Episode #22: The Winchester Mystery House

 Join E.M. Moon as they talk about Sarah Winchester, her life and the life of her husband, the Winchester Arms company, and how it all led to the creation of the Winchester Mystery House and the supposed haunting tales that surround it all.

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Transcript

The Winchester Mystery House

 If you’re an aficionado of the supernatural, the paranormal, or the downright weird, you’ve most likely heard of the Winchester Mystery House. The thing is, the Winchester Mystery House isn’t your average haunted house and has quite the wild history, starting with the son of Oliver Winchester, William and his Wife Sara, and ending in an enormous mansion filled with the strangest architecture you’ve probably ever laid your eyes on...and all because the spirits demanded it that way. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Repeating_Arms_Company

 Let’s start from the beginning with William Wirt Winchester and the Winchester Reapeating Arms Company, of which he was president of from 1880 to 1881.

The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition in the mid 1800’s. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester, the father of William, and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. 

The ancestor of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was the Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson partnership of Norwich, Connecticut (not to be confused with the famous Smith & Wesson Revolver Company founded later by the same men). Smith and Wesson acquired Lewis Jennings' improved version of inventor Walter Hunt's 1848 "Volition Repeating Rifle" and its caseless "Rocket Ball" ammunition, which had been produced in small numbers by Robbins & Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont. Jennings' rifle was a commercial failure, and Robbins & Lawrence ceased production in 1852. Smith designed a much-improved rifle based on Jennings' design, and the partners also hired away Robbins & Lawrence shop foreman Benjamin Tyler Henry. 

In 1855, the Smith and Wesson partnership, in order to manufacture what they called the "Volcanic" lever-action rifle and pistol, sought investors and incorporated as the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company. Its largest stockholder was clothing manufacturer Oliver Winchester. The Volcanic rifle had only limited success, however. The company moved to New Haven (without Smith or Wesson) in 1856, but by the end of that year, it became insolvent. Oliver Winchester and his partner John M. Davies purchased the bankrupt firm's assets from the remaining stockholders and reorganized it as the New Haven Arms Company in April 1857. 

After Smith's departure, Benjamin Henry continued to work with a Smith development project, the self-contained metallic rimfire cartridge, and perfected the much larger, more powerful .44 Henry round. Henry also supervised a new rifle design based loosely on the Volcanic to use the new ammunition, retaining only the general form of the breech mechanism and the tubular magazine. This became the Henry rifle of 1860, which was manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company and used in considerable numbers by certain Union army units during the American Civil War. The Henry rifle ensured New Haven Arms' success, and together with the Spencer rifle, established the lever-action repeater in the firearms market.

In 1866, Benjamin Henry, angered over what he believed was inadequate compensation, attempted to have the Connecticut legislature award ownership of New Haven Arms to him. Oliver Winchester, hastening back from Europe, forestalled the move and reorganized New Haven Arms yet again as the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.[2] Winchester had the basic design of the Henry rifle completely modified and improved to become the first Winchester rifle, the Model 1866, which fired the same .44 caliber rimfire cartridges as the Henry but had an improved magazine (with the addition of a loading gate on the right side of the receiver, invented by Winchester employee Nelson King) and, for the first time, a wooden forend. The Henry and the 1866 Winchester shared a unique double firing pin that struck the head of the rimfire cartridge in two places when the weapon was fired, increasing the chances that the fulminate in the hollow rim would ignite the 28 or so grains of black powder inside the case.[citation needed] 

Another extremely popular model was rolled out in 1873. The Model 1873 introduced the first Winchester center fire cartridge, the .44-40 WCF (Winchester Center Fire). These rifle families are commonly known as the "Gun That Won the West."

The Model 1873 was followed by the Model 1876 (or "Centennial Model"), a larger version of the '73, which used the same toggle-link action and brass cartridge elevator used in the Henry. It was chambered for longer, more powerful cartridges such as .45-60 WCF, .45-75 WCF, and .50-95 WCF. The action was not long enough to allow Winchester to achieve their goal of producing a repeating rifle capable of handling the .45-70 Government cartridge; this would not happen until they began manufacture of the Browning-designed Model 1886.

