Winchester Mystery House
San Jose, California
By Shannon Reinbold-Gee
Few haunted houses are more splendid and massive than the Winchester Mystery House. Once the pet project of wealthy widow Sarah Winchester, the Winchester Mystery House, which began as a humble 6-room home, is now a popular destination for ghost tours of the San Jose area.
In 1884 Sarah Winchester, heiress of the Winchester Rifle fortune, began construction on a Victorian-style mansion. Driven by her supposed guilt over the many deaths her husband’s rifle business caused, Sarah paid a veritable army of construction workers and craftsmen to build the sprawling 160-room house over the course of nearly forty years. Devastated by the untimely deaths of both her husband and baby daughter and thinking them to be connected to the shooting deaths of many victims of the Winchester rifle, Sarah was supposedly told that continually building the rambling home would appease (or in some cases perhaps trap) the spirits and lift a curse.
Acting as her own architect, Sarah consulted with spiritual guides to make sure the wandering souls who’d lost their lives by gunshot would find a final resting place. Sarah Winchester never created a master set of blueprints, instead she sketched the rooms she wanted on scraps of paper and occasionally tablecloths. The house’s hallways and corridors are like a labyrinth, causing many to speculate that perhaps Sarah’s goal was to trap and confuse the spirits who sought vengeance on her family. Rumor has it Sarah tried to avoid the restless ghosts by sleeping in a different room every night.
When the earthquake of 1906 struck, Sarah was trapped in the Daisy Room where she’d been sleeping near a fireplace that suddenly collapsed. When she was finally freed, she said the experience was the result of the ghosts wanting her to stop spending so much time perfecting the mansion’s front rooms—and that they were furious she thought she was nearly finished with her construction. So Sarah obediently boarded up 30 rooms and focused on even more expansion. She never again used her then recently acquired (and quite pricey for the time) front doors.
Filled with “modern” amenities, the Winchester mansion includes button-operated lights, nearly 50 fireplaces, parquet floors and gorgeous chandeliers. Almost every window has 13 panes of glass, most floors contained 13 sections and all but one staircase boasts 13 steps. But beyond the architectural oddities and trappings of wealth, it seems the mansion has also trapped a fair share of spirits.
Ghostly animals began to be sighted and many people have reported seeing things ghosting about. People hear mysterious voices, footsteps and doors slamming shut. Cold spots and strange lights appear and then fade away. An employee of the mansion claimed to see a figure of an elderly woman in one of the rooms and asked who they had gotten to portray Mrs. Winchester. Alarmed, a coworker explained they did not have any reenactors. Could it be that Sarah succeeded in trapping the ghosts who dogged her steps for so many years and they still roam the Winchester mansion? Or are the disturbances signs that Sarah herself has never left the building—trapped with the same ghosts she feared?
Today 110 of the 160 rooms are available for tourists to see—but stick with your guide so you don’t become a victim of the wandering designs and maze-like halls!
191 comments on this haunted house. Share your story »
191 Comments |
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Ali says: |
January 23, 2006, 7:47 pm |
Anyone think that this is kinda like that movie Rose Red?
Vanessa says: |
January 26, 2006, 6:19 pm |
If you come on this website and call people names for believing in this stuff… may I ask what you are doing on this site. Obviously you are interested in it too just too embarassed to admit it. Besides.. how old are you? 8? Grow up!
Jackie says: |
January 26, 2006, 7:33 pm |
this stuff is true
Bryce bigler says: |
February 2, 2006, 12:27 am |
I’ve been there and it gives you a really weired feeling,our battries also died around 15 minuts in.
Cole West says: |
February 10, 2006, 11:15 am |
i think that a sacry story i been there before and i belive u.
cole
Chris Grant says: |
February 15, 2006, 12:23 pm |
yes i did watch the documentary about this place. there are passegas that lead to nowher and stair cases that lead up to brick walls outside the doors. creepy huh? I WILL GO THERE AND GO IN THE HOUSE.
kristi says: |
February 16, 2006, 7:53 pm |
I had lived in CA for 6-7 years before a friend of mine flew out to visit me. It was then that I finally got to see the famous Whinchester house at age 20 before I knew the whole story. It is beautiful and breath taking. Unfortunatly I did not see anything. Although I would have loved to. I can’t help but wonder how scared this poor women must have been to go to such great lenghts to confuse ghosts. I would really like to go back but the tours are a little pricy if you ask me. During halloween they have flashlight tours at night and on any friday the 13ths. If I do go again it will be for a flashlight tour.
