#Winchester haunted house plus#

The main theory regarding the house’s construction is that guilt fueled the ongoing construction. Winchester was aware of how unusual the house was and even described it as looking as if a “crazy person” built it in a 1906 letter. Sarah reportedly held seances occasionally in a turret room now known as the “Witch’s Cap.” The morning after these seances, she would give the construction foreman plans to continue construction. Many visitors are fascinated by the vast collection of windows, more than 10,000, and the fact that some of the loveliest Tiffany stained glass is hidden away where no light can reach it. One cabinet door opens to a hive of 30 additional rooms. There is a vast network of secret passages twisting throughout the property. Instead of taking you to another floor, they lead right into the ceiling. Some of the staircases in this home are truly peculiar. As for the house, its construction grew to many inexplicable and bizarre details, including doors and staircases that lead nowhere and the number 13 baked into decorations.Īccording to “Everything You Need to Know About the Winchester Mystery House,” by the San Francisco Travel Association, Local children were also invited to play on the grounds where they were served ice cream. Sarah was also generous with the community and gave donations to orphanages, among other charities. Sarah was a generous employer and paid her servants almost twice the average rate. “Winchester Mystery House, 8:30 PM” by naotakem is licensed under CC BY 2.0Īs her estate grew, so did her eccentric reputation. The land grew to eventually hold apple, plum, and walnut tree orchards, which also added to Sarah’s income.

Crews worked around the clock and managed to transform the farmhouse into a seven-story mansion. As soon as she bought the house, she got to work immediately. Both inheritances left Sarah the owner of 50 percent of the company’s stock, which provided her with a $1,000 a day income. Her mother-in-law passed away in 1897 and left Sarah an additional 2,000 shares.

#Winchester haunted house plus#

Sarah inherited millions after her husband’s death plus 777 shares of stock in the rifle company. Winchester found the raw materials and had the funds to do whatever she wanted with it. In 1884, she purchased the house that would become the now famous, elaborate, and unusual Mystery House. Winchester left New Haven to visit a niece who lived in Menlo Park, CA.

The Winchesters lived in New Haven, Connecticut at the time.

The medium told Sarah that the only way to appease the spirits would be to move west and build a house for them. The medium also told her that the spirits caused the deaths of both her husband and daughter and that she may be next. Sarah contacted a spirit medium who told her that her family was haunted by the spirits of people killed by Winchester rifles. The Winchesters had a daughter, Annie, who passed away in 1866. William passed away in March of 1881 from tuberculosis. According to her biography page, “ Sarah Winchester: Woman of Mystery,” archived from the Winchester Mystery House website, Sarah Lockwood Winchester was married to William Wirt Winchester, whose father manufactured the Winchester rifle, known as “the gun that won the west.” Sarah was an accomplished musician and spoke three languages.