Oliver Winchester died in December 1880; his son and successor, William Wirt Winchester, died of tuberculosis four months later. William Wirt Winchester's widow, Sarah Winchester, used her inheritance and income from the company to build what is now known as the Winchester Mystery House. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Winchester

The story and insane history of the mansion really starts with Sara Winchester.

Sarah Winchester, 1865 

Sarah Lockwood Pardee was the fifth child and fourth daughter born to parents Leonard and Sarah Pardee (née Burns) in the summer of 1839 at 29 Orange Street in New Haven, Connecticut. Though she was formally called Sarah, she was named after her paternal grandmother, Sally Pardee Goodyear and was called Sallie all her life and signed all her correspondence using this name. She had four sisters and one brother who survived to adulthood. One sister, her namesake Sarah E. Pardee, and Leonard and Sarah's firstborn died from cholera when she was a year old. The name Lockwood was Pardee's father's longtime friend Lockwood Sanford who was a well-known New England wood engraver. 

Winchester's father was a skilled craftsman who had established a mill and wood shop called Leonard Pardee & Company.

 Growing up, Pardee was educated, had a private French tutor, and took music lessons.[3][2] Her family had progressive ideas for the time regarding religion and philanthropic choices, publicly expressing their opinions on such things as abolition, suffrage and animal rights.[1] As an adult Sallie supported her sister Belle Merriman's animal rights activism, and is known to have chastised a boy who sought permission to hunt robins on her property.[4] 

Pardee lived with her family on Brown Street from 1853, when she was 14, until 1862 when she was married. 

According to Mary Jo Ignoffo in her book Captive of the Labyrinth, Winchester was an independent thinker who was not as social as her siblings as a teenager.

Marriage and family deaths

William Wirt Winchester portrait 

During the American Civil War, Pardee, who was under five feet tall and then twenty-three, married William Wirt Winchester, then twenty-five, on Tuesday, September 30, 1862. William was the son of a wealthy shirt manufacturer who would later become known for being the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The two had previously been childhood friends and neighbors.

Because of building material shortages due to the Civil War, the two lived with William's parents on Court Street, New Haven, but hey hoped to build their own home on Prospect Hill. After the war, in 1866, the new home began construction.

On June 15, 1866, Sarah gave birth to a baby girl they named Annie Pardee Winchester, in honor of William's late sister, who had died during childbirth. The child suffered from marasmus and died within a month of her birth. The couple was devastated and withdrew from society, with Sarah remaining secluded for nearly a year.

During the construction of their home on Prospect Hill, the Winchesters embraced learning about architecture and design. Architecture and design became life-long hobbies for Sallie, who also learned about real estate investment and financial strategies from William and her father-in-law. 

The house was completed in 1868, was approximately 20,000 square feet, had over twenty rooms with marble floors, decorative fireplaces and chandeliers, large bay windows, plasterwork ceilings, and a circular drive in front.

In June 1869, Sarah's father died, at the age of sixty, possibly from rheumatoid arthritis.

Between 1880 and 1881, Sarah lost three close family members: her mother died in May 1880, her father-in-law, Oliver Winchester, died in December that same year, and her husband died from tuberculosis in March 1881. 

After the loss of so many family members, Sarah spent time at the seashore, followed by a trip to Europe.

Inheritance

Shortly before his death, William made out bank drafts to his wife, totaling $7,500 and made her the executrix of his will. Sarah was forty years old when her husband died. She henceforth controlled 777 Winchester Repeating Arms Company shares which were valued at $77,700 at the time. Between 1880 and 1885, she earned dividends from the stock, which averaged $7,900 annually. With the death of her mother-in-law, Jane Winchester, in 1898, Sarah inherited a further 2,000 shares of Winchester Repeating Arms Company stock that was then worth about $400 per share.

California

After the loss of so many family members and after a physician recommended the dryer and warmer climate for her worsening rheumatoid arthritis, Winchester decided to move to California, which was touted, at the time, as a place with a good climate, soil, and relatively cheap land for sale. She had previously been to San Francisco with her husband and had enjoyed her visit.

