You have been hoodwinked! You have been bamboozled! Join us today to learn the truth behind the hauntings of the historical Winchester Mystery House and also enjoy an Oddee Update on cases like the Delphi Murder and the Lady of the Dunes.
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Music Credit:
"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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"NewsSting" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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Main Theme:
"Dream Catcher" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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Episode 19: You Have Been Lied To: The Winchester Mystery House
- Hello and Welcome to The Odder podcast. I’m your host Madison Paige and today we are taking a much awaited trip to one of the most famous haunted houses on the map. This is a special episode as this is a place I have actually visited so I’m ready to give you the full experience of the Winchester Mystery House and you’ll all be shocked because you have been absolutely BAMBOOZLED. I hope you're comfortable with cramped passages, tiny stairs, and getting really chummy with your tour mates as we set out for the sight together. Let’s go!
- Hello again and welcome back everyone. How’s everyone's week been? It has been a bombshell of a week in true crime and we will be doing a dip into an Oddee Update but first, how did everyone like the last episode? Do you get a little creepy and crawly imagining what a book bound in human skin would feel like? Did you get a little more on top of your lotion routine? Did you? Be honest? If you really enjoyed it, please drop a rating and review. If you want your own personalized episode topic, you can send me an email at theodderpod@gmail.com. I am getting some requests and I’m excited to crack into them! I am really excited for this episode as I actually got the chance to visit this place! I actually took this trip with a cousin of mine who I’ve been planning this trip with since we were kids. Shout out to her because I definitely tripped on the tiny stairs and crashed into her more than once. Thanks for holding me up girl! I love visiting spooky places and I’m always looking for excuses to plan a trip so if there is some sinister place that you want a first hand account of, send me a suggestion! Please note though that I do not have enough street cred yet to go to places shut down to the public nor do I have the cajones to break into abandoned buildings so keep it in the boundaries, kids. But without much further ado, let’s jump in to our Oddee Update.
- Just a revival for those who Don’t know, the Oddee Update is a quick little blast on some developments and news in the true crime and odder world.
- Our First Story: a Man has finally been charged in connection to The Delphi Murders. Indiana State Police announced 50-year-old Richard M. Allen is under arrest in the murders of Abby Williams and Libby German. Allen has been charged with two counts of felony murder. Abby Williams and Libby German were last seen on February 13th, 2017. The girls had gone for a walk on the historic Delphi Trail but failed to come out the other side. Searchers would eventually find their bodies a day later on February 14. Not much information has been released about the crime but two sketches and a video found on the phone of one of the girls showing an eerie subject who can be heard saying “down the hill” have puzzled the public for years. While how he was tied to the case has yet to be revealed, Allen, a CVS worker local the area the girls went missing from, does bear a striking resemblance to one of the sketches. Allen’s court date is currently scheduled for MArch 20th, 2023 and he has entered a plea of not guilty.
- The Odder will be doing a thorough episode on this case once more details have been released.
- Our next story: a Nearly 50 year old Jane Doe has finally been identified. A nude body found by a girl hiking with her family on July 26th 1974 has at long last been identified as Ruth Marie Terry, 37 of tennessee. She was found on Race Point Beach where she had died from a blow to the head. The killer had removed her hands and nearly removed her head. At the time, detectives canvassed motels and boarding houses but were unable to identify her and she was dubbed the Lady of the Dunes. She was said by the F.B.I. to have been the oldest unidentified homicide victim in Massachusetts. She was identified through a DNA sample from her biological son using investigative genealogy. No news has yet been released about her suspected killer.
- The Odder will also be doing an episode for her.
- Finally, we have another body who has finally been given a name. The body of a young boy was found in rural Washington County in a very distinctive hard shell suitcase embossed with a Las Vegas decal was identified as Cairo Ammar Jordan of Atlanta, Georgia. Cairo was discovered on April 16th and appears to have died of electrolyte imbalance. Dejuane Anderson, the boy's mother is believed to be involved in the death of the 5 year old. Police say she believed he was a demon and after his death, she placed the body in a suitcase and left it in a wooded area. Anderson is currently missing and is described as a black woman with short, dark brown hair who is 5’5 and 135 pounds. She is known to wear wigs and hair extensions. Her last known location was Los Angeles, California.
