![]() ![]() Sarah Winchester commissioned an army of tradesmen to begin construction on the house, and directed the entire project herself. ( Tatiana Morozova /Adobe Stock) Construction of the Winchester Mystery House It was soon thereafter that the grieving Sarah moved to California’s Santa Clara Valley and purchased an unfinished farmhouse where she threw her energy into its never-ending expansion and renovation, transforming it into the mysterious mansion we see today. In 1881, another tragedy struck-William fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis and died, leaving Sarah with over $20 million dollars and an income from the Winchester Repeating Arms Company of about $1000 per day (equivalent to about $30,000 by today’s standard). The couple had one daughter in 1866, but at just a few weeks old, the baby tragically died of disease and Sarah fell into a deep depression. ![]() Hand-tinted ambrotype of Sarah Winchester taken in 1865 by the Taber Photographic Company of San Francisco, 1865. The company had developed the Henry Rifle, the first true repeating rifle – a popular choice among the Northern troops at the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1862, at the height of the Civil War, she was married to William Wirt Winchester, heir to the vast wealth of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. ![]() Sarah Lockwood Pardee Winchester was born in 1837 in New Haven, Connecticut. For over a century, rumors have been circulating about the reasons for Sarah’s odd architectural choices, but the story of San Jose’s most mysterious estate is a riddle that may never be solved. The peculiar residence was once home to Sarah Winchester, the widow and heir to the Winchester rifle fortune. Her desperation to escape the ghosts who haunted her supposedly played the vital role toward why the Winchester Mystery House evolved into a labyrinth of a home, and why odd features such as doors into open shafts, dead end stairs, and doors and windows into walls were incorporated.The Winchester Mystery House is an unusual 19th-century mansion in San Jose, California, which contains numerous oddities including doors leading nowhere, 2-inch-high steps, windows overlooking other rooms, and an obsession with the number 13. Legend says that Coons told Sarah that if she ever stopped building, the spirits would claim her as one of their victims as well. Immediately, she began construction on expanding the house. When Sarah Winchester arrived in 1884 in what is now San Jose-supposedly spurred by a Boston medium named Adam Coons who told her that the premature deaths of her husband and infant daughter were due to a curse placed by all those killed by Winchester rifles over the years-she purchased an eight-room farmhouse on a 161-acre plot of land. The Winchester Mystery House began as an expansion project. Although visitors are not normally allowed to take photos inside the house itself, the fine folks at Winchester were gracious enough to allow us to photographically document our visit, which we now bring to you. This past Memorial Day weekend, Westcoaster took a trip to visit this rather enchanting abode. And just a couple weeks ago, the house unveiled its first new tour in over two decades-the Explore More Tour-to go along with its ever-popular Mansion Tour. Famous for its doors and stairs to nowhere, unfinished interiors, and even a few ghost stories, the Winchester Mystery House is a captivating building unlike any other. Today, the house remains a popular site for tourists. ![]()
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