In 1884, Mary Converse, her eldest sister, died of cancer, convincing Winchester's sisters that they too should move to California. Winchester paid for her sister Isabelle "Belle" Merriman and Estelle Gerard and their children's move. Another sister, Nettie Sprague also moved to California as her husband, Homer Sprague, became president of a college for young women in the San Francisco area. Winchester supported her relatives financially for the rest of their lives. 

Along with her sisters, her reins-man who drove her carriages, Frank Carroll, accompanied Winchester to California. Once in California, Winchester found Euthanasia Meade who became her personal physician, until Meade died in 1895. I, myself, and not quite sure I would choose a personal physician with the name Euthanasia, especially if I had lost so many loved ones already... 

Edward "Ned" Rambo, the San Francisco agent for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, showed Winchester properties in the Santa Clara Valley. 

Llanada Villa

The house that would eventually be named the Winchester Mystery House was purchased for $12,570 from John Hamm by Winchester in 1886 and was situated on a forty-five acre ranch in the Santa Clara Valley. She named the eight room farmhouse and property Llanada Villa, since the area reminded her of the Llanada Alavasa in Spain, a place that she and her husband had visited ten years earlier. At this property, Winchester was one of the first to grow fruit in the area. The first person Winchester hired was Rambo to become foreman of the farm, though he did also continue his duties at the Winchester office in San Francisco. In addition, she supplied housing on the property for Carroll's family. She hired local people to staff the house and farm, many of whom were from Europe, China and, later, Japan.

The house was located on a country lane named Santa Clara-Los Gatos Road. After Winchester died the road was renamed first Winchester Road then Winchester Boulevard. Her initial plan was to build a house to accommodate her whole family. This never happened partly due to the isolated location and partly due to the constant construction that would later follow. The only family member to live with her was her niece Maria "Daisy" Merriman who moved in when she was twenty-one in 1890.

Within the first six months, Ignoffo estimates that the house had increased in size to twenty-six rooms. She attended Expositions that inspired her interior and exterior design. As was typical of the time, the design included much ornamentation, including a statue of Hebe, which still stands at the home, intricately laid, patterned wood floors of a variety of hardwoods including teak and mahogany, embossed wall coverings that looked like leather or metal, ceilings decorated with stencils and moldings, German chandeliers, Austrian art glass, Asian furnishings and French paintings. 

The gardens were filled with ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers. It is estimated that Winchester had plants from over 110 countries in the villa gardens.

Winchester hired at least two architects, but they would not have been to the calibre she was used to from New Haven. Ignoffo speculates that this could be why she chose to run the construction project herself, seeking the advice of carpenters she hired. Her interest in architecture was evident by her subscription to journals including Architectural Record. She did all the drawings and design but did not have an overall plan. She worked room by room. If she was unhappy with the results, she would tear the section down to rebuild, or abandon it for a while before returning to work on it again. The result was a rambling maze.

The windows, which are pastel-colored, asymmetrically designed and sharply bevelled, were initially believed to be made by Tiffany & Co. Historian Jim Wolf believed that the windows were most likely made by glass artist John Mallon from Alexander Dunsmuir's company, the Pacific American Decorative Company, since this style of glass could also be found at Craigdarroch Castle in British Columbia, Canada. Wolf's theory was confirmed when an envelope with the Dunsmuir company seal on it, postmarked July 1894, was found within the walls of a dining room that was undergoing restoration. A note with Winchester's handwriting was on the envelope.

The upper-level windows have a spider-web tracery, a popular design of the time. Windows on the right and left side of a brick fireplace have Shakespearean quotes from Richard II and Troilus and Cressida. Many of the windows purchased were never installed and are stored in the house.[9] 

After 1896, Winchester added stories to the then two story home. In some areas the home was five stories high and she added a seven-story tower that the San Jose News said was rebuilt sixteen times before Winchester was satisfied. She added state of the art plumbing and electrical systems for the time. She built an indoor garden with an irrigation system that watered the plants and sloping floors would channel the water to trap doors, which would then be piped to outdoor flower boxes. She installed an annunciator, a common, early version of intercom, to call servants. 

