle. They had one child, Annie Pardee, who died of marasmus about one month after birth. Then, about 15 years later, William died of pulmonary tuberculosis (March 7, 1881).
Mrs. Winchester was deeply upset by the deaths of her husband and daughter and seems to have consulted a spiritualistic medium. Reportedly, the medium explained that the spirits of all those who had been killed by the rifles her family had manufactured, had sought their revenge by taking the lives of her loved ones. Further, these spirits had placed a curse on her and would haunt her forever. But the medium also stated that she could escape the curse by moving west, buying a house, and continually building on it...as the spirits directed. In this way, she could escape them and, perhaps find the key to eternal life.
Whether Mrs. Winchester believed the medium or not is unclear, but she did move to what is now San Jose, California in 1884 and purchased an eight-room farmhouse from Dr. Robert Caldwell. Dr. Caldwell came to San Jose from Kentucky by wagon train. He built the farmhouse in San Jose and lived there with his family (wife and 9 children) until he sold it to Mrs. Winchester. The family remained in San Jose from 1848 until at least 1932, when Dr. Caldwell's daughter Caroline died.
Mrs. Winchester immediately began her never-ceasing building project. With a great deal of money and very few responsibilities, she satisfied her every whim and notion by keeping a staff of 18-20 domestic servants, 10-22 carpenters and 12-18 gardeners and field hands constantly busy. She had no master plan for a house and according to her carpenters, built whenever, wherever, and how-soever she pleased, always directed by the spirits. As a result of the constant building, tearing down and remodeling, the mansion's form shouldered its way ever higher into the skyline as its great bulk crept over the surrounding acres, engulfing several outlying structures over the southeast section of her 161 acre estate. She built steadily, 24 hours a day for 38 years, until her death in 1922.
ODDITIES
The Seance Room was a secret room deep in the heart of the house. Here Sarah would go each night at midnight to consult with the spirits about her building plans. The spirits would direct her what to build next.
This room has one entrance but three exits. One exit is the door in, the second is a door that opens onto thin air (a 10-foot drop to the kitchen), and the third exit is through a raised closet door.
The other side of the door didn't have a doorknob, making it impossible to re-enter that way.
A cupboard that has only 1/2 inch of storage space, and tiny doorways and hallways just big enough for Sarah (who was 4'10" and of slight build) to fit through.
Stairs that go nowhere.
Sink with 13 drainage holes.
A switchback staircase that turns nine times. Many of the staircases had very low steps,(the steps are only about 2-3 inches high). Although this staircase has 44 steps, it only goes up 9 feet.
The belltower was rung at midnight every night to call the spirits. The tower was only approachable from the outside by climbing onto the roof of the mansion using a ladder. The bell was hung at the top of the tower, with a long rope hanging down a sheer, unclimbable wall. The rope was reached through underground tunnels, the precise layout of which was known only to the bell ringer and his assistant.
Some of the 10,000 windows in Sarah's mansion has a distinctive spiderweb design.
The balcony in this picture is toddler sized. It is accessed by a 4 foot door on the left.
This chimney rises 4 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.
CONCLUSION
In 1906 Sarah was trapped in a bedroom by an earthquake. Because she slept in a different room every night, it took the servants over an hour to find her. She took the earthquake as an sign from the spirits that they were discontented with the way the construction was going. To appease the spirits, she had the front 30 rooms boarded up, and they were never used again during her lifetime. She also slept in the same bedroom (the one where she died) every night thereafter.
When Sarah died in 1922, the word spread throughout the house, and there are still spots visible where the workers stopped hammering the nails halfway in. After her death, all the furniture in the house was auctioned off. It took 8 weeks (6 truckloads a day) to remove it all. Later the mansion was restored and opened to the public.
HOUSE FACTS
Front View Of House
Number of rooms: 160
Cost: $5,500,000
Date of Contruction: 1884 - September 5, 1922 (38 Continuous years!)
Number of stories: prior to 1906 Earthquake - 7; presently 4
Number of acres: originally 161.919; presently 4
Number of basements: 2
Heating: Steam, forced air, fireplaces
Number of windows: frames 1,257, approx. 10,000
Number of doors: doorways 467 approx., 950 doors not including cabinet doors.
Number of fireplaces: 47 (gas, wood, or coal burning)
Number of chimneys: presently 17 with evidence of 2 others
Number of cars at her death: 2 (1 1917 Pierce Arrow Limousine & 1 1916 4 cyl. Buick truck)
Number of bedrooms: approx. 40
Number of kitchens: 5 or 6
Number of staircases: 40, total of stair steps - 367
Number of skylights: approx. 52
Number of gallons of paint required to paint entire home: over 20,000
Number of ballrooms: 2 (1 nearly complete and 1 under construction)
Blueprints available: No, Mrs. Winchester never had a master set of blueprints, but did sketch out individual rooms on paper and even tablecloths!
The house is open to the public for tours. The address and phone numbers are below:
Winchester Mystery House 525 S. Winchester Blvd. (Between Stevens Creek Blvd. & I-280) San Jose, CA 95128 Phone: (408) 247-2000 (408) 247-2101 (Recorded message)
