The Winchester Mystery House can be found in San Jose, California. Construction on the home started in 1884 and did not stop until 1922, which marked the death of Sarah Winchester. It is now a tourist attraction with a very long and interesting history.
When I celebrated my birthday in February, my Husband and I made our first visit to the Winchester House. I have read many articles and watched numerous programs about the house throughout the years and was extremely excited to be able to actually visit it.
Winchester Mystery House
The first thing you notice upon arriving, is just how massive the house is. With over 160 rooms, it is definitely large. Upon entering, you visit the gift shop and eventually line up for the tour to begin.
I am sure many of you are aware of the Winchester story and the belief that Sarah Winchester spent her life trying to communicate with the spirits in an attempt to make a mends of sorts for those that were killed by the Winchester rifle.
She apparently believed that she had to continue building on the house or she would die. The house itself has stairs that lead nowhere, windows in the floor, cupboards that open to a wall and more. The stories behind it all were always fascinating to me.
Sarah Winchester came up with the designs behind the house. However, she was not an architect. Plans would change and she would start building elsewhere. The stairs that lead to nowhere, for instance, simply look like the work of someone who changed their mind and decided to simply close them off, instead of taking them out.
The door to nowhere could easily have been part of the original building plan, but was never built on. What was really fascinating was how innovative Sarah Winchester really was. Sarah was a woman ahead of her time. She had a shower with hot water and radiant heat floors. There was a servant call system that allowed her to get in contact with her staff. She had a car wash, a plant watering system and so much more.
What I found to be very unfortunate was the fact that upon Sarah Winchester’s death, the furnishings in the house were sold. So the furnishings there are styles from that period, but not authentic to the home. Yet, I do highly recommend visiting the Winchester Mystery House!
The design is truly fascinating as well as the story. Sarah Winchester was very private, so unfortunately nothing exists to tell us what her reasoning really was behind the house, but it is definitely a masterpiece to be seen.
kathy downey says
Oh my you must have been so excited to visit this huge house,i would love to visit room to room and hear the history of this amazing building