The Construction of the home was often delayed or stopped for months at a time.

A Letter from Winchester to Jennie Bennett, June 11, 1898 states:

I am constantly having to make upheaval for some reason. For instance, my upper hall which leads to the sleeping apartment was rendered so unexpectedly dark by a little addition that after a number of people had missed their footing on the stairs I decided that safety demanded something to be done so, over a year ago, I took out a wall and put in a skylight; Then I had to have plastering done and as that could not well be done in the heat which succeeded, I had to wait for cooler weather; then I became rather worn and tired out and dismissed all the work-men to take such rest as I might through the winter.[9] 

Captive of the Labyrinth, revised and updated, by Mary Jo Ignoffo

The unusual design was not uncommon at the time. Elizabeth Colt, in Hartford, constructed a home over many years that was described as rambling and asymmetrical. Homes being constructed in the San Francisco area, such as Haas-Lilienthal, were described as "crazy quilts" being patched together.

She focused on her construction project instead of giving in to local rumors and insults. She kept tradespeople working during the many years the house was constructed. The house is Victorian, with Eastlake and Stick design elements. The original color was blue, but was later changed to yellow. 

Winchester, over time, increased the size of her property around Llanada Villa from the original 45 acres to 160 acres.

In 1893, Winchester's youngest sister, Estelle Pardee Gerard, became ill. She was moved from San Francisco to Llanada Villa with the hope that the dryer climate would improve her health. It did not, and in January 1894, Gerard died from cirrhosis despite being treated by Winchester's personal physician, Meade.[7] 

1906 San Francisco earthquake

It is unknown if Winchester was at Llanada Villa during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that caused tremendous damage to the building. Just prior to the earthquake, based on letters to her lawyer Leib, Winchester was at her home in Atherton.

 Damage to Llanada Villa included a seven-story tower, the third and fourth floor additions and most of the chimneys collapsed. The plaster, wood and tile work was destroyed. Winchester had the debris cleared and the home made safe but no further building occurred. This left the home with water pipes protruding, second story doors opening to nothing where balconies once were, and staircases going up to a ceiling where once another level existed. Only essential repairs were done to the home after the earthquake.[2][14] Because she stopped construction on her home and did not rebuild, local newspapers declared her a madwoman. The only thing she added to the home was an elevator in 1916.

As preciously stated, In 1890, Winchester's niece, Marion Merriman (called Daisy) aged around twenty-one, came to live with her. Merriman became Winchester's administrative assistant, 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.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House

Now that we know Sarah’s history, not only that of herself, but the more mundane side of the property and house originally referred to as Llanada Villa, Sarah Winchester herself was considered to be an architectural pioneer of her time...but there didn’t always seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason when it came to the renovations of this sprawling estate.

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.

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 over time 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 that has 44 steps that only rises ten feet was built

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 

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 off of 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. Captive of the Labyrinth author Mary Jo Ignoffo wrote that tour guides are required to follow a script emphasizing fabrications and inaccuracies. According to Ignoffo, one guide lamented, 

"I feel so torn because I have to tell people untruths! Every time I go through the house and have to talk about 13s and other 'kooky' things, my heart breaks a little for Sarah....I have to bite my tongue every time I hear a guest say, 'what a nutcase.'" 

Legends and lore 

Winchester's story has been embellished over the years by various rumors, hyperbole, and myths, and popular writers have misrepresented or invented details about the house and its owner in order to enhance the legend.

Inheritance 

Claims of Winchester inheriting as much as $20 million and earning $1,000 per day in royalties from her inheritance can be found in tourist literature purchased at the Winchester Mystery House. Ignoffo states that her husband's estate in 1881 was valued at $362,330 (equal to $11,439,633 today), but this amount included approximately $300,000 of stock that Winchester would only inherit when her mother-in-law died, which did not happen until 1898. With the addition of her husband's Winchester Repeating Arms Company shares, she owned a total of 777 shares valuing $77,700, which paid average dividends of $7,770 annually between 1880 and 1885. 

