Historical landmark full of surprises, including staircases and
doors leading into walls
– and spirits
Take a trip through the proverbial rabbit hole and into the fanciful world of Mrs. Sarah Winchester at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. Many visitors on a recent tour commented on parallels between the mansion and Disneyland, particularly connected to the Haunted Mansion ride and Alice in Wonderland.
Certainly, there’s a creepy air of world-turned-upside-down freakishness about the house, made even more bizarre by the fact that this isn’t an amusement park ride – it was someone’s real home.
Mrs. Winchester was married to William Wirt Winchester, the second president of the Winchester Rifle empire, who died in 1881. After his death, Mrs. Winchester started having nightly seances. A psychic told her she must start adding onto her home – an old farmhouse – and never stop construction.
Mrs. Winchester began drawing up plans for the house, though she didn’t know anything about architecture. Construction began in 1884 and it didn’t end for 38 years. No one knows where the original rooms of the farmhouse were because they’ve been remodeled an estimated 600 times.
There are two theories about why the house features oddities such as stairs leading into the ceiling, a door on the second floor that leads outside and a cabinet with just a half-inch of storage space.
The first is that a psychic told her she must build the house in a way to confuse the spirits of all those killed by Winchester rifles who would try to haunt her. The second theory is that, with a fortune of $20 million – that’s an “income” of $1,000 a day – Mrs. Winchester could afford to do whatever she wanted with her house.
But despite Mrs. Winchester’s eccentricities, she was also brilliant in many ways. In the kitchens, counters were built at a slant with grooves cut into them so water would drain easily into the sink. This water, as well as water from the conservatory, drained through pipes into the gardens to water Mrs. Winchester’s many plants. The house is also equipped with a sprinkler system, running water and some electricity, putting Mrs. Winchester at the cutting edge of the day’s technology.
In recent years, the house has been featured on countless television shows about paranormal activity. Features such as the seance room, complete with a one-way door – it only has a handle on one side and opens out – and a door that leads to an 8-foot drop into a kitchen sink below clearly lend themselves to the eerie atmosphere.
Located just blocks from Santana Row, the Winchester Mystery House is a great day trip for the family. Stop saying, “I’ve always wanted to go,” and take the plunge into the fascinating world Mrs. Winchester created for herself.
