![]() Janan Boehme, the house's longtime historian, believes there's a logical explanation for the continual, maze-like construction Sarah commissioned during the second half of her life. ![]() While the upcoming film plays up Sarah's spiritualism with scenes like a séance that may or may not have taken place in the house's front turret, also called the "witch's cap," not everyone is convinced the heiress had otherworldly motivations. Staffers found her in a bedroom that had been obscured by rubble. She also had a habit of sleeping in different rooms (to hide from ghosts perhaps?) which posed a problem after a 1906 earthquake caused three floors of her house to cave in. Some point to Sarah Winchester's reclusive nature as proof of her guilt. "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?'" "If you have made a fortune out of death, you have to pay the price, a psychological price and a spiritual price," Mirren continued. "Was she a Rosicrucian? Was she a straight-down-the-line Christian? Was she haunted? Was she crazy?" Times during an interview that took place in the storied house last May. Five months after Winchester’s death the house was opened to the public for tours."There are many understandings of her," Mirren told the L.A. It was then sold for $135,000 to John and Mayme Brown. As Sarah never mentioned the home in her will, it was left to the government who considered it to be worthless, mainly due to the awkward design and earthquake damage. She left all of her possessions-excluding the house-to her niece who had lived with her for 15 years. When Sarah Winchester died in 1922, construction ceased and some of it remains unfinished to this day. The home had three elevators, push-button gas lights, forced-air heating, modern indoor pluming and other rare features for its time-making it one of the most modern and advanced homes at the turn of the century. Sarah was ahead of her time, partially due to her fascination with modern technology. In total, the house has 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms and 9 kitchens (post-earthquake). She also held occasional seances at night in a peaked turret now called “The Witch’s Cap.” Then, the following morning she would deliver new building plans to the construction crew. Story has it Sarah would meet with local mediums to try and reach out to the “good spirits.” Those spirits would be consulted on how the house could satisfy them. ![]() The unique design was believed to be inspired by the spirits that “lived” alongside Winchester-either to satisfy them or keep them from haunting her. It is also said that she would sleep in a different room each night for that same reason. The reason for the having so many restrooms that didn’t act as a restroom? To confuse the spirits, according to Sarah Winchester. The real mystery is found within-spanning more than 24,000 square feet, there are many illogical features to the home, including: staircases that abruptly end at the ceiling, doors to nowhere, rooms inside of rooms, secret hallways, and 13 bathrooms, only one of which functioned properly.Ī staircase that leads up to the ceiling. An earthquake in 1906 damaged the top three floors so today the house stands four-stories tall with 160 rooms remaining. By the turn of the century, it had grown to be seven-stories tall with nearly 600 rooms. The original two-story farmhouse boasted eight rooms, a normal size for homes at the time. This gun was made by Winchester Repeating Arms, a company founded by her father-in-law.Īnd so Sarah headed from New Haven, Connecticut to San Jose, California where she used the money from her inheritance to build a home for these forlorn spirits. He advised her to move to California to build a home for the fallen victims of the Winchester rifle. It is said that the medium was able to channel her husband, William Wirt Winchester, from beyond the grave. Believing her family to be cursed (following the loss of an infant child in 1866 and her husband in 1881), she sought advice from a medium. Owned by Sarah Winchester from 1886 to 1922, the Winchester Mystery House is widely known for its architectural oddities.
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