Winchester Mystery House

This is just one of those things that you have to do once. This was such a neat experience to explore the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. It felt like a fairy tale as it was hard to believe someone actually built a house like this.

Bizarre But Beautiful 

After Mrs. Winchester's daughter and husband passed away she sought out a medium to see why she was having such bad luck. The medium told her she was being haunted by people killed from the Winchester rifles. In order to appease the spirits she would need to build a great house for them. As long as the construction never stopped her life would not be in danger and she would have eternal life. This meant construction 24 hours a day.

So trippy! Stairs that led to NO WHERE!

 The windy staircase had two inch tall steps that were custom built for Mrs. Winchester who was only 4 foot 9 inches tall. She also suffered from arthritis so these small steps made it easier to get around.

Uneven number of steps on each side of staircases.

"Random" (that word seems to fit every sentence) windows on the floor and walls that show to other rooms. Mrs. Winchester liked to be able to check up on her servants and workers to see what they were doing.

Window that looks down into the kitchen.

Let's talk about the doors that led to no where...

Mrs. Winchester had a seance room that she would go to every night to consult with the spirits about the house. Oddly her favorite number was 13. In the seance room was thirteen hooks that held her different colored robes used when communing with the spirits. 

The number thirteen was also demonstrated through out the house such as thirteen holes in the sink drain cover and thirteen candles on every chandeliers. Many stairways had thirteen steps, thirteen ceiling panels in some of the rooms, thirteen bathrooms and so much more.

Upon passing away Mrs. Winchester left all of her personal property to her niece. The niece took what she wanted and had everything else auctioned off. It is said that it took six trucks working six weeks to move out all of the furnishing.

Winchester Mystery House Facts:

Construction started: 1884
Construction ends: 1922
Cost of Construction: $5,500,000
Length of Construction: 38 years
Rooms: 160
Doors: 2,000
Windows: 10,000
Stairways: 40
Fireplaces: 47
Chimneys: 17
Bathrooms: 13
Kitchens: 6
Gallons of paint needed for exterior: 20,000