Sarah Winchester
Sarah Winchester, always called Sallie, after her paternal grandmother, was born in 1839 in New Haven,San Jose house renovation
Winchester and her husband had developed an interest in architecture and interior design while building a home on Prospect Hill in New Haven. With plans to expand the farmhouse, Winchester hired at least two architects but dismissed them, deciding to do the planning herself. She designed the rooms one by one, supervised the project, and sought advice from the carpenters she hired. She took inspiration for the house from the world's fairs that were common then. While the home was similar in scope to other homes built then, it was unusual for a woman to look after such a project and, Colin Dickey states in his book ''Ghostland: an American History in Haunted Places'', she could be considered an architectural pioneer of her time. She was known to rebuild and abandon construction if the progress did not meet her expectations, which resulted in a maze-like design. In the ''San Jose News'' of 1897, it was reported that a seven-story tower was torn down and rebuilt sixteen times. As a result of her expansions, there are walled-off exterior windows and doors that were not removed as the house grew in size. Multiple levels, up to five, were added to different parts of the home. The design was essentially Victorian, with elements ofFeatures of the house
There was carved wood on the ballroom walls and ceilings. Woods such as teak, maple, and mahogany were used to make an intricate pattern on the ballroom floor. A large, brick fireplace was framed by two windows that included quotes from Shakespeare. The second floor had bedrooms that each had adjoining sitting rooms and sewing rooms. The wall coverings had a leather or metal appearance, known as Lincrusta wall coverings. The ceilings had mouldings, stencils, and faux finishes. There were chandeliers from Germany,1906 earthquake
When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake hit, the Llanada Villa was severely damaged. Though there are rumors that Winchester was trapped in the San Jose home, there is no evidence that she was there. She owned several homes in California and after the earthquake spent most of her time at her home in Atherton. The seven-story tower and most of the chimneys collapsed. One entire wing was destroyed along with the third and fourth story additions. Winchester had the rubble removed but had little more done to the property after the earthquake. This left doors that opened to nothing, where balconies had once been, pipes that were protruding from what were once window boxes, and staircases that once led to upper floors, ending suddenly. After 1910, due to failing health, Winchester did not work on the San Jose home except for odd maintenance jobs and adding an elevator in 1916. At this time she dedicated her time to finances and building an investment portfolio. Mary Jo Ignoffo claims that, "She was far more successful constructing an investment portfolio than a mansion..." When Winchester died in 1922 the house had 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, and 6 kitchens.Tourist attraction
The house became a tourist attraction nine months after Winchester's death in 1922. The house was in disrepair and considered to be of no monetary value. A group of investors purchased the property subsequently leasing the house to John and Mayme Brown who turned it into an attraction. They later purchased the house in 1931. There were many room additions and deletions made to the home after Winchester's death. The first tour guide of the house was Mayme Brown. Past neighbors, friends, and workers for Winchester were distressed when they read about superstitious claims being made about the house and Winchester, and were upset the Browns were making money off of falsehoods. They described Winchester as clearheaded and savvier with finances and business than most men. In 1924 Harry Houdini briefly visited the house and was reportedly impressed by its unusual layout and architectural novelties, but could not make a detailed investigation because of more pressing engagements. According to some accounts, Houdini suggested tour operators employ "Winchester mystery house" as a promotional name for the property. When Keith Kittle, a past Disneyland and Frontier Village employee, became the general manager in 1973, the house was in poor shape. He had the house renovated in the 1970s and 1980s and added a Winchester rifle museum. He sought historical landmark status and began an advertising campaign that included large billboards along the highways. The billboards feature a silhouetted house with implications that a ghost encounter was possible. Attendance increased as he played off the history and superstition that was already circulating. Kittle was general manager until 1996. As of September 2022, the house is owned and operated by Winchester Mystery House, LLC, which is a private company that represents the descendants of the Browns. ''Captive of the Labyrinth'' author Mary Jo Ignoffo wrote that tour guides are required to follow a script emphasizing fabrications and inaccuracies. According to Ignoffo, one guide lamented, "I feel so torn because I have to tell people untruths! Every time I go through the house and have to talk about 13s and other 'kooky' things, my heart breaks a little for Sarah....I have to bite my tongue every time I hear a guest say, 'what a nutcase.'"Legend and lore
Winchester's story has been embellished over the years by various rumors, hyperbole and myths, and popular writers have misrepresented or invented details about the house and its owner in order to enhance the legend.Inheritance
Claims of Winchester inheriting as much as $20 million and earning $1,000 per day in royalties from her inheritance can be found in tourist literature purchased at the Winchester Mystery House. Ignoffo states that her husband's estate in 1881 was valued at $362,330 but this amount included approximately $300,000 of stock that Winchester would only inherit when her mother-in-law died, which did not happen until 1898. With the addition of her husband's Winchester Repeating Arms Company shares, she owned a total of 777 shares valuing $77,700, which paid average dividends of $7,770 annually between 1880 and 1885.Moving to California
Myths around her decision to move from the east coast to California are thought to have originated from author Susy Smith in her book ''Prominent American Ghosts,'' published in 1967. In Smith's version of events, Winchester visited a medium in Boston named Adam Coons who told her that she and her family were being haunted by the ghosts of people killed by Winchester rifles, that she must construct a house for these ghosts, and that she must never complete the project. This assertion of Winchester meeting with a medium has been repeated in brochures and articles ever since. According to Ignoffo, while it is plausible that Winchester did meet with a psychic medium since this was a common practice for women of her status at the time, there is no evidence that she did so. Emily Mace, a scholar, and others have looked through issues of ''Neverending construction