Moving to California 

Myths around her decision to move from the east coast to California are thought to have originated from author Susy Smith in her book Prominent American Ghosts, published in 1967. In Smith's version of events, Winchester visited a medium in Boston named Adam Coons who told her that she and her family were being haunted by the ghosts of people killed by Winchester rifles, that she must construct a house for these ghosts, and that she must never complete the project. This assertion of Winchester meeting with a medium has been repeated in brochures and articles ever since. According to Ignoffo, while it is plausible that Winchester did meet with a psychic medium since it was a common practice for women of her status at the time, there is no evidence that she did so.

Emily Mace, a scholar, and others have looked through issues of Banner of Light, which was a spiritualist periodical, and in the Boston city directories, which listed spiritualists in the area, and no one named Adam Coons could be found. 

Neverending construction 

Beginning around 1895, Winchester started appearing in newspapers. The articles in these local papers were filled with speculation about Winchester and the ongoing construction of her San Jose home. Her lack of interaction with neighbors and the known fact that her money came from the firearms industry fed into a superstitious narrative, despite large, ornate homes being commonly built by the wealthy. The newspapers declared that the reason that the construction was ongoing was that Winchester feared she would have bad luck if the construction would stop. This theory eventually grew into stories that she believed she would die if construction stopped.

Strange Story: A Woman Who Thinks She'll Die When Her House Is Built.

Ten years ago the handsome residence was apparently ready for occupancy, but improvements and additions are constantly being made, for the reason, it is said, that the owner of the house believes that when it is entirely completed, she will die. This superstition has resulted in the construction of a maze of domes, turrets, cupolas and towers, covering territory enough for a castle.

San Jose Daily News, March 29, 1895.

In the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), when it added the Winchester home to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, they incorrectly stated that the construction lasted 38 years, and reiterated that Winchester believed she must continue building or she would die. HABS also incorrectly listed the purchase date as 1884 when county records state the purchase was not until 1886.

There were some articles published against the superstitious slant. In one, an unidentified acquaintance refuted these superstitious accusations, stating that they were nonsense and that Winchester was an unusually sensible woman.

Only Gossip: No Truth in the Story of the Winchester Palace.

If she wants to build a castle on her premises near Campbell, she should be permitted to do so without ascribing her motives to foolish superstitions. If people of wealth who settle in Santa Clara are to be ridiculed when they spend their money lavishly, we might as well put up the bars...After awhile the lady might not want to have a nail driven about the place for fear that someone would run off to a newspaper with a cock-and-bull story. 

San Jose Evening News, 1897, acquaintance of Sarah Winchester.

While Winchester lived at the Atherton house, her relatives stayed at the San Jose home for almost a year in 1915 to attend the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, which ran for nine months. No construction happened during this time and the staff closed up the house for a week to attend the fair. 

Ignoffo states that there is no evidence that Winchester was compelled to keep her construction project running and preferred to focus on estate planning.

Labyrinth construction 

Winchester Mystery House hallway staircase to nowhere Doorway to nowhere 

The belief that Winchester built her house in its strange, maze-like manner to confuse and keep spirits from harming her and that her sanity was questionable started in the mid-1890s and has grown in scale since her death. The doors and windows that open to nothing, the unusually shallow stairs, the stairs that end in a ceiling, interior barred windows and trap doors in the floor are used to confirm Winchester's spirituality and poor state of mind. According to paranormal investigators Nickell and Ignoffo these house oddities have simple explanations. The barred windows were previously exterior windows blocked off as the house additions grew. The doors and windows that opened to nothing resulted from the 1906 earthquake and the severe damage that happened to the house. The small steps were built because of Winchester's declining health. The trap doors were constructed in a greenhouse room where excess water could run and be piped to an outdoor garden. After the damage from the earthquake, Winchester did not rebuild the house.

Bell tower

The tower bell was used to call workmen and to serve as a fire alarm on the property. According to Joe Nickell, fanciful claims later arose that it was used to "summon spirits".

