525 s. winchester san jose mystery house

525 S. WINCHESTER SAN JOSE MYSTERY HOUSE FULL

The Winchester Mystery House is now owned by Winchester Investments LLC, a private company representing the descendants of the Browns. In 1924, Harry Houdini visited the mansion, and the newspaper account of his visit, called it the Mystery House – the name stuck. The Brown’s eventually purchased the house, and the house was first opened to the public five months after Winchester’s death. It was purchased, at auction, by a local investor for more than $135,000, and then leased for 10 years to John and Mayme Brown. However, the mansion and surrounding farm were not mentioned in the will. Her massive fortune and properties were left to her niece, Mrs. Winchester died of heart failure in 1922. Those who lived close by claimed they would hear bells ring at midnight and again at 2am, every night, which may have been the timing of the arrival and departure of spirits. It is said that she never slept in the same room two nights in a row, as to confuse the evil spirits haunting her. In the center of the house is the Blue Room, where Winchester supposedly went nightly to commune with the spirits. Any stories were brought to light by the families of the workers who developed the mansion, and of those with whom she sought guidance in maintaining the spirits that haunted her. She did not keep any sort of journal, at least to date nothing has been found. Following her husband’s death and her move to California, she was never interviewed.

The true reasons for her continuous work on her mansion may never be known. Winchester was a bit eccentric and odd may be an understatement. This attic room has now been added to those available for viewing by the public. The Mystery House preservation team found a pump organ, Victorian couch, dress form, sewing machine and paintings in the room. The story goes that Winchester had been trapped in the room following the quake, which she thought was the work of evil spirits. The latest find, the 161st room in the attic, is said to have boarded up since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. She hired carpenters, who worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week, turning the eight-room farmhouse into a seven-story mansion.ĭuring the 37 years living in San Jose, prior to her death at the age of 82, 161 rooms with 13 bathrooms and six kitchens, and some 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways and 47 fireplaces had been built. She fired employees if they had caught a glimpse of her face. Yet, she became a recluse, had a tall hedge planted around her property, and kept her face covered by veil. Winchester was said to be generous to her employees, as well as donating to local charities. She earned $1,000 a day, according to various sources. She received even more shares of the company following the death of her mother-in-law. Money was not a problem, she had plenty of it through shares of stocks in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, as well as millions of dollars in cash left by her husband. She moved to the Santa Clara Valley late in the 19th century and began work on an old farm house, which she purchased in 1884. The medium told her to move west, and that the spirits might be pacified if she built a large mansion for them. She was told, it was those spirits that killed her daughter and husband and she was further advised that she would be next. She was told, sources say, that she was being haunted by American Indians, Civil War soldiers and others, who had died as a result of Winchester rifles. Winchester sought the help and advice of a medium in Boston. Her husband died of tuberculosis 15 years later and her depression worsened. In 1866, their infant daughter, Annie, died of a childhood illness, and Sarah Winchester fell into a deep depression, which she never came out of. In 1862, Sarah Lockwood Paradee was married to William Wert Winchester, who invented the Winchester repeating rifle and was Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut. The house was built by Sarah Winchester in the early 20th century.

525 S. WINCHESTER SAN JOSE MYSTERY HOUSE FULL

The Winchester Mystery House has long been full of fascination – and now, yet another room has been located within the 161-room mansion located in San Jose. Courtesy/Jane Lidz/Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, 571113

525 s. winchester san jose mystery house