Beginning around 1895, Winchester started appearing in newspapers. The articles in these local papers were filled with speculation about Winchester and the ongoing construction of her San Jose home. Her lack of interaction with neighbors and the known fact that her money came from the firearms industry, fed into a superstitious narrative, despite large, ornate homes being commonly built by the wealthy. The newspapers declared that the reason that the construction was ongoing, was that Winchester feared she would have bad luck if the construction would stop. This theory eventually grew into stories that she believed she would die if construction stopped. In the Historic American Building Survey (HABS), when it added the Winchester home to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, they incorrectly stated that the construction lasted 38 years, and reiterated that Winchester believed she must continue building or she would die. HABS also incorrectly listed the purchase date as 1884 when county records state the purchase wasn't until 1886. There were some articles published against the superstitious slant. In one, an unidentified acquaintance refuted these superstitious accusations, stating that they were nonsense and that Winchester was an unusually sensible woman. While Winchester lived at the Atherton house her relatives stayed at the San Jose home for almost a year in 1915 to attend the Panama-Pacific International Exposition inLabyrinth construction
The belief that Winchester built her house in its strange, maze-like manner to confuse and keep spirits from harming her and that her sanity was questionable started in the mid-1890s and has grown in scale past her death. The doors and windows that open to nothing, the unusually shallow stairs, the stairs that end in a ceiling, interior barred windows and trap doors in the floor are used to confirm Winchester's spirituality and poor state of mind. According to paranormal investigator Nickell and Ignoffo these house oddities have simple explanations. The barred windows were previously exterior windows that were blocked off as the house additions grew. The doors and windows that opened to nothing were a result of the 1906 earthquake and the severe damage that happened to the house. The small steps were built because of Winchester's declining health. The trap doors were built in a greenhouse room where excess water could run and be piped to an outdoor garden. After the damage from the earthquake, Winchester did not rebuild the house.Bell tower
The tower bell was used to call workmen and to serve as a fire alarm on the property. According to Joe Nickell, fanciful claims later arose that it was used to "summon spirits".Ghostly music
According to Joe Nickell, claims that local residents heard "ghostly music" coming from the house are explained by the fact that Winchester often played the pump organ in the Grand Ballroom when she was unable to sleep.Parties for spirits
According to Joe Nickell, claims that Winchester held parties for the spirits in her home that featured lavish dishes served on gold plates kept in a safe are fanciful and unsubstantiated. Nickell wrote that after her death when the safe was opened, no gold plates were found, only personal mementos and a lock of her baby's hair.Gun guilt
At the turn of the twentieth century, the most common belief, that still persists, regarding Winchester's house building was that she felt tremendous guilt resulting from all the deaths caused by Winchester rifles and from inheriting so much money from the arms company. Ignoffo claims that it is unlikely Winchester had any guilt, since in the 1800s the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was seen as a success, and weapons were viewed as a necessity for survival.Superstitious and obsessive
Ignoffo and paranormal investigator Joe Nickell report that as Winchester aged, particularly after 1900 as her health issues grew worse, which included arthritis, missing teeth andPresidents
Twice Winchester declined to host two U.S. presidents. First, in 1901, President William McKinley visited and a committee to arrange accommodations was formed but Winchester did not extend an invitation. The president and his official coaches drove past the mansion without stopping. Second, in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt visited the area and the legend states that Winchester would not open a locked gate to let the president in. This was not true as the president had no interest in meeting Winchester as stopping at the home could have been used to promote rifle sales. He did not want to be seen endorsing any product. Despite there being plausible reasons for her not hosting the presidents, these instances furthered rumors that she was not of sound mind and was a crank.The number thirteen
According to the lore, architectural features such as thirteen bedrooms, thirteen bathrooms, and thirteen windows in certain rooms are due to Winchester's apparent fascination with the number thirteen. However according to carpenter James Perkins, these and “the more irregular features, which have made the house a world-famed oddity were built after Mrs. Winchester's death.”Nightly séances
Winchester's staff, who spent every day with her, stated she had no interest in séances and there is no record of them being held in the house. Nevertheless, a false urban legend has arisen claiming she held nightly séances in the blue room or in a closet by herself from midnight until two in the morning, talking to ghosts about what construction should be accomplished the following day. In addition to the lack of records found about seances at Llanada Villa, the closet séances were unlikely given that they were usually social events and not done by individuals and records show that the blue room was the gardener's bedroom.Hauntings
Visitors and tour guides claim to have experienced cold spots, footsteps, cooking smells, odd sounds, whispering, doors and windows slamming, and feelings of being watched. Investigator Joe Nickell explains that these could be the result of confirmation bias and suggestibility due to publicity and rumors that the house is the most haunted house in the United States or even the world, or that over a thousand ghosts reside in the home. Nickell reports one example where a shadowy figure thought to be a ghost turned out to be a staff member at the house. According to Nickell, there is no evidence that the house is haunted, and that alleged whispering sounds can be imagined or due to wind noises. Additionally, it is common for large, rambling, and drafty old houses to have temperature variations, and the house settling and exterior temperature changes can explain odd noises.In popular culture
* In 1960 the Winchester Mystery House was used as the Cyrus Zorba House in the movie 13 Ghosts directed by William Castle. * In 1966 the house was featured on the album cover of the California rock group ''Gallery
See also
* '' Haunting of Winchester House'', a film byReferences
CitationsExternal links
* * {{Authority control 1922 establishments in California Biographical museums in California California Historical Landmarks Folly buildings on the National Register of Historic Places Historic house museums in California Houses completed in 1922 Houses in Santa Clara County, California Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California Museums in San Jose, California National Register of Historic Places in Santa Clara County, California Queen Anne architecture in California Reportedly haunted locations in California Unfinished buildings and structures in the United States Winchester Repeating Arms Company Wooden houses in the United States Gilded Age mansions