Winchester Mystery House
| Other Name/s | N/A |
| Address | 525 S Winchester Blvd. San Jose, CA 95128 |
| Location | United States, California |
| Type | House |
| Activity reported | Haunting, Shadow Figures |
Winchester Mystery House can be found in San Jose, California, and was once the USA’s largest private residence.
History of Winchester Mystery House
Winchester Mystery House was built by Sarah Winchester, the heiress to the Winchester rifle-making family fortune. Today, the house sits rather incongruously between a mobile home park and an abandoned space age movie theater.
The original house was an eight-room cottage surrounded by acres of land. After first setting eyes on it in the 1880s, Sarah Winchester began to add to the original building, continuously changing her plans so that the house grew in a rather random fashion.
The story goes that prior to an earthquake in 1906, the house was at its biggest. At this point, it allegedly comprised of 200 rooms, 10,000 windows, almost 50 fireplaces, and 2000 doors and trap doors. Apparently not even Sarah could assuredly identify the original eight rooms.
Additions and modifications were made to the house right up until Sarah’s death in 1922. Many of these modifications made no sense, and would often be hastily covered up by yet another change.
To this day, no one really knows why Sarah continuously made changes to the house. It is possible that she did this in order to try to come to terms with her grief, for Sarah had lost her father-in-law, her husband, and her young daughter.
Apparently, Sarah (who was herself a spiritualist) was under the influence of a medium named Adam Coons, who told her that she was haunted by the ghosts of the souls who had been killed by a Winchester rifle.
Coons told her she should move west and build a new home. The building, said the medium, should never stop, thus the angry spirits could not attack Sarah.
Today, the house remains a bizarre place. Rooms are built within rooms, staircases lead nowhere, doors open onto walls, and windows are built into floors.
Sarah was clearly obsessive, but she was not insane. The house contains symbols, allusions and encryptions. For example, in one room the parquetry has been designed in a strange pattern. The effect is clear when the sun shines on the boards, in that the light boards appear dark and vice versa.
Although the reasons for the house remain unclear, it remains, perhaps, a metaphor for a perturbed and unsettled mind – one that was understandably conflicted.
Today, the house is open to the public and guided tours are available.
Cases
Footsteps, Slamming Doors, and Odors
Tour guides have reported hearing odd footsteps, and doors being slammed around the house – often coming from places that are not open to the general public.
Even though the kitchen has long been inoperable, staff still say they can sometimes smell chicken soup emanating from it. Also, there is a rocking chair that appears to rock backwards and forwards by itself.
Grateful Tourist
Perhaps the most famous story attached to the house is that of a tourist. Upon finishing their tour, they thanked the staff and said what a great idea it was to have actors in various rooms throughout the house. The tourist was particularly impressed by the actress in the kitchen who played Mrs. Winchester.
The problem was that no actors had been hired by the management. When the kitchen was searched, no trace of the person was found.
Ghostly Appearances and Sounds
One of the carpenters who helped to build the house has supposedly been seen, as has the alleged ghost of a small boy. The boy was seen many times by one of the ex-members of staff.
Stories abound of a man dressed in 1900s clothing who appears in the basement. An organ can sometimes be heard being played somewhere in the house. Door handles are known to turn, seemingly without anyone touching them, and loud bangs can be heard – bangs which sound very much like gunshots.
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In the media
Ghost Brothers Season 2, Episode 3 on TLC.
Ghost Adventures Season 5, Episode 8 on Travel Channel.
Ghost Hunters Season 2, Episode 11 on Syfy.
Links
References
smithsonianmag.com, “The Heiress to a Gun Empire Built a Mansion Forever Haunted by the Blood Money That Built It”, accessed August 09 2017.
exploreyourspirit.com, “The Haunted History of the Winchester Mystery House”, accessed August 10 2017.
destinationamerica.com, “A Deeper Look At The Winchester Mystery House”, accessed August 10 2017.
ghostsofohio.org, “Winchester Mystery House”, accessed August 10 2017.
ancient-origins.net, “Winchester Mystery House – Anything But an Ordinary Millionaire’s Mansion”, accessed August 10 2017.
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