Ghostly music 

Winchester pipe organ 

According to Joe Nickell, claims that local residents heard "ghostly music" coming from the house are explained by the fact that Winchester often played the pump organ in the Grand Ballroom when she was unable to sleep.

Parties for spirits 

According to Joe Nickell, claims that Winchester held parties for the spirits in her home that featured lavish dishes served on gold plates kept in a safe are fanciful and unsubstantiated. Nickell wrote that after her death when the safe was opened, no gold plates were found, only personal mementos and a lock of her baby's hair.

Gun guilt 

At the turn of the twentieth century, the most common belief, that still persists, regarding Winchester's house building was that she felt tremendous guilt resulting from all the deaths caused by Winchester rifles and from inheriting so much money from the arms company. Ignoffo claims that it is unlikely Winchester had any guilt, since in the 1800s the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was seen as a success, and weapons were viewed as a necessity for survival.

Health and superstition edit 

Ignoffo and paranormal investigator Joe Nickell report that as Winchester aged, particularly after 1900 as her health issues grew worse, which included arthritis, missing teeth and neuritis, she became more private and reclusive. This reluctance to appear in public or to socialize with her peers gave her a mysterious reputation feeding the gossip in the community and local newspapers which fuelled the rumor that she was superstitious. Winchester's companion of many years, Miss Henrietta Severs states Winchester had no superstitious beliefs. Winchester's relatives, employees and gardeners never made claims that she was superstitious, guilt-ridden or crazed.

All her employees were named as beneficiaries in her will. 

Presidents 

Winchester twice declined to host a U.S. president. First, in 1901, President William McKinley visited, and a committee to arrange accommodations was formed, but Winchester did not extend an invitation. The president and his official coaches drove past the mansion without stopping. Second, in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt visited the area and the legend states that Winchester would not open a locked gate to let the president in; it was not true as the president had no interest in meeting Winchester as stopping at the home could have been used to promote rifle sales. He did not want to be seen endorsing any product. Despite there being plausible reasons for her not hosting the presidents, these instances furthered rumors that she was not of sound mind and was a crank.

The number thirteen 

According to lore, architectural features such as thirteen bedrooms, thirteen bathrooms, and thirteen windows in certain rooms are due to Winchester's apparent fascination with the number thirteen. However, according to carpenter James Perkins, these items and “the more irregular features, which have made the house a world-famed oddity were built after Mrs. Winchester's death.” The first time that this apparent superstition appeared was in an article printed in 1929. Subsequently, it has been mentioned in most articles about Winchester and her house. 

 Nightly séances

Winchester's staff, who spent every day with her, stated she had no interest in séances and there is no record of them being held in the house. Nevertheless, a false urban legend has arisen claiming she held nightly séances in the blue room or in a closet by herself from midnight until two in the morning, talking to ghosts about what construction should be accomplished the following day. In addition to the lack of records found about seances at Llanada Villa, the closet séances were unlikely given that they were usually social events and not done by individuals and records show that the blue room was the gardener's bedroom. 

Hauntings

Visitors and tour guides claim to have experienced cold spots, footsteps, cooking smells, odd sounds, whispering, doors and windows slamming, and feelings of being watched. Investigator Joe Nickell explains that they could be the result of confirmation bias and suggestibility due to publicity and rumors that the house is the most haunted house in the United States or even the world; or that over a thousand ghosts reside in the home. Nickell reports one example where a shadowy figure thought to be a ghost turned out to be a staff member at the house. According to Nickell, there is no evidence that the house is haunted, and that alleged whispering sounds can be imagined or due to wind. Additionally, it is common for large, rambling, and drafty old houses to have temperature variations, and the house's settling and exterior temperature changes can explain odd noises. 

