When visiting San Jose, the third
largest city by population in California
(over 1 million residents) be sure to
take in some of the great attractions
such as the
Giant Monopoly game and
Winchester Mystery House.
The Winchester Mystery House is a
tourist attraction that charges a fee
for admission to see the inside of an
amazing mansion with 160 rooms with
oddities such as stairs that lead to the
ceiling, doors that go nowhere and that
open onto walls, a staircase that
descends seven steps and then rises
eleven, and chimneys that stop just
short of the roof. That's just the start
of the things in this place that many
say is haunted.
Built throughout the mansion's
occupation by Sarah Winchester, wife and
heiress of over $20 million in the
estate of her late husband, William
Winchester (Winchester Rifles,) the
superstitious lady asked the spirits to
guide her in daily life for 38 years
that she resided there after her husband
had passed. The Winchester Mystery House
is the culmination of the guidance she
said she received.
Reports after her death in 1922 were
gathered by those who consulted her,
constructed here masterpiece of mystery,
and attended her séances. The
nightly sessions helped her as she
designed the never-ending home project
which at one time may have had up to 600
rooms. She sought protection from
bad spirits and would meet with
foreman John Hansen each day to go over
new changes and additions.
The creepy part that attracts people
to the mansion is the frequent reporting
of spirits and hauntings. The air seems
rife with energy, so much that the
facility keeps an online reporting
system of the odd and seemingly
unexplainable experiences of tour
guests.
The unbelievable Victorian has so
much to see that your tour is jam-packed
with unusual, odd, beautiful and
unexplainable items and construction
that goes on and on--often to nowhere at
all!
Miles of twisting hallways contain
secret passageways in the walls, and
with 13 being a powerful number in
Sarah's life, you'll notice 13 pains in
stained glass windows, 13 holes in a
custom made drain cover, etc.
The house built by the spirits doesn't
always offer up simple explanations as
to why a column is installed upside down
or why a door goes into a wall with
nothing to open. Friends and
acquaintances said that the lady with
lots of money and time tried to confuse
evil spirits by making mistakes.
It's not all about being odd,
however, in Winchester Mystery House.
There are world class appointments and
furnishings that alone will entertain
you.
Gold and silver plated chandeliers,
imported Tiffany art glass windows,
German silver and bronze inlaid doors
and Swiss molded bathtubs are just
starters. Nothing she bought was
ordinary or cheap.
Rare precious woods-- mahogany and
rosewood were utilized. One craftsman
worked for 38 years doing nothing but
building, installing, and tearing up the
floors made of priceless materials such
as these rare, expensive woods, and
teak, maple, oak and white ash, all
arranged in impressive mosaics.
Sarah Winchester designed the
special daisy and spider-web patterns
that are embedded in many of the window
that are lovely to look at, but don't be
deceived. The daisy was her favorite
flower and the spider-web most likely
had occult meaning for her.
47 fireplaces, 17 chimneys, a
Grand Ballroom built almost entirely
without nails, 3 mirrors (spirits hate
mirrors so Sarah kept them to a
minimum,) turrets, towers, curved walls,
cupolas, cornices, and balconies, all
outlined with finely detailed wood
moldings, are some of the things you see
during a tour.
