The Winchester House

[Swifty]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/10/09/new-room-discovered-winchester-mystery-house/

I've always wanted to go there. I've just found this 1963 half hour film about it.

 

[Ermintruder]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/10/09/new-room-discovered-winchester-mystery-house/

What??!
"The new room means 161 rooms have been found in the mansion that is a California state landmark, San Jose landmark and is listed on the National Archives of Historic Places.

The house has 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms, and nine kitchens"

How on earth could any building contain 160+1=161 concealed rooms??

 

[Swifty]

What??!
"The new room means 161 rooms have been found in the mansion that is a California state landmark, San Jose landmark and is listed on the National Archives of Historic Places.

The house has 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms, and nine kitchens"

How on earth could any building contain 160+1=161 concealed rooms??

I'd like to know who and how room 161 aka Sarah's Loft was discovered after all this time. That would make an interesting mini documentary by itself ..... through research, a tourist's idle curiosity or a staff member spotting something weird ?

 

[JamesWhitehead]

I think things get "rediscovered" whenever someone wants to spice up a story. In this case, there is even a back-story, that the attic was sealed after Sarah had a traumatic time in it. The gothic paraphernalia - dolls and a pipe-organ! - seem rather too colourful, in every sense.

 

[Swifty]

I think things get "rediscovered" whenever someone wants to spice up a story. In this case, there is even a back-story, that the attic was sealed after Sarah had a traumatic time in it. The gothic paraphernalia - dolls and a pipe-organ! - seem rather too colourful, in every sense.

I hadn't considered a tourism pull stunt to be honest. It could be possible.

 

[maximus otter]

You Can Virtually Tour the Winchester Mystery House For Free While It's Closed Due to COVID-19


Like many other places around the country, the Winchester Mystery House is closed now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of physical tours, the house is offering a 40-minute video tour of the property for anyone that’s interested:

https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/video-tour/#Video

The house’s website says that it is offering free video access until April 7th, the day the Bay Area’s current “shelter in place” order is set to expire.

https://lifehacker.com/you-can-virtually-tour-the-winchester-mystery-house-for-1842446238

maximus otter

 

[JamesWhitehead]

I've just found this 1963 half hour film about it.

I see that I "liked" this back when it was posted. I'm prettty sure I never viewed it but I have downloaded it now! The opening is very atmospheric and Lilian Gish the perfect narrator!

I will save the Virtual Tour till after the video. Thanks for both!

 

[AmStramGram]

Brian Dunning recently did a nice podcast about the Winchester House. I do not always buy his demonstrations, but this one looks sound, and the way he presents Sarah Winchester is actually quite moving.

Here is the link to the written page : https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4824

In this article, he debunks the myth of the old lady fearing ghosts and emphasizes her philantropic ideals. The following quote sums up his position :

The tour guides and popular articles rarely speak of the shrewd investor, the generous employer, or her prodigious philanthropy. They speak of a tiny, reclusive woman, racked with guilt and fear, obsessed with spirits and the paranormal, maniacally building a maze to confound her demons. (...) I argue that we should watch out instead for the perils and pitfalls of accepting the popular version of any story, especially a sensationalized one, and take the time to find the truth.

 

[RaM]

A few months back I was looking round a place selling old furnisher,
one piece was a large strongly built dresser type thing, it had Winchester
across it, looking in the drawers it looked like it was a display come spares
cabinet for Winchester arms, regret not asking more about it.

 

[MercuryCrest]

Surprised I haven't seen this thread until now.

I went there in, oh, probably 1990 when I was a kid. Little bit of a fun story....

I was visiting my dad in California for the summer and one morning I woke up, went downstairs for breakfast, and he's standing there. He beams at me and says, "Today is Your Day. We'll do whatever you want to do."

It didn't take me more than a split-second to ask, "How far is San Jose from here?"

He replied, "It's within driving distance."

"I want to go to the Winchester Mystery House!"