- Well that's all for the Oddee Update. As more things come out or develop with various cases, I’ll come back from time to time with another one.But for right now, let’s head out to San Jose, California to a towering house of much suspicion.
- On every ghost hunting show, every wikipedia article of the most haunted places on earth, and on every podcast worth its salt in the paranormal genre, you would be shocked to not see the well known and well respected Winchester Mystery House. A sprawling mansion located in the heat of California well known for its staircases that lead to nowhere, its doors that open to dead drops, and its proprietor veiled in mystery. The truth of what is hiding behind the long hallways lined with fireplaces and stained glass has been passed from gossip to ghost story for the enjoyment and profit of many but how much truth do these stories actually hold? Are the halls of this towering structure haunted by the victims of those murdered by the rifle named for it, are the spirits drawn to the seance tables and mediums who visited, or is it all so much more complicated than that?
- Sara Lockwood Pardee was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1840. She entered the world to upper class parents and was thus blessed with a gifted upbringing. She learned four languages and was admitted to the Young Ladies Collegiate Institute at Yale College. She was a capable woman and when it came time for her to settle with a husband, her family wanted only the best. Through their church, The Pardee’s introduced Sara, who was also called Sallie affectionately, to William Wirt Winchester, only son and air to Oliver Winchester, a successful firearms manufacturer. Now I don’t think I need to go into too much detail with this, most everyone knows what a Winchester Rifle is. But for those of you lacking in your firearms history lesson, The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was notable for being one of the first to mass produce firearms with the ability to fire multiple rounds without the need to reload. The 1873 model was so popular with settlers that it was widely used during the American Indian wars. This success led to the Winchester’s great fortune.
- William and Sarah hit it off and married in September of 1862. Four years into the marriage, Sarah gave birth to a daughter she named Annie Pardee Winchester. Unfortunately, the happiness of the new baby would not last. Just 40 days after her birth, Annie would die of Marasmus, a condition in which the body suffers malnutrition due to its inability to metabolize protein. Sarah never quite recovered from the loss of her baby. This tragedy would be the start to many as in the year 1880, William’s father Oliver would die leaving the company in the hands of his son but within just a year, William would also perish of Tuberculosis leaving Sarah alone.
- The sudden deaths of both her husband and father in law left Sarah in a rare spot for a woman at that time. She came into possession of income that was completely hers. Although the full fortune didn't come to her until her Mother in law’s death in 1898, the money did little to ease her grief. Now here is where the true story departs from the fictional tale. Now every ghost show and booklet will tell you the tale that Sarah was haunted by the spirits of the dead and was told to go build a house and never stop lest the spirits come to kill her too. This story of a medium stroking a crystal ball and telling Sarah to build for her life actually originated from the book Prominent American Ghosts which was published in 1967. In this specific story, the medium had the name of Adam Coons and while visiting with mediums was a common social practice of the time, there is no evidence that this meeting ever occurred. A browse through the issues of Banner of Light, a spiritualist periodical of the time, show no mention of an Adam Coons. Rather, the truth of it is that in 1884, following the death of her eldest sister, Sarah began developing rheumatoid arthritis and her doctor suggested that a warmer and drier climate would improve her health. Sarah apparently found comfort in California from happy memories of traveling to San Francisco with her husband in the 1870s and was bolstered by the mild weather and health benefits that were advertised in California.
- Another common misconception is that Sarah made this move alone and preferred her solitude. The truth was that she invited her three remaining sisters to follow and they did in 1885.
