I might have a new obsession; I’ve spent most of my day researching the Winchester “Mystery” House and Mrs. Sarah Winchester.
(Prepare for an essay)

Background story

Sarah L. Winchester (1839 – 1922) was married to the son of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. They had one daughter, but she died after just a few weeks. About 15 years later, her husband died from tuberculosis.

After the death of her husband, she was heartbroken (obviously) and contacted spiritualists, and was apparently told by a medium that the family was cursed, haunted by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifles. According to the story, Sarah was told to build a house and never let it be finished. Constant construction on the house would save her from the spirits.

The House

Construction on the Winchester House, or the Winchester Mystery House as it came to be called after a visit from Houdini, was started 1884 (that’s 100 years before I was born, harhar).

It turned into a huge, 7 floor mansion, built like a maze. The house is scattered with false doors, dead end corridors, stairs leading to nothing and so on. Apparently this was to confuse the spirits.

The stories say that the spirits instructed her, and inspired the design of the house, which is why some people call it “The House built by/for the spirits”.

In 1906 there was an earthquake, and the house was purposely never fully restored; Mrs. Winchester had the damaged areas sealed off rather than repairing them. Since then, the house has “only” been 4 floors high, and big parts of it are still inaccessible.

Why this is awesome

First of all, whether or not I believe it, it’s still an interesting story. Either she really was hunted by spirits, or she just thought she was. Or perhaps she was just a rich, eccentric woman who wanted to build a really weird house because she wanted to, or because she was a terrible (or brilliant) designer.

I would love to see this house. I really would. With all the weird design elements, which I just find ever so awesome. And I find it utterly gorgeous. And creepy.

Good shit:
There are guided tours inside the house.

Not so good shit:
It’s in California. It would be a long and expensive trip. Also, I creeped myself out writing this ¬_¬

Friday, February 19th, 2010 | 10 Comments
Posted in Unordinarities
Tags: Mysteries, Winchester House