And so we did. It was only many, many years later that I realized with 99% certainty he expected me to say, "Disneyland!"

Anyways, it's a beautiful house and the tour was amazing. We got to see the Blue Room (Sarah's "seance" room) and take the secret passage out of there, doors opening up to blank walls, the stairway that goes up and just...stops, and the door which, if you were to go through it, would drop you something like 15 feet into a walled up pit with no way out. I believe that last one was situated in the middle of an upstairs kitchen.

I've been meaning to go there again....

 

[Mythopoeika]

Surprised I haven't seen this thread until now.

I went there in, oh, probably 1990 when I was a kid. Little bit of a fun story....

I was visiting my dad in California for the summer and one morning I woke up, went downstairs for breakfast, and he's standing there. He beams at me and says, "Today is Your Day. We'll do whatever you want to do."

It didn't take me more than a split-second to ask, "How far is San Jose from here?"

He replied, "It's within driving distance."

"I want to go to the Winchester Mystery House!"

And so we did. It was only many, many years later that I realized with 99% certainty he expected me to say, "Disneyland!"

Anyways, it's a beautiful house and the tour was amazing. We got to see the Blue Room (Sarah's "seance" room) and take the secret passage out of there, doors opening up to blank walls, the stairway that goes up and just...stops, and the door which, if you were to go through it, would drop you something like 15 feet into a walled up pit with no way out. I believe that last one was situated in the middle of an upstairs kitchen.

I've been meaning to go there again....

Did your dad like the trip?

 

[MercuryCrest]

Did your dad like the trip?

I don't actually remember. Going to see him soon and I actually plan to bring this up. I'll ask 'im what he thought.

 

[MrRING]

The Spirit Halloween Store chain is sponsoring a contest where the winner gets a special Winchester House tour, but you need to be on Instagram to take part in it:

​

HALFWAY TO HALLOWEEN WEEK IS HERE. We've partnered with @winchestermysteryhouse to give you the haunted experience of a lifetime.

RULES to ENTER:
Follow @spirithalloween
Like this post
Tag the friend you'd take with you

PRIZE: An all-inclusive trip for 2 including 's, 3 days in San Jose CA, a private VIP tour of Winchester House, a catered, private dining experience in one of Sarah Winchester’s restored dining rooms, and after dark séance experience and mansion walk through accompanied by a professional medium.

Sweepstakes ends 4/27 11:59pm ET. Must be 18+ or older to enter. Official rules: https://a.pgtb.me/0wZXDS​

 

[maximus otter]

Winchester Mystery House Is One Of America’s Strangest, Most Interesting Homes

Staircases to nowhere. Doors that open into nothing. Rooms with no exit. Sarah Winchester’s home in San Jose, California certainly doesn’t fit with any modern or historical architectural conventions. And the mysteries still remain about America’s most unusual and inexplicable home.

Today, the Winchester Mystery House is a museum filled with period furniture and stories of Sarah Winchester and her family—and some say it’s also filled with ghosts. The house, which the museum says has drawn 12 million visitors since 1923, frequently appears on lists of haunted locations. Both tour guides and guests claim to have had brushes with the paranormal there.

A solarium with windows in the floor, that open to the room below, at the Winchester Mystery House. JULIE TREMAINE

The curious, four-story home has 160 rooms across its 24,000 square feet, with 10,000 windows (some facing inside), 2,000 doors (some leading to walls) and six kitchens (to feed the home’s lone resident and her staff).

