

Sarah died in her sleep September 5 th, 1922. The Winchester Mystery House today Winchester Mystery House entrance attic – presskit She held a seance every night in which the ghosts would tell her what had to be constructed the next day. Sarah was very afraid of the ghosts and did everything she could to keep them happy. So, she met with the medium who told her about the vengeful ghosts. Sarah, who couldn’t cope with her daughter’s loss, got really depressed after losing William, too.

From 1866, things were going downhill.Īnnie, their daughter, died very young and William himself died 15 years later. Business went well and the Winchesters got rich.

They had to work with rifles that were less fast. With these rifles, they defeated the Confederate (the Southern) soldiers during the American Civil War. The Winchester Rifles could continue loading and were used by the Union (the Northern) soldiers. When she married William in 1862, he inherited his parents’ company. She was an upper class and well-respected woman. The Winchester Curse Winchester Mystery House inside – Dragan Jovanovic via After the earthquake she was locked inside her bedroom for hours, simply because her staff couldn’t find her. To confuse them even more, she slept in different bedrooms every night. Sarah believed the house fooled the ghosts as well. No-one knows exactly how many rooms the house has, because everybody keeps losing track.
#Winchester mystery house photos inside windows#
So be careful when you open one! Some windows simply look out at other windows. Some stairs lead to nowhere, there are doors that open to a blind wall, and there’s even a door on the second floor that leads to the outside. That Sarah was a bit nuts, is clearly seen in the construction of the house. Such a modern piece of construction work! Poor, crazy Sarah Winchester Mystery House entrance to basement – presskit Because the construction “floats”, the damage to the other floors was limited. Because the ghosts had told the medium the house was never to be finished, the upper stairs were boarded up and never repaired. Once, the building was 7 stories high, but an earthquake in 1906 caused part of it to collapse. The house is made of wood, but because Sarah didn’t like the color, 20.605 gallons of paint (78.000 l) was used to add some color to it. But with all the extra buildings, that’s what it needs. The house is built on a land as big as 164 acres (66 ha), but now that’s reduced to 4 (1,8 ha) acres. Winchester Mystery House Central Courtyard – presskit One funny element of the house is a cupboard, which provides access to at least 30 rooms.

The floors are made of wood, inlaid by hands and all rooms have golden and silver chandeliers. Some stairs are extra short because she was only able to lift her feet a couple of inches.įrom the 160 rooms, 40 are bedrooms, there are two ballrooms (one of which is unfinished), 47 fireplaces, 17 chimneys, two basements and 10.000 windows of which many have stained Tiffany glass. Three elevators are also built inside the house, because Sarah had trouble walking when she got older. There was running water and even central heating. There is indoor plumbing, something which was rare in that period. Even though the construction of the house started in 1884, it is fully equipped. There also is hardly any structure in the 160 room late-Victorian house. The Winchester Mystery House itself Winchester Mystery House at daytime – presskitįunny fact: there was never an architect involved during the construction of the house. Sarah decided to follow this advice and she bought an old, dilapidated farm in the Santa Clara Valley where she started building her home. Otherwise the ghosts would never leave Sarah alone. The construction was to be never ending and it was never to be finished. Sarah was convinced that she was haunted by all the victims her husbands rifles had made.Ī medium told her that she had to move West and built a home for the spirits there. That actually earned her $ 2,000 dollars a day, but she didn’t keep that money to herself. Sarah not only inherited the $ 20,5 million dollars of her husband, she also inherited 50% of his company, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. When William Winchester died in 1881, he left his wife Sarah a huge heritage. The history of the Winchester Mystery House via Pixabay This 160 room villa has permanently been under construction for 38 years, not because it wasn’t finished, but to mislead the ghosts that were after The Winchesters. Sarah was the widow of the weapon magnate William Wirt Winchester. In the Californian city San José you’ll find an enormous Villa which once belonged to Sarah Winchester.
