Winchester Mystery House facts for kids

Winchester Mystery House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
View of the mansion from the east
Location in San Jose, California Show map of San Jose, California Location in California Show map of California Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	525 South Winchester Boulevard San Jose, CA 95128
Built	1884–1906
Architectural style	Victorian, Gothic
NRHP reference No.	74000559
Quick facts for kids Significant dates
Added to NRHP	August 7, 1974

The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion in San Jose, California, that was once the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester. The house became a tourist attraction nine months after Winchester's death in 1922. The Victorian and Gothic-style mansion is renowned for its size and its architectural curiosities and for the numerous myths and legends surrounding the structure and its former owner.

Sarah Winchester

Sarah Winchester, 1865

Sarah Winchester was born in 1839 in New Haven, Connecticut. She was called Sallie by people closest to her, after her paternal grandmother. She married William Wirt Winchester in 1862.

In 1866, Winchester gave birth to a girl named Annie Pardee Winchester. Diagnosed with marasmus, she did not thrive and lived only a month.

Between the fall of 1880 and the spring of 1881, Winchester's mother, father-in-law, and husband died. She was left with a large inheritance from her husband.

In 1884, her eldest sister, Mary Converse, died. Around this time, she began developing rheumatoid arthritis and her doctor suggested that a warmer and drier climate might help improve her health. In 1885, at the age of 46, Winchester moved to California from New Haven, Connecticut. According to Mary Jo Ignoffo in her book Captive of the Labyrinth: Sarah L. Winchester, Heiress to the Rifle Fortune, her doctor's recommendation, her happy memories of traveling to San Francisco with her husband in the 1870s, and advertising about the weather and health benefits of California were possible factors in Winchester's decision to move.

Winchester invited her three remaining sisters to follow her to California, which they did.

In 1886, Edward "Ned" Rambo, a San Francisco agent for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, took Winchester on a tour of the Santa Clara valley to look for a home. He showed her a forty-five-acre ranch for sale that was located near San Jose. She purchased the property from John Hamm which included a two-story, eight-room farmhouse. Since the property reminded her of Llanada Alavesa from the Basque area, she named her new home Llanada Villa.

In 1890, Winchester's niece, Marion Merriman (called Daisy) aged around twenty-one, came to live with her. Merriman became Winchester's personal secretary, looking after business correspondence and banking. They attended charitable events together and were paying members of Associated Charities and the Red Cross. In 1903, Winchester paid for Daisy's wedding to Frederick Marriott III. That same year, Winchester purchased several homes and properties in Atherton. One of the homes was offered to Daisy and her new husband to live in, which they accepted. Winchester subsequently purchased a home for the couple closer to the train station for Fredrick to travel to work from. In 1904, Winchester purchased a large property near the hamlet of Burlingame, north of Coyote Point, then bought a houseboat, or ark as they were called at the time, instead of building a house.

Winchester died on September 7, 1922, at the age of 83.

San Jose house renovation

Winchester and her husband had developed an interest in architecture and interior design while building a home on Prospect Hill in New Haven. With plans to expand the farmhouse, Winchester hired at least two architects but dismissed them, deciding to do the planning herself. She designed the rooms one by one, supervised the project, and sought advice from the carpenters she hired. She took inspiration for the house from the world's fairs that were common then. While the home was similar in scope to other homes built then, it was unusual for a woman to look after such a project and, Colin Dickey states in his book Ghostland: an American History in Haunted Places, she could be considered an architectural pioneer of her time.

She was known to rebuild and abandon construction if the progress did not meet her expectations, which resulted in a maze-like design. In the San Jose News of 1897, it was reported that a seven-story tower was torn down and rebuilt sixteen times. As a result of her expansions, there are walled-off exterior windows and doors that were not removed as the house grew in size. Multiple levels, up to five, were added to different parts of the home. The design was essentially Victorian, with elements of Gothic and Romanesque features.

Features of the house

There was carved wood on the ballroom walls and ceilings. Woods such as teak, maple, and mahogany were used to make an intricate pattern on the ballroom floor. A large, brick fireplace was framed by two windows that included quotes from Shakespeare. The second floor had bedrooms that each had adjoining sitting rooms and sewing rooms. The wall coverings had a leather or metal appearance, known as Lincrusta wall coverings. The ceilings had mouldings, stencils, and faux finishes. There were chandeliers from Germany, art glass from Austria, furnishings from Asia, and paintings from France. An annunciator, an early form of intercom, which was a common feature of large homes during this time period, was installed for calling servants. There existed an indoor garden with slanted floors that would carry excess water to trap doors which had pipes that would supply water to the outdoor flowers. A generator was installed for a water pump and electricity. Because of Winchester's height of four feet ten inches and health issues, a stairway was built that has 44 steps but rises only ten feet.

