Winchester Mystery House, California

The Winchester Mystery House

A massive Victorian mansion stands in San Jose, California, defying normal building rules – the Winchester Mystery House. Sarah Winchester, whose husband made the Winchester rifles, built this 160-room house from 1886 until she died in 1922.

A well known myth was that after losing her husband and baby daughter, Sarah spoke to a medium who told her to keep building a house to please the spirits of people killed by Winchester rifles.

She created a huge Queen Anne-style mansion filled with strange features: stairs that go nowhere, doors that open into walls, and windows that look into other rooms. Millions of people have visited this California Historical Landmark to see one of America’s strangest buildings.

Daily Construction Lasted for 38 Years

Sarah Winchester kept builders working around the clock, every day, for almost forty years. Thirty carpenters and craftsmen worked in shifts, always adding new rooms or changing old ones.

The neighbors got so used to hearing hammers and saws that when the noise stopped, they knew Sarah had died. What started as a simple eight-room farmhouse grew into a huge 24,000-square-foot mansion with 160 rooms, including 47 stairways and 47 fireplaces.

Strange Features Fill Every Corner

Walking through the house, you’ll find odd things everywhere. Some stairs lead right into the ceiling, while doors open to solid walls or empty space. The “Switchback Staircase” is especially weird – it has seven flights with 44 steps but only goes up nine feet, with each step rising just 2 inches.

This staircase is connected to the hay loft, a space above the carriage house. Sarah could watch her workers through hidden peepholes that looked like wall decorations, letting her keep an eye on everyone from different spots in the house.

The Number 13 Shows Up Everywhere

Sarah Winchester believed the number 13 was special, so she put it all over the house. Windows have 13 pieces of glass, room walls have 13 sections, and every stairway has 13 steps. Even small things like sink drains have 13 holes, and the coat hooks in the ballroom are exactly 13 inches apart.

The spider web windows each have 13 colored glass pieces in special patterns. When Sarah wrote her will, she split it into 13 parts and signed it 13 times, using different colored ink for each signature.

Earthquake Changed the House Forever

The house used to be seven stories tall before the big San Francisco earthquake of 1906 hit. The earthquake was so strong that it destroyed the top three floors, leaving only four stories standing. Sarah got trapped in her favorite room, called the Daisy Room, for several hours during the earthquake.

She thought the spirits were angry about the front of the house, so she had workers seal off 30 rooms, including the fancy ballroom with its gold chandeliers. You can still see cracks in some windows and crooked door frames from the earthquake damage.

Workers Keep Finding Hidden Rooms

In 2016, workers found a room that had been hidden since the earthquake. Inside were old treasures: a pump organ, a couch, a dress stand, paintings, and old clothes, all in perfect shape.

This 161st room was closed in 1906 was because she thought it was haunted after getting stuck in there after the earthquake.

Modern Features Were Built Into the House

The house was very modern for its time, with features most people didn’t have in the 1800s. Sarah put in a special water system that gave hot running water to 14 bathrooms, which was rare back then.

The house had gas lights that turned on and off automatically using batteries, three elevators (including one that worked using water pressure), and a clever heating system that moved warm air through the house. She also added fire hoses and bells that could ring between 47 different rooms.

Special Windows Create Light Shows

Over 10,000 stained glass windows decorate the house, and many have spider web patterns that Sarah thought had special powers. The most famous one, called the “Shakespeare Window,” makes rainbow patterns when morning light hits it. Some windows are in strange places, like inside walls where no sunlight reaches.

Others were placed carefully to make colored shadows in certain rooms at specific times of day. A few windows create light patterns that only line up with parts of the house during the summer and winter solstices.

Gardens Match the House’s Grandeur

The property once covered hundreds of acres of beautiful gardens with unique plants from around the world. Today’s visitors can still see some of the original trees, including huge eucalyptus trees from Australia and old palm trees.

The gardens of the Winchester Mystery House, originally known as Llanada Villa, have long been admired for their beauty and variety, with over 10,000 box hedges and hundreds of varieties of trees and plant life.

Secret Passages Connect the Rooms

Hidden hallways run all through the house, making a maze across seven levels. Some passages let servants move between the kitchen and dining rooms without being seen, while others connected to Sarah’s private rooms.

One clever passage goes between two floors, hidden behind what looks like a regular closet door. These secret hallways are narrow – some just two feet wide – but they have their own lights and air vents, just like the main hallways.

Each Door Handle Tells a Story

German and English craftsmen made special door hardware just for this house. All 2,000 doors have unique handles, hinges, and locks, from simple brass ones to fancy silver-plated pieces.

The metal plates around the doors have detailed designs of spider webs and sunbursts that Sarah thought would protect the house. Some pieces are really special, like a solid gold doorbell and window latches with silver decorations.

Longest Ongoing Home Construction

Sarah Winchester built her house for 38 years, setting a Guinness World Record for the longest continuous home construction. The only pause in construction occurred briefly after the 1906 earthquake.

She spent $5.5 million on the house, but after her death in 1922, it was valued at only $5,000. It was then sold at auction to Thomas Barnett for $135,531.50.