- In 1886, Edward Rambo, a San Francisco agent for the Winchester Repeating Arms company took Sarah for a tour of Santa Clara valley looking for a home. Which, Oof trying to help your boss find a house. They settled on a forty five acre ranch for sale near San Jose where a two story- eight room farm house stood. Now you may be thinking, Ah-ha, here we go! This is where the ghost building comes in right? The ghost plaguing her in the night? Actually, once again you have been tricked! Sarah and William had actually been fond of architecture and interior design and had indulged in this hobby in a house in New haven. When Sarah bought the farmhouse, she had originally hired two architects but later dismissed them, deciding to tap into these old memories and skills she had practiced with her husband. She designed the rooms one by one, overseeing everything and seeking advice from carpenters she hired. This may have been the start of rumors that Sarah was haunted as while her house was on par with others of its time, a woman leading a project like this was extremely uncommon. People may have found it easier to believe that she had demons on her shoulders than that she was simply a wealthy woman pursuing her hobby.
- And pursue it she did. She was well known to rebuild and abandon construction if the progress wasn't up to her standards or her tastes had changed. This resulted in the maze-like design of the house. It was a continuous project, a way to keep her mind and hands busy. She never tore the house down to make it cohesive, that wasn't her point. A seven story tower was torn down and rebuilt sixteen times alone. Five total levels were added onto the original house in different areas leading to an almost stacked look. This labyrinth design would later be rumored to confuse the ghost that haunted her but the reality was that she simply began and ended projects and additions whenever she wanted. She could afford to, she had the money.
- However, the house was never in constant construction. Although the rumors are that she had to keep building or the spirits would find her, the reality is quite different. Sarah filled her days with projects and ideas but she took breaks, sometimes lengthy ones. One notable instance was a period of a year when some relatives came to stay in 1915 to attend the Panama-Pacific International Exposition which ran for nine months. No construction happened during this time.
- The house was beautiful and lavish and fit all of Sarah’s delights including stained glass windows, chandeliers, a prelude to an intercom system, and a massive pipe organ that Sarah was known to play at night when she couldn't sleep although this would later be attributed to Ghost Music by believers. There were chandeliers from Germany, art glass from Austria, furnishings from Asia, and paintings from France.She had an indoor garden with slanted floors to carry excess water to trap doors that would shuttle it outside. Even the first signs of a modern indoor shower can be found. She had the means and the time, she denied herself nothing. At the height of its construction, the house boasted 500 rooms. Now one of the most discussed features of the home is the 44 stairs that rise ten feet. This is featured everywhere and let me tell you after walking up them, it is cramped, it is tight, and if you have big ole skis like I do, you are risking an embarrassing fall at every step but I’m going to drop a fact on you that not only explains the stairs but a lot of other small oddities about the house. Sarah Winchester was four feet ten inches tall. She was a teeny tiny woman with arthritis. You think she was clearing steps? She had teeny tiny steps that covered short distances and ramps that curved in tight corners because she was a little bitty lady with money who only had to appease herself in the designs of her house and she chose comfort. The stairs in the servants quarters are normal sized. It’s just the stairs that Sarah would have used that are little because so was she. Four feet ten is tiny, that is a small lady, she is a borrower.