The windows are unusual since they are pastel-colored, asymmetrical in their design, and have sharp bevels. The windows on the upper levels had a spider-web tracery, a popular design then. The windows to the right and left of the brick fireplace feature Shakespearean quotations from Richard II and Troilus and Cressida. It has been claimed by tour guides and articles over the years that the windows were made by Tiffany & Co despite the fact that the company rarely used beveled glass. This style of window is also found at Craigdarroch Castle in British Columbia, Canada, prompting architectural historian Jim Wolf to believe that the windows were made by the same company. Wolf determined that glass artist John Mallon from Alexander Dunsmuir's company, the Pacific American Decorative Company, was the most likely artisan of the windows. This theory was confirmed when an envelope postmarked July 1894, which had the seal of Dunsmuir's company on it and a scribbled note that appears to be in Winchester's hand, was discovered in the wall of one of the dining rooms that was being restored. Many of the art glass windows that were purchased were never installed and have been housed in a storage room.

Winchester would take breaks from construction on a regular basis to rest, sometimes for months, since she tired easily. It slowed construction considerably and is counter to the claims made in articles and by tour guides that she had the house under construction around the clock for thirty-eight years, until her death in 1922.

At its largest, the house had approximately 500 rooms.

As claimed by Bruce Spoon, a student from San Jose State College who decided to write his master's thesis about Winchester in 1951, the reasons for building her large home were to keep workers employed and to express her artistic vision. He reached this conclusion after interviewing people who remembered her and after reviewing newspaper and magazine articles.

1906 earthquake

When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake hit, the Llanada Villa was severely damaged. Though there are rumors that Winchester was trapped in the San Jose home, there is no evidence that she was there. She owned several homes in California, and after the earthquake spent most of her time at her home in Atherton.

The seven-story tower and most of the chimneys collapsed. One entire wing was destroyed along with the third and fourth story additions. Winchester had the rubble removed but had little more done to the property after the earthquake. It left doors that opened to nothing where balconies had once been, pipes that were protruding from what were once window boxes, and staircases that once led to upper floors ending suddenly.

After 1910, due to failing health, Winchester did not work on the San Jose home except for odd maintenance jobs and adding an elevator in 1916. At this time, she dedicated her time to finances and building an investment portfolio. Mary Jo Ignoffo claims that, "She was far more successful constructing an investment portfolio than a mansion."

When Winchester died in 1922, the house had 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, and 6 kitchens.

As a tourist attraction

Undated photo, Heritage Documentation Programs, U.S. National Park Service

The house became a tourist attraction nine months after Winchester's death in 1922. The house was in disrepair and considered to be of no monetary value. A group of investors purchased the property subsequently leasing the house to John and Mayme Brown who turned it into an attraction. They later purchased the house in 1931. There were many room additions and deletions made to the home after Winchester's death.

The first tour guide of the house was Mayme Brown. Past neighbors, friends, and workers for Winchester were distressed when they read about superstitious claims being made about the house and Winchester, and were upset the Browns were making money from falsehoods. They described Winchester as clearheaded and savvier with finances and business than most men.

In 1924, Harry Houdini briefly visited the house and was reportedly impressed by its unusual layout and architectural novelties, but could not make a detailed investigation because of more pressing engagements. According to some accounts, Houdini suggested tour operators employ "Winchester mystery house" as a promotional name for the property.

When Keith Kittle, a past Disneyland and Frontier Village employee, became the general manager in 1973, the house was in poor shape. He had the house renovated in the 1970s and 1980s and added a Winchester rifle museum. He sought historical landmark status and began an advertising campaign that included large billboards along the highways. The billboards feature a silhouetted house with implications that a ghost encounter was possible. Attendance increased as he played off the history and superstition that was already circulating. Kittle was general manager until 1996.

Winchester Rifle Museum

As of September 2022, the house is owned and operated by Winchester Mystery House, LLC, which is a private company that represents the descendants of the Browns.

See also

In Spanish: Mansión Winchester para niños