Laura says: |
February 23, 2006, 9:41 pm |
I’ve really been wanting to go to this and I asked my sister if we could check it out (we live in Sacramento), and she said that she had already planned it with her friends a day before. She didn’t even know I want to go…We must be destined to go hahah.
tu padre luke says: |
March 1, 2006, 1:11 am |
que poedo no le entiendo ni madre pinches gringos ponganlo en espanol chingadamadre digo si se puede no o que me miras pendejo traducelo puto o el pendejo que se aparecera en tu canton sera otro puto y me saludas a tu pinche vieja dile que al rato me la pizo ala pendeja como dice molotov que le gusta tambien por el ano ala pendeja sale pues mijo tito la rato y no se te olvide puto te estoy mirando cabron yo se donde vives y tu pinche perrito 2
ha y la neta esta mejor el tercer milenio
jose ruiz says: |
March 1, 2006, 1:21 am |
vato
ten cuidao este wey de el jefe de luke si es cabron no lo conosco pero te acuerdas del chupacabras a poz ese wey no es pero dicen que ese wey se lo piteo al pinche goatsucker y como te dijo sela dejo ir por el ojo de payaso asi que cuidate pinche gringo de mierda por que hasta con el chiquito te pueden ganar o la neta sabes que loco olomejor sales ganando tu puto ale nomas no le vallas a salir con la mamada que si se va a poner cremita wey por que sabes que nomas se te pondra morado el pinche culo como el chino wango
ha y si no es mucho pedir wey me saludas a tu vieja n o puto digo no mames al jefe de luke si le pasas el recado que culero y aun compa no chingate pues puto chingao ya te avise pues sabes que vato ultimadamente wey hay te voy asi que ve haciendo tus culo ejercicios pendejpo [por que este cowboy si carga gandre
jessica says: |
March 25, 2006, 6:13 pm |
HI IM JESSICA I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS HOUSE THING WHEN I GET OLDER…IT SOUNDS INTERESTING AND HAVE YOU GUYS HEARD OF THEAROSES BRIDGE???????????!!!!!!!
gabby says: |
March 25, 2006, 6:15 pm |
hahaha i know u r
Tara says: |
April 4, 2006, 9:12 pm |
The frist time I heard of this place was on TV. It does sound really cool but it doesnt sound like to many ppl have seen or felt anything. I would love to visit this house but I think I would go see something a little more haunted.
Charlie says: |
April 8, 2006, 1:17 pm |
I have read this story and all the comments, and I must say it sounds amazing. I would love to go see this house. I have been a few ghost tours, but I live in Canada and the only places that have these are quebec city and ottawa. I have been on both and we have some intresting buildings here. If this house is what people say, then I would be more then willing to go.
Amanda says: |
April 15, 2006, 1:20 am |
I was lucky enough to take a flashlight tour of this place last year. I was pretty familiar with the history, but also learned soo much while on the tour. My group experienced equpiment failure with brand new flashlights and such. I thought I heard occasional knocking on the walls. And interesting thing happened to me on one of Sarah’s staircases. The steps were very shallow, due to her arthritis, and it was tricky walking on them. I could have sworn I smelled the scent of perfume. It was so strong to me, and it was only in that area, no one else seemed to notice though. I’d recommend anyone who is into paranormal activity visit this house. The flashlight tours are not “scary” and might even cause you to miss out on some of what the house has to offer. I’d love to go back during the day so I can see more than just what my flashlight was able to light up.
James says: |
April 28, 2006, 3:11 am |
I have spirit things in my house but i dont know what they are.i live in kansas.I realy dont think that they are spirits of people, I really think that they are just demons trying to scare us like, theyve played the piano before on a quiet afternoon which really scares me. ya i defenatly think that they just try to scare you ,and thats all theyve done
elizabeth says: |
April 29, 2006, 12:20 am |
Why do you think that the spirits in your house are demons trying to scare you?
to james
john smith says: |
May 11, 2006, 12:28 pm |
Hi this is Jonn smith and i come from death of pocahantus and this a lie we ghots we just come for are unfinished bussienss
kelly says: |
May 17, 2006, 10:36 pm |
well i dont know if any of this is true but i have one that is true..its about my dad’s older brothers first wife..Well, this was in Laos so yea..well they were married for a few years and before that his first wife was already married to a guy, but he died in the vietnam war..then after that my dad’s brother married her….after a couple of years my dad’s brother went hunting and his wife went went to go farming. Then they don’t knoe why but when she got home she got really sick…so they decided to the hmong tradition thing..(you know the thing where we call it jingle bell in slang for english where they do all those ringing noise.)…well yea..while they were doin it….his wife suddenly woke up and started talkin and laughing ….they heard her saying that they can’t stop him because when her husband my dad’s older brother went hunting and she went to the farm….i guess that her old husband already came bac and took her spirit ….but only her body is left…to come bac…and their only way to save her was to tie her up against something and not let her get up… but they didn’t do that..and before she went she said that if they go outside and listen they’ll hear dogs barking…cause we all know dogs could see ghosts or watever…so they did then all of a sudden everything became kinda dark and the dogs started to bark…….and she said it was because her husband was coming to get her…now that’s a true story..i got a lot more….that are true but this one is for now…
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Suzy says:
January 6, 2006, 6:40 pm
I went to see this house five years ago with my husband and the house is very beautiful. It has many rooms and yes there are stairs that lead to nowhere. If you go on the tour, you must be very careful as to not go astray, you may get lost because the house is a very complicated home. Not only is the house beautiful but the garden that she planted is just as breathtaking as well. I did not encounter any weird apparitions or feel any spiritual beings that still exist in the home.