I always love a good ghost story and there are few better than that of the Winchester Mystery House. In case you haven’t heard about it, here’s the story:
William Wirt Winchester took over a firm in 1857 that made the Volcanic Repeater, a rifle. Shortly thereafter, he developed the Henry rife, the first true repeating rifle. His company prospered and he soon renamed it the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. In 1862, after his company had become successful, he married the lovely Sarah Pardee.
Unfortunately, the Winchester’s good fortune was short lived. In 1866, Sarah gave birth to a daughter, Annie Pardee Winchester. But, Annie contracted marasmus, a disease in which the child’s body wastes away and she died on July 24. Sarah withdrew from everyone, almost sinking into madness. A decade would pass before she returned to normal, but she would never give birth again. In 1881, more tragedy struck when William died of pulmonary tuberculosis. Sarah was a very rich woman, inheriting over $20 million dollars, but very despondent. She was still grieving for her child, but now had the grief of losing her husband added to that.
One fateful day, a friend suggested that Sarah speak to a spiritualist medium. The medium said William was there with Sarah. He told the medium that their family was cursed because of all the harm caused by the Winchester rifles. Thousands of spirits who died at the hands of a Winchester were seeking revenge against them. The medium then told Sarah something very unusual. In order to relieve herself of the spirits rage, Sarah had to build a home for them. However, not just build a home; Sarah had to have continual construction done on her home for as long as she lived. The medium told Sarah if she ever stopped the building, she would die. Thus, the plans for the Winchester Mystery House were in place.
She traveled to Santa Clara Valley and found a six-room home under construction. The home had 162 acres of land, plenty for her idea. She bought the house from the owner and rounded up local craftsmen, carpenters, and construction workers. Sarah threw away the plans of the home and started having construction done wherever she felt. For the next 38 years, construction took place on the house 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Because there really were no plans to the building, there are oddities in the house such as doors joined to windows, stairwells that go nowhere, bathrooms with glass doors, closets that open into blank walls, and doors that opened not into another room, but an empty drop. These oddities were done to confuse the spirits. By Sarah’s reasoning, if they walked down a stairwell that led into a wall, they could not harm her. At one point, 30 rooms of the mansion were boarded up to “trap” spirits inside.
Sarah died in 1922 at the age of 83, peacefully in her sleep. Today, the house is a popular tourist attraction. Because of all the odd building, no one really knows how many rooms are in it. Although it is believed to be 160, it seems everyone that counts comes up with different number. The final cost of the house was $5.5 million.
It is said that the spirits still haunt the house, including Sarah Winchester herself. Both employees and visitors have reported strange sightings. Every Friday the 13th and Halloween, they have flashlight tours at the mansion.
*Photograph courtesy of Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, CA.