Never the less, despite all the paranormal folklore and the historical accounts that refute it, the house has been extremely popular and used or referenced quite often in popular culture: 

• In 1960, the Winchester Mystery House was used as the Cyrus Zorba House in the movie 13 Ghosts directed by William Castle. 
• In 1966, the house was featured on the album cover of the California rock group Count Five. 
• The tale of the Winchester Mystery House was inspiration for The Haunted Mansion Disney ride, the first of which opened in 1969 in California. 
• The house is the primary setting for Michaela Roessner's 1993 science fiction novel Vanishing Point, in which it becomes the home of a squatter community following the disappearance of most of the human race.
• The Winchester house is the setting of a subplot in the 1997 Tim Powers fantasy novel Earthquake Weather.
• The story in the 2001 miniseries "Rose Red" created by Stephen King was inspired by the lore surrounding Sarah Winchester and the Winchester Mystery House. 
• The Haunting of Winchester is a ghost-story musical by composer Craig Bohmler and writer Mary Bracken Phillips that takes place in the house. It was commissioned by the San Jose Repertory Theatre for its 25th anniversary season, and premiered in September–October 2005. 
• The British paranormal TV investigation show "Most Haunted Live!" conducted a seven-hour live TV investigation of the house for the Travel Channel on Monday, October 19, 2007.
• In 2011, for the fourth episode of season five of Ghost Adventures the Winchester Mystery house was featured.
• For the 2012 episode of MythBusters "Smell of Fear", the build team visited the Winchester Mystery House to look around and later watch "one of the scariest movies of all time" on a television that they set up in the grand ballroom, with the purpose of determining if fear does smell different by gathering their sweat samples for testing at the end of the night. While the team watched the movie in the dark, the show's crew randomly made loud noises to increase the frightening experience.
• Sarah Winchester, Phantom Opera, is a 24-minute film by French filmmaker Bertrand Bernello, which had its North American premiere at the 54th New York Film Festival in October 2016.
• In 2016 (season 1) and 2018 (season 4), the Winchester Mystery House was featured in BuzzFeed Unsolved Supernatural which involved Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej staying in the house overnight.
• In 2017, the house was featured on an episode of Ghost Brothers.
• In 2017, features of the house are referenced in I the Mighty's song, "111 Winchester."
• In 2017, filming took place on the property for the film Winchester, featuring Helen Mirren as Sarah Winchester. The film was released on February 23, 2018. In trailers and on posters, the film is noted to be based on a true story, despite evidence that much of the stories in the movie are disputed in Mary Jo Ignoffo's book, Captive of the Labyrinth. 
• In 2018, the Lore podcast, episode 79, produced an episode called "Locked Away" that described the Winchester Mansion.
• In 2019, Criminal podcast produced an episode about the Winchester Mansion titled "The Widow and the Winchester".
• House of Penance, a Dark Horse comic by Peter Tomasi, Ian Bertram, and Dave Stewart is "...perhaps the first biographical horror graphic novel" that illustrates the house as haunted and Sarah as obsessed. 
• 'Mrs Winchester's Gun Club' a novel by Douglas Bruton (2019) which is an adult fiction concerning Sarah Winchester and telling a group of stories voiced by the victims of Winchester guns.
• In January 2021, an episode of the award-winning podcast This Paranormal Life was released discussing the Winchester Mystery House. The hosts deemed all claims of haunting to be false.

 Now, the question is...is the Winchester Mystery House actually haunted? If so, why? According to actual history, a lot of the paranormal claims are false, so who, or what, could potentially be causing the supposed supernatural activity? Could it be due to the fictitious tales that are consistently told, creating a haunting in and of itself due to the repeated tellings and belief by SO many that these stories are true? Creating a Tulpa of sorts? A thoughtform that has come alive because there are enough people who believe and give it energy to thrive? Or is it all really nonsense and individuals are going to believe what they want to believe and convince themselves of things that don’t exist and never have?

