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You are here: Home / Houses / Celeb, Show & Historic Houses / Winchester Mystery House

Winchester Mystery House

October 25, 2009 by Jane T 4 Comments

Winchester house - historic winchester rifle heiress' house in San Jose, California - via atticmagTour the historic Winchester House a San Jose, California landmark of a cursed firearms heiress.

The Winchester House may be more odd than mysterious.  Ghosts, spirits and haunted mansions are what mysteries are made of and the Winchester house is all that and more — much more.  If legend is accurate, the house is a testament to one woman’s heart-wrenching grief and her never-ending quest to remain alive.

winchester house - Winchester rifle heiress Sarah Winchester - via AtticmagWelcome to the former home of Sarah Winchester [left], heiress to the Winchester Rifle empire. Legend has it that following the tragic deaths of her infant daughter in 1866, and husband William in 1881, she sought solace from a psychic who told of a curse on the family.  The spirits of those who died from the Winchester weapons were seeking vengeance. The only way for Sarah to remain alive was to move west, build a house and never cease building or the spirits would come after her.

winchester house - Victorian door to nowhere - via atticmagAnd build she did. In 1884, with an estimated $20 million dollar inheritance plus a 50% interest in the Winchester Company that provided her $1,000 a day, Sarah purchased a Victorian home in San Jose, California and began to add on.  For 38 years she kept local carpenters employed around the clock adding room after room, twisting hallways, trap doors, stairs leading to nowhere and doors opening onto walls so the spirits would become lost and unable to find her.   Construction began in 1884 and ceased 38 years later on the day Sarah died.  Cost to build: $5,500,000 – total rooms: 160. The famous door to nowhere (above) opens to a two-story plunge.

winchester house - staircase - via atticmagThe door [left] is one of 950 in the home.  It opens onto a wall and stairs [right] lead to nowhere.

winchester house - one of 52 floor skylights - via atticmagThis view through a door shows a window in the floor that overlooks one of six kitchens.

winchester house - banisters around the skylights - via atticmag

xWooden banisters surround a skylight, one of 52 floor in the house.

winchester house - the number 13 was reflected by coat hooks and drains - via atticmag

xSarah Winchester’s fascination with the number thirteen can be seen throughout the house.  Thirteen coat hooks in the seance room’s closet and every sink drain had thirteen holes.

winchester house - relatively modern bathroom in the house - via atticmag

xEven filled with oddities, the home’s modern day conveniences were uncommon for the era: indoor plumbing consisting of toilets and shower, steam and forced air heating, gas lights that operated at the push of a button, and three working elevators.  All bathrooms had windows in the doors to provide light and allow Mrs. Winchester’s nurses to attend to her in her later years. Additionally, he ballroom’s parquet floor was constructed from six different hardwoods.

winchester house - bedroom with period furniture including an eastlake chair - via atticmagxSarah Winchester died in her sleep at the age of 83 on Sept. 5th, 1922.  Following her death, the home’s lavish original furnishings were auctioned.  It is said to have taken workmen weeks to remove the contents because they kept getting lost in the labyrinthine hallways.  Period pieces like this Eastlake chair and Persian carpet in one of the home’s 40 bedrooms were donated to the house, now a registered California historical landmark.

(Source:  Winchester Mystery House)

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Filed Under: Celeb, Show & Historic Houses Tagged With: Atticmag, door to nowhere, door to nowhere house, historic home tour, historic homes tour, san jose california, sarah winchester, Winchester House, winchester mystery house

Comments

  1. Michael Repetto says

    September 11, 2014 at 1:52 pm

    is it possible to find out the exact colours used on the exterior of the winchester mystery house?

    Reply
  2. Jane F says

    September 11, 2014 at 10:19 pm

    It’s doubtful to get those but they would not be very difficult to replicate if you took a print out of the photo to the paint store. They could cold match.

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Jane

    Reply
    • Michael Repetto says

      September 22, 2014 at 12:22 pm

      Thank you, Jane. I grew up in San Jose and toured the house before it was restored and have always been fascinated with it. I live in Texas now and am rebuilding a very tiny house from that period and would like those colors as a souvenir of sorts.

      Reply
  3. Jane F says

    September 22, 2014 at 1:55 pm

    Michael, sorry for the typo. That was color match. As long as you like the colors on the print out the paint store should be able to come very close. If you have trouble let me know and I can try to approximate. But the thing with paint color is, it’s very specific to the place because of the light. So what looks good in CA may need to be tweaked for TX as it’s farther south.

    If you’re looking at that gold, green and white scheme in the shingles photo, it’s a great combo. Could also go with a medium-tone gray if needed.

    Reply

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