- Speaking of these steps, there is a set that leads into the servants quarters, a place where a lady of the house had no reason to treat but Sarah was notably fond of her workers and she did not discriminate between races. She happily hired those that others would shun or attempt to keep and she spent time with these people. In fact, after her death, all of her employees were named as beneficiaries. She paid them extremely well, they had excellent accommodations, and those steps alone prove that Sarah visited with them. Sarah very well may have built a family after she lost her own. Many rumors have her as being this reclusive, self sustaining woman but the truth of it is while she did withdraw from public after 1900 when her health grew worse, she was never alone. She had the people she cared about. And these companions revealed shocking info. Winchester's relatives, employees and gardeners never made claims that she was superstitious, guilt-ridden or crazed. Winchester's companion of many years, Miss Henrietta Severs states Winchester had no superstitious beliefs. She wasn't torn apart by the guilt of the guns because they were seen as necessities and the company was a success. She did not throw parties for spirits and staff stated that there were never seances held in the house. Sarah had no interest in them. The famous seance room was actually later shown on records to be the bedroom of the Gardner. I don’t think Sarah, who cared so much for her employees, would be ousting him from his bed every night to hold seances she didn't believe in. You have been lied to. You have been tricked. You have been told of this mysterious lady and her haunted house but the truth of the matter is Sarah Winchester was a woman who lived a life fraught with tragedy and chose to spend her remaining life doing something that made her happy and filling her home with a family she built. 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. But all of this can be attributed to an old house and years of being told this is a haunted house so you should experience these things. It’s falling apart because of an earthquake. That is actually the explanation for the stairs that lead to nowhere and the door with the dead drop. In 1905, an earthquake wrecked portions of the house. But at this point, Sarah was well into her golden years and instead of trying to rebuild these areas, she sealed them off. Stairs that once led to towers or attics that now lay crumbled on the ground, were sealed with a roof. Doors that used to lead to expansions were locked and left to their devices. No ghosts were tricked into falling into bushes. She simply did not fix damages caused by a natural disaster because she was too tired.
- I’m sorry if this is a supreme disappointment. You’ll also be disappointed to know the Winchester house is much smaller than it used to be. It is also being enclosed by an apartment complex because commercialism marches on. The House became a tourist attraction nine months after Sarah’s death in 1922. The house was in disrepair and considered to be of no value so a group of investors purchased it and leased it to John and Mayme Brown who, playing off the already prevalent rumors of the strange behavior of Sarah and the haunting of the house, turned it into an attraction. They altered and removed rooms to the home. Past neighbors, friends, and workers for Winchester were upset when they read about superstitious claims being made about the house and Sarah, and were upset the Browns were making money off of falsehoods. They claimed Sarah was spearheaded and savvier with finances and business than most men were. In 1973, Keith Kittle, a previous Disneyland employee became general manager, he had the house renovated and added a rifle museum. He advertised the house on billboards as a place where visitors could come face to face with a ghost. He increased visitor attendance and remained general manager until 1996. 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. Tour guides have even reported that they are required to follow a script emphasizing the fabrications and inaccuracies although the truth is well known now.
- My reaction to the place was one of disappointment. On top of the apartment complex now pressing in, an arcade style shooting range is now a part of the property as well as an escape room. The gift shop is full of the most random of items that have Winchester Mystery House smacked on them somewhere. I was most affronted by a crop top with a dipsy drawing of a bike with flowers in a basket with Winchesters Mystery House beneath it. I feel like it’s been cheapened. It is truly a tourist trap which is a shame because the house is beautiful and the tour was fun but I wish it was more about the house instead of a money grab for a faceless company still trying to use a woman's grief to push a tired narrative. If you are visiting San Francisco, go. But don’t center a trip on it.
- Whether or not you believe this version or enjoy the one of ghosts and seances matters little. What we can all agree on is that Sarah Whichester was an amazing woman. She suffered a terrible loss but chose to go on. She treated her staff with dignity and respect and respected herself and her comfort more than social standards. She left behind a beautiful house that I hope will last for centuries. Although I don't think anyone will weep if the tacky commercial facets slipped out of fashion. May we all feel as strong and self assured as Sarah did when we have need of it.
Well, that's all for this episode. So what do you think? Do you think there is any truth to the Haunting of The Winchester Mystery House? Would you go for a visit? What is your favorite ghost show that has been there? Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and leave a review. The Odder Pod may not be on twitter forever with what is going on with that but as I hardly use it, I don’t think it would be a major loss. The Odder Pod is now on TikTok. Come follow us there! Have a suggestion for a show? Send me an email at theodderpod@gmail.com with your request and whether you’d like me to mention your name, your alias, or nothing at all. Remember this is The Odder Side so give me something cool, creepy, or confusing to deep dive for you. If you liked the show, leave us a review! They really help! Side note, there is a storm going on so if you are picking that up in the background, just pretend it is the soothing sea. The Odder Podcast posts every other Thursday. Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time on The Odder side.