Grieving over the death of her husband William Winchester, son of the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and having just inherited $20 million from William’s stake in the company, the widow moved to the San Francisco Bay area. Once she landed in San Jose, Winchester commissioned a modest eight-bedroom farmhouse in 1884. Construction, though, never stopped. Over the next 38 years, until her death in 1922, she continually added to the house, eventually dismissing all architects and building according to her whim. When the 1902 earthquake caused significant damage to one wing of the house, she simply boarded it up and continued with construction in other areas.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/juliet...-is-americas-strangest-most-interesting-home/

maximus otter

 

[Floyd]

Winchester Mystery House Is One Of America’s Strangest, Most Interesting Homes

Staircases to nowhere. Doors that open into nothing. Rooms with no exit. Sarah Winchester’s home in San Jose, California certainly doesn’t fit with any modern or historical architectural conventions. And the mysteries still remain about America’s most unusual and inexplicable home.

Today, the Winchester Mystery House is a museum filled with period furniture and stories of Sarah Winchester and her family—and some say it’s also filled with ghosts. The house, which the museum says has drawn 12 million visitors since 1923, frequently appears on lists of haunted locations. Both tour guides and guests claim to have had brushes with the paranormal there.

A solarium with windows in the floor, that open to the room below, at the Winchester Mystery House. JULIE TREMAINE

The curious, four-story home has 160 rooms across its 24,000 square feet, with 10,000 windows (some facing inside), 2,000 doors (some leading to walls) and six kitchens (to feed the home’s lone resident and her staff).

Grieving over the death of her husband William Winchester, son of the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and having just inherited $20 million from William’s stake in the company, the widow moved to the San Francisco Bay area. Once she landed in San Jose, Winchester commissioned a modest eight-bedroom farmhouse in 1884. Construction, though, never stopped. Over the next 38 years, until her death in 1922, she continually added to the house, eventually dismissing all architects and building according to her whim. When the 1902 earthquake caused significant damage to one wing of the house, she simply boarded it up and continued with construction in other areas.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/juliet...-is-americas-strangest-most-interesting-home/

maximus otter

I often have dreams where I am in a situation like the woman in the last photo, albeit with a much narrower staircase and a very small opening at the top.

 

[catseye]

Winchester Mystery House Is One Of America’s Strangest, Most Interesting Homes

Staircases to nowhere. Doors that open into nothing. Rooms with no exit.

Clearly America doesn't have estates of new build Barratt Homes. This is them, to a tee.

 

[ramonmercado]

Winchester Mystery House Is One Of America’s Strangest, Most Interesting Homes

Staircases to nowhere. Doors that open into nothing. Rooms with no exit. Sarah Winchester’s home in San Jose, California certainly doesn’t fit with any modern or historical architectural conventions. And the mysteries still remain about America’s most unusual and inexplicable home.

Today, the Winchester Mystery House is a museum filled with period furniture and stories of Sarah Winchester and her family—and some say it’s also filled with ghosts. The house, which the museum says has drawn 12 million visitors since 1923, frequently appears on lists of haunted locations. Both tour guides and guests claim to have had brushes with the paranormal there.

A solarium with windows in the floor, that open to the room below, at the Winchester Mystery House. JULIE TREMAINE

The curious, four-story home has 160 rooms across its 24,000 square feet, with 10,000 windows (some facing inside), 2,000 doors (some leading to walls) and six kitchens (to feed the home’s lone resident and her staff).

Grieving over the death of her husband William Winchester, son of the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and having just inherited $20 million from William’s stake in the company, the widow moved to the San Francisco Bay area. Once she landed in San Jose, Winchester commissioned a modest eight-bedroom farmhouse in 1884. Construction, though, never stopped. Over the next 38 years, until her death in 1922, she continually added to the house, eventually dismissing all architects and building according to her whim. When the 1902 earthquake caused significant damage to one wing of the house, she simply boarded it up and continued with construction in other areas.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/juliet...-is-americas-strangest-most-interesting-home/

maximus otter

A highly fictionalised film about the house came out in 2018, my review:
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/horror-films.59441/page-36#post-1736843

 

[Steven]

It's almost as if Mrs W deliberately tried to create an image of a haunted house.

 

[RaM]

One idea put forward was that she built the house that way to confuse
the ghosts of all the people her husbands guns killed so they could not
find her to seek retribution.