Real Haunted House
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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Ice Queen says: |
March 3, 2007, 1:15 am |
this story is really freaky,but yet sounds so interesting!!!!!!!!!!!! these kinds of stories fascinate me. i would loooooooooooove to visit there one day!!!!!i’m not sure i believe all the things about this place,but it’s still veeeeeeeeeeeeery cool!
~Ice~
Cassandra says: |
March 24, 2007, 10:03 pm |
I visited the Winchester Mystery house once on a special Halloween Midnight walk-through. They took us into this room with no door handles on the insides of the doors and a weird tiny window up at the top that is the only source of light. They called the room the “Heart of the House”. It was the scariest experience of my life. You could hear what sounded like footsteps of someone running back and forth up above our heads, even though there was nobody else in the house. Doors slammed shut and it would get real cold suddenly in some rooms. Especially in the “Heart of the House.”
amanda says: |
March 26, 2007, 10:57 am |
i would love to come and visit this house again. but i loved it was so much fun
veronica says: |
March 27, 2007, 5:23 pm |
maybe she didn’t die maybe that is what they think happened.But not me I think she is still alive in that house.
Danielle says: |
March 28, 2007, 1:24 pm |
she could be hinding somewhere in the house ? you never know ..
Jessica says: |
June 30, 2007, 2:04 pm |
I am going to go on the Winchester Mystery House Flashlight Tour on Friday, July the 13th and I’ve been there 2 times Prior to me going this time and nothing has happened or appeared in the pictures that I’ve took so maybe this time since I am a believer of ghosts and the paranormal something will happen. =D.. I really hope that it does too.
Vicki says: |
July 3, 2007, 11:46 am |
Hello there, well I am glad somebody already corrected the somewhat in-correct story. She didnt die the night of the earthquake, she was somewhat trapped in that room until people came to her rescue. She passed away in her small but tall bed. And once she died, the building of the house stopped. She didnt disapear. Well, with this story being somewhat wrong it makes me wonder how accurate the other one’s are.
Robert says: |
July 4, 2007, 1:47 am |
The Winchester House is a very interesting old house but is certainly NOT haunted. I grew up nearby in the 1960s and while it was cool to look at, there were NEVER any reports by ANYONE of any “paranormal” activity.
henery says: |
July 10, 2007, 2:13 pm |
I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE THIS PLACE AND AFTER READING THAT, I AM EVEN MORE PROMPTED TO GO THERE. IT SOUNDS SO TOTALLY WICKED AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ambish says: |
July 30, 2007, 5:46 pm |
I remember watchng Ghost hunters investigate this place. They didn’t find anything but it is still an awsome place.
L.J. says: |
August 7, 2007, 10:29 pm |
i think….. u guys r f****** d******** coz like ghosts arent real there fake
L.J. says: |
August 7, 2007, 10:31 pm |
tevita’s a gay guy who loves michael and george
tay says: |
August 7, 2007, 10:31 pm |
i thought that story was sooooooooooo untrue it was a load of s*** i mean ghosts arent real u freaken idots
and i just want 2 say 1 more thing.boys are f***** a******* . aspecialy luke and and my bro
thanx bye
lucy
carmen says: |
August 16, 2007, 1:56 pm |
I have seen this on t.v like 10 times and I really just think this lady belonged in the wacky shack!
Michael Angell says: |
September 4, 2007, 2:51 pm |
MY NAME IS MICHAEL IM FROM BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA I GREW UP IN MANY HAUNTED HOUSES AND I AM VERY INTERESTED IN PARANORMAL ACTIVITY AND WILL GO INTO ANY HAUNTED HOUSES.
Casper says: |
September 5, 2007, 5:04 pm |
Been their twice. Think its more hyped up by the media for business than anything. Cool place, but thats about it. For all of you people what have seen “ghost”, Skeptic Magazine has had a $2,000,000.00 reward for anyone who can prove ghost exists. That reward has been available for the taking for several years now, but no one seems to be able to earn it. Ever wonder why?
CAUSE THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A GHOST!!!!!
Dominick Angell says: |
September 7, 2007, 3:28 pm |
MY NAME IS DOMINICK AND I KNOW THIS IS VERY UNTRUE THERE ARE NOT GHOSTS ON THIS EARTH BELIEVING, THIS MAKES YOU A BELIEVER OF EVIL. THE HIGHER POWER (JESUS CHRIST)IS TO COME COLLECT THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO HE DWELLS WITHIN IT IS NEAR. ARE YOU PREPARED? THOSE WHO DON’T BELIEVE AND ARE NOT FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. SO PLEASE DON;T BELIEVE THIS IT’S NOT IT’S OF THE ENEMY. PLEASE GIVE YOUR LIFE TO HIM NOW WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE ALL YOU DO IS CONFESS TO JESUS CHRIST YOU ARE A SINNER AND HAVE SINNED ASK FOR REPENTANCE AND BELIEVE HE ROSE ON YHE THIRD DAY. GET ON YOUR KNEES NOW GIVE YOUR LIFE TO HIM TODAY NOW. I LOVE YOU.
TRINA MACINTIRE says: |
September 7, 2007, 3:34 pm |
MY NAME IS TRINA THIS IS SUCH A DUMB *** WEBSITE CUZ FUCKEN GHOSTS DON’T EXIST AND THE MAKERS OF THIS WEBPAGE SHALL BE ASHAMED OF HIS/HER SELF YOU DUMB FOOLS YOU BELIEVE IN THIS **** IT’S STUPID.
kim says: |
September 14, 2007, 9:07 pm |
There’s a problem to this story; she wasn’t pinned. I went there myself and the tour people told me that after the earthquake workers came back to the wrecked mansion to rescue her. She died in her own bed years later.
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Tree Princess says:
March 1, 2007, 3:54 am
This house sounds interesting too bad im half way around the world.