The Winchester Mystery House. Located at 525 South Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, the Queen Anne style Victorian mansion is known for its size, its architecture, and its lack of any plan when it came down to building.
It is best known, however, for the history and the story behind the woman who built the house. Sarah Winchester, who became a widow and a grieving mother after her husband’s death from tuberculosis and the passing of her young daughter. Her husband was the son of the Winchester Rifle manufacturer, and after the deaths, she believed the evil spirits of those killed by the famous "Gun that Won the West" were haunting her. After his death, she inherited $20 million, which would benefit what she’d eventually create. She was told by a psychic that she could escape the spirits’ wrath by moving west and building a house that would never be finished.
So, in 1884, Sarah moved from New Haven, Connecticut to San Jose, California where she purchased an unfinished farmhouse near San Jose which is now known as the Winchester Mystery House. The house covers 6 acres with 160 rooms, 40 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms,47 fireplaces, 6 kitchens, 40 staircases, 3 elevators, 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 52 skylights, and 2 basements. The house contains stairs leading to nowhere, floors that have doors and windows in them, doors that open into solid walls, and some doors opening to nothing. Sarah worked on the house for 38 years before she passed away at the age of 86 on September 5, 1922, and the construction ended.
Currently, the house is a designated California historical landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is privately owned and serves as a tourist attraction, where you can take tours through 110 of the 160 rooms and look for the bizarre features of the house such as the doors that lead to nothing and the upside down architecture. So, for as low as $20, you can visit and tour this fascinating piece of history today!
Nicole Stetsyuk
Monthly Fable: The Winchester Mystery House