Table Of Content
- IMMERSIVE 360° TOUR
- Who Was Sarah Winchester? The Story Of The Troubled Woman Behind The Winchester Mystery House
- WANT TO SPEND THE DAY WITH US?
- The Winchester Mystery House
- The Heiress to a Gun Empire Built a Mansion Forever Haunted by the Blood Money That Built It
- A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.
There is only one known photo of the widow Winchester, which was taken surreptitiously. She had 18 servants, 18 gardeners, and the ever-present construction team working on the grounds. Every morning, Sarah met with the foreman to discuss the always-evolving building plans.
IMMERSIVE 360° TOUR
The house became a tourist attraction nine months after Winchester's death in 1922. The Victorian and Gothic-style mansion is renowned for its size and its architectural curiosities and for the numerous myths and legends surrounding the structure and its former owner. Although Sarah is best known for building what would come to be known as the Winchester Mystery House, she also left other marks on the world. Four years into the construction of the mansion, Sarah Winchester purchased a 140-acre patch of land in what is now downtown Los Altos, California, as well as a nearby farmhouse for her sister and brother-in-law. The Winchester Mystery House is famous amongst history and mystery aficionados alike with its winding staircases, doors that lead to nowhere, and reported hauntings.
Who Was Sarah Winchester? The Story Of The Troubled Woman Behind The Winchester Mystery House
Some staff members and guests have refused entry into this room, claiming a high amount of spiritual energy. Crowded feelings from an unusually shaped room or paranormal happenings? We offer the Mansion Tour for guests to learn about the amazing woman at the heart of this home, and to see all the bizarre architectural designs and mysterious elements of the Winchester Mystery House. But there is only so much we can show you and tell you about in one hour.
WANT TO SPEND THE DAY WITH US?
Ever since doors opened for tours in 1923, guests have traveled from all over the world to marvel in the beautiful and the bizarre. While visiting the Winchester Mystery House, you’ll have the opportunity to explore the must-see rooms inside of the world-famous mansion. Furthermore, there was a plausible explanation for some of the house's oddities; instead of rebuilding after the 1906 earthquake, Winchester simply had some passageways sealed off, resulting in the doors and stairways that went nowhere.
It’s as though she carved tunnels through the house to let light penetrate. One particular attic space took the most effort, says the longtime house historian Janan Boehme, who helped with the restoration plans. There were staircases and things, but there was no railing, there was no safety at all,” she says. “If you walked across, you’d just fall through a hole.” The maintenance team had to build a new wooden walkway through the space.
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However, it is unclear to this day if these choices were deliberate or accidental. After the death of William Winchester from Tuberculosis, Sarah inherited over $20 million and 50% stake from her husband’s Arms Company which guaranteed her daily revenue of about $1,000. The inheritance from the husband gave her tremendous wealth which she used for the funding of the construction of her house. Sarah left her property and proceeded to California as she was advised.
My much adored hubby has the gift of brute strength when I need it, which has been life-saving many times. I knew that when I married him, which is why the repairs are still in my fumbling fingers, some 12 years after he moved in. Today, it remains a bustling tourist attraction in San Jose, drawing everyone’s attention with its strange hallways, doors, windows, and over 160 rooms. In Sarah Winchester’s opinion, her newfound fortune was blood money, earned from what she saw as the untimely deaths of thousands of people. Born in 1840 in New Haven, Connecticut, Sarah Lockwood Pardee married William Wirt Winchester, son of Oliver Winchester, manufacturer of one of the very first repeating rifles, at age 22.
The Heiress to a Gun Empire Built a Mansion Forever Haunted by the Blood Money That Built It
By the time she was done, the Winchester Mansion was a modern marvel with indoor plumbing, multiple elevators, a hot shower, and central heating. It had over 160 rooms, including 40 bedrooms, 10,000 windows, and even two basements. Of course, its size is not the only thing that is unique about the house.
A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.
Winchester has become known for the construction of Llanada Villa which, six months after her death was turned into a tourist attraction now known as the Winchester Mystery House. Testimonies and records from those who knew her describe her as intelligent, kind, a savvy financial manager, and not superstitious, remaining sharp-witted even into old age. However, in the years since her death, she has been depicted in popular culture as guilt-ridden, mad with grief, and delirious in her later life. I have some basic talents, common sense, and a low budget, which all of those things required for your average DIY-er. I have done a lot of things around the place myself and other fixes I budgeted and saved up to have someone else do for me.
With additional unique architectural elements and captivating stories to share, Explore More promises a deeper look into our story like never before. Starting Friday the 13th we will be hosting Flashlight Tours every Friday evening till February 24th. These self-guided tours give guests the opportunity to roam through the halls of the purportedly haunted Victorian mansion while hearing tales of its former and (possibly current!) inhabitants. Guests will guide themselves through the mansion that is famous for its dizzying floorplan and lack of formal blueprints. Tour Hosts will be stationed throughout the house to ensure guests don’t get lost. But the drama of this house, like the drama of Winchester’s life, was unfolding on the inside.
In 1886 Winchester bought a 40-acre plot of land in San Jose, California, which included an eight-room cottage. Over the next 20 years, at a cost of approximately $5 million, the cottage was rebuilt into a 160-room mansion, covering an area of 24,000 square feet. Sarah Lockwood Pardee was born in 1839 (some sources say 1840) in New Haven, Connecticut, to Sarah Burns and Leonard Pardee. Her father managed the City Bathing House until finding success as a finish carpenter, providing financial security for the family. He also ran a progressive household, holding court with prominent abolitionists and freethinkers of the day.
The Winchester Mystery House earned landmark status on August 7, 1974. The fascinating mansion is still owned by the family (families?) who purchased it from the Winchester estate in 1922 for $150,000—however, their identity is another Winchester House mystery. But thanks to them, tourists can now explore 110 of the 160-some rooms Sarah dreamed up. The Winchester Mystery House even boasts special tours on Halloween and Fridays the 13th.
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Boehme describes the room as "elegant" with embossed wallpaper that surrounds the space and elaborate furniture that fills the room. Although it's beautiful, there is a darker reason why this room is so famous. This is the room where Winchester died of heart failure in 1922, at age 82. While some believe this staircase was meant to confuse ghosts, Boehme said Winchester actually designed the smaller steps so that she could easily get upstairs with her arthritis. "It helped her employ people and share her wealth that way. She just never really stopped building."
Once the United States’ largest private residence and the most expensive to build, today you could almost miss it. The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, sits between the eight lanes of the I-280 freeway, a mobile home park, and the remains of a Space Age movie theater. The world has changed around it, but the mansion remains stubbornly and defiantly what it always was.
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