Winchester Mystery House: 38 Years & Still Not Finished
November 4, 2007 by Mary Jo Manzanares
Filed under Things to See & Do
I was in San Jose the other day, and it reminded me that I had not written about the Winchester Mystery House (525 South Winchester Boulevard, San Jose, California). While I had intended to write about it during the Halloween season, this is year-round attraction with a decidedly eerie bent.
The house is a Victorian mansion that was once owned by Sarah Winchester, of the Winchester Rifle fortune. After being told by a fortune teller that she would live as long as she continued to build onto her home — she did just that! Continued to build. And build. And build. For 38 years!
The was never any blueprints for this building. Instead, Sarah mapped out her plans on various scraps of paper and, on occasion, even a tablecloth. The resulting mansion was so complex in its structure and odd allocation of rooms that even poor Sarah needed a map to get around the place.
The 160 room mansion, while full of odd passageways and secret rooms, was actually quite architecturally progressive. It had modern heating, a sewer system, button-operated gas lights, three elevators, and 47 fireplaces. Originally the house was seven stories tall, but after the 1906 Earthquake it was reduced to only four stories. There are also two basements.
The house has approximately 40 bedrooms (some of the rooms seem to have an unidentifiable purpose), 13 bathrooms, 40 staircases (some of which lead nowhere as in the photo below), two ballrooms, five or six kitchens, 52 skylights, and is full of beautiful gold and silver chandeliers and Tiffany art glass windows. This is what money, approximated five and a half million dollars, bought back then (1884 – 1922).
A couple of tour options are available.
- The Mansion Tour is a guided tour of the interior of the mansion, and also includes a self-guided tour of the Victorian gardens, as well as admission to the Winchester Firearms Museum and the Antique Products Museum, both of which are located on the grounds. Admission is $23.95 for adults, $20.95 for seniors (65+), and $17.95 for children (6-12). Children under six are free when accompanied by an adult.
- The Behind the Scenes Tours is a retro-look at how life was when Sarah Winchester lived in the mansion. Admission is $20.95 for adults, $19.95 for seniors (65+), and $19.95 for children (10-12). Children under 10 are not permitted for safety reasons.
- The Estate Tour combines the Mansion Tour and the Behind the Scenes Tours. Admission is $28.95 for adults, $25.95 for seniors (65+) and children (10-12). Children under 10 are not permitted for safety reasons.
As I recall, each of the tours lasted approximately an hour.
Tours are offered daily from 9 am – 7 pm during the summer, and from 9 am – 5 pm during the rest of the year. There are holiday closures, so check before heading out there.
Photo credit: Winchester Mystery House
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I will always remember the staircase that went nowhere.
And it’s amazing craftsmanship, too!
Certainly seems worth a trip – this is the sort of thing I thought only the English would do!
The staircase leading to nowhere always gives me the creeps!
Thats a big house. Sarah would be lost forever in something like that.
I have never been there, but I heard that all the things that went nowhere, were to confuse evil spirits that cursed her family. It was said she went to a man (someone that knew about evil spirits) and the man said to leave were you are let you dead husband lead you somewhere and he led her to a house under construction. When her daughter dies only 2 weeks old she went crazy, then her husband died and left like 2 million dollars, she went to that guy. She built that house pretty much her whole life, but there was an earthquake that demolished half of the house, but she rebuit with a crew working 24/7. Then when she was like 83 she died in her sleep. There have been sayings that the house has 160 rooms, but it’s so complexed and confusing that nobody knows.
They say that spirits are trapped inside still today, crashing windows, turning doorknobs, and becoming so crazy they tear walls. I don’t belive in curses or spirits ect., but this story is creepy.
I know why there are stairs to nowhere. The how used to be 7 stories tall (in some areas). Those stairway(s) went to upper stories. By the famed early 1900s earthquake knocked it down, the house became 3 stories. The stairways where then boarded up (seeing that they now had no use since there was no 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th floor. Now it looks like there are random stairways. The wood (for the stairway ceiling) is obviously newer. The doorways to nowhere are actually a door to part of the house that was not built. Ms. Winchester was planning to add on to that are of the house (despite the elaborate exterior ).