Winchester Mystery House - Parenting HeadQuarter

Winchester Mystery House:

525 S Winchester Blvd
North San Jose San Jose, CA 95128

408-247-2101

Type of Museum:

Historic Site, Mysterious Sites, Haunting Site, Garden

About Museum:

The Winchester Mystery House is a well-known mansion which is located in San Jose, California. It used to be personal residence of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester and later his window Sarah Winchester. Sarah kept building continuously for over 38 years because she thought that will keep spirits away. The house is reported to be haunted and they have special tours. According to popular belief, Winchester thought the house was haunted by the ghosts of the people who fell victim to Winchester rifles, and that only continuous construction would appease them. Sarah had lost her daughter and husband at early age, when she consulted a psychic to consult, the psychic told her that thousands of people died because of the gun produced by Winchester Gun Company and “thousands of people have died because of it and their spirits are now seeking deep vengeance.” It is believed that she believed the if she kept building the house the spirits will keep away so she kept on building bizzare plans in massive building for 38 years until her death. Sarah inherited big chunks of money after husband’s death, reportedly $1000 a day (adjusted to inflation now it would be $22,000 a day) which kept the construction on going.

The Queen Anne Style Victorian mansion is renowned for its size and utter lack of any master building plan. It has a doors that opens up to nowhere and staircase that leads nowhere and more strange building plans. The house construction ceased when Sarah died on September 1922. Cost of construction was over $5 million in 1992 and now it is estimated to be worth over $75 million dollars.

History:

The house used to be 7 story high until 1906 earth quack of SF bay area, and now it is sits at 4 story high. There are

160 rooms
40 bedrooms
2 ball rooms
47 fireplaces
17 chimneys
10,000 window panes
3 elevators
2 basements
4.5 acres of land

Today the home is owned by Winchester Investments LLC and it retains unique touches that reflect Winchester’s beliefs and her reported preoccupation with warding off malevolent spirits. These spirits are said to have directly inspired her as to the way the house should be built.

Use of Number 13 in the house:

The number thirteen and spider web motifs, which had some sort of spiritual meaning to her, reappear around the house. For example, an expensive imported chandelier that originally had 12 candle-holders was altered to accommodate 13 candles, wall clothes hooks are in multiples of 13, and a spider web-patterned stained glass window contains 13 colored stones. The sink’s drain covers also have 13 holes. In tribute, the house’s current groundskeepers have created a topiary tree shaped like the numeral 13.

Also, every Friday the 13th the large bell on the property is rung 13 times at 1 o’clock p.m. (13:00) in tribute to Winchester.

Tours:

Winchester Mystery House offers several types of tours at this time; Please check website for any changes since our review.

Grand Estate Tour : 2.30 mins
Mansion Tour: 1 hour, 5 mins
Behind The Scenes Tour: 55 minutes
Garden Tour: Self Guided
Special Flashlight Tour:

Tour Video of Winchester Mystery House Museum:

Resource:

Museum Site: http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

ABC TV Program: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Halloween/winchester-mystery-house-eccentric-mansion-designed-confuse-ghosts/story?id=11834520