Here are 5 quick spooky stories that may make you consider what is real and what isn’t when it comes to this labyrinth of a property. 

https://patch.com/california/milpitas/5-spooky-tales-famous-winchester-mystery-house

1. Hall of Fires

Some employees who worked at the mansion for Mrs. Winchester are said to have stayed on after their deaths. There are footsteps heard shuffling to and from Mrs. Winchester’s room. Her servants? There’s an apparition with black hair who is frequently spotted pushing a wheelbarrow. Perhaps that laborer is what a present-day worker encountered in the Hall of Fires, so named for its many fireplaces. Prior to the mansion opening for tours one day, the worker was on a ladder. He felt a tap on his shoulder, turned and — no one was there. The worker refocused his attention on his task. That’s when he felt what seemed like a hand pressing against his back. He was still the only one in the room. But not for long — that worker got out of there fast, leaving the otherworldly laborer alone to handle the job.

2.Sarah’s sealed room

The 1906 earthquake that destroyed San Francisco also caused serious damage to Mrs. Winchester’s house. In fact, she was trapped in a room until her workers were able to set her free. Deeply shaken by her experience, Mrs. Winchester had the room sealed. It stayed that way until last year when the room was opened and added to tours. On one of those tours, a guide gathered participants in the room to explain the history and point out the objects found inside more than 100 years after being sealed. The guide heard a loud sigh in the hallway and went outside to bring in the straggler. She didn’t find any tourists, but did see a small, ghostly form gliding around the corner. The guide quickly followed. She still didn’t see anyone, yet she heard another sigh. Perhaps Mrs. Winchester had used the sealed room as a refuge from tourists

3.Surveillance video of ghost?

What happens during the witching hour at the Winchester Mystery House? Strange things, if surveillance video is to be believed. A supposed surveliannce video from the Winchester Mystery House Facenook page of the outside of the house shows what appears to be light orbs or some sort of apparition on the top floor balcony.

4. What’s in that photo?

Just as unexpected things turn up on video, the same is true of photographs. The Winchester Mystery House’s own Public Relations Coordinator reports that he took several photos of the mansion in 2015. When he downloaded the photos he deleted what he didn’t need. But, one caught his eye. In one window of the house, Tim O’Day spotted something. Was it a shadow? A reflection of a cloud? Or something else? 

Visitors to the Winchester Mystery House also report taking photos with strange shapes in the windows. A few even shared their snapshots on Facebook. If you visit, study all photos carefully before hitting the delete button. You never know what you will find! 

5. Helen Mirren as Sarah Winchester

This isn’t really spooky, but we had to mention that this house is so famous that feature filmmakers from Australia are making a movie about Sarah Winchester with Helen Mirren starring as the heiress. Most of the filming was done in Australia, but Mirren came to San Jose earlier this year to film exteriors. During her visit she told a columnist with the Los Angeles Times, “If you have made a fortune out of death, you have to pay the price, a psychological price and a spiritual price. And I can only imagine that people who make fortunes to this day from selling armaments have pause at some point, especially if they are Christians: ‘Am I going to pay?’”

The movie is scheduled for release in February 2018.

Friday the 13th

Have you looked at the calendar? This Friday is Friday the 13th. Mrs. Winchester was said to be fascinated by the number 13. Every Friday the 13th, the bell tolls 13 times on the 13th hour, 1 p.m. If you stop by to video the event, remember to check all video and photos carefully before deleting. You never know who will show up unexpectedly in your keepsakes.

Let it also be mentioned that if you are a fan of Stephen King and his Rose Red story, Elen Rimbauer’s house is said to be modeled after the Winchester Mystery house. The movies and stories are a really good way to get a scary horror take on the idea of a house that never ceased to finish its own construction, but it’s just fiction...most likely just like the stories surrounding the Winchester House.

What do you think? Is the property and house haunted? Are the stories told now truth? Or is it just more fantastical fiction to sell tickets and make money off of? Have you ever been to the house? If you have, I would love to hear your stories over on the Occult Archives page on Facebook under the post for this episode. 

As for me, I think I would like for it to be actually haunted, and like I said, maybe there is something to it as far as a “thoughtform” goes, meaning us human beings have created our own sort of haunting with our beliefs, but I don’t think any spooky occurrences have anything to do with Sarah and her construction of the house itself, nor does it have anything to do with a potential “curse” due to her husband’s involvement with a weapons company and what weapons are notorious for doing.

But I could be wrong…let’s just hope I’m not.