The Winchester Mystery House
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“Do you know the way to San Jose? I’ve been away so long, I
may go wrong and lose my way!” Well if you do ever make it to San Jose there is
a house there where you would certainly lose your way. It is a massive
sprawling 160 something room mansion. Nothing so weird about that I hear you
say! Well this house is complex and convoluted maze of a place, with twisting
hallways that go on forever, and suddenly stop at a dead-end, or at a pointless
door that opens onto a blank wall. The mysterious house has secret passages,
and staircases that lead just to the ceiling for no explainable reason. This is
the quintessence of what a haunted house of a fevered nightmare would look
like, yet it’s real! Welcome to the infamous Winchester Mystery House, which
for added effect it’s claimed to be haunted.
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The house of Sarah Winchester, the heiress to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. She inherited a 50% share in the company after her husband died, giving her an incredible fortune. Traumatized by the death of her husband and that of her infant daughter years previous Sarah left her home in New Haven, Connecticut and set-up home in San Jose, California. The story goes that she moved west on the advice of a medium in Boston, who told her she was haunted by the spirits of all the dead killed by Winchester rifles. And that to appease the ghosts she must build a house, and never stop building it. How true this story is, is lost in the annals of time, but never the less she did build a house and didn’t stop until her death in 1922. It has been claimed that the “ghost” story is merely part of the mythology built up around the house, and that she simply kept building as an obsessive hobby to keep her occupied. Whatever the reason behind the building of the house, it has become a weird modern wonder of the world.
The construction of the house started in 1884, when Sarah purchased an unfinished farmhouse and the surrounding land. The construction work continued day and night for the next 38 years. Or so the myth goes. Some historians claim that Sarah sacked the workers on occasions, an work would stop for a month or two until she would start up again. Non-stop construction or not, in the 38 years of building work a monstrous architectural puzzle was created. By the turn of the century it was 7 stories high sprawling labyrinth that defies explanation. At the time the estimated cost of the construction was $5.5 million, which equates to more than $75 million today. In 1906 due to famous San Francisco earthquake, the house lost 3 stories, leaving it as the 4 story rambling house it is today.
When Sarah Winchester died, she made no mention of the house in her will. The house was considered pretty much unsellable and worthless, due to its eccentric design and the damage suffered during the earthquake. So it was sold at auction for around $135,000, and later leased John and Mayme Brown who would eventually buy it. In 1923 the couple opened the house to the public for tours. One notable early visitor to the house was Harry Houdini in 1924. It was a newspaper report of Houdini’s visit that gave the house its title of “Mystery House” that it is still referred to today.
The construction of the house started in 1884, when Sarah purchased an unfinished farmhouse and the surrounding land. The construction work continued day and night for the next 38 years. Or so the myth goes. Some historians claim that Sarah sacked the workers on occasions, an work would stop for a month or two until she would start up again. Non-stop construction or not, in the 38 years of building work a monstrous architectural puzzle was created. By the turn of the century it was 7 stories high sprawling labyrinth that defies explanation. At the time the estimated cost of the construction was $5.5 million, which equates to more than $75 million today. In 1906 due to famous San Francisco earthquake, the house lost 3 stories, leaving it as the 4 story rambling house it is today.
When Sarah Winchester died, she made no mention of the house in her will. The house was considered pretty much unsellable and worthless, due to its eccentric design and the damage suffered during the earthquake. So it was sold at auction for around $135,000, and later leased John and Mayme Brown who would eventually buy it. In 1923 the couple opened the house to the public for tours. One notable early visitor to the house was Harry Houdini in 1924. It was a newspaper report of Houdini’s visit that gave the house its title of “Mystery House” that it is still referred to today.
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