Perhaps the top tourist attraction in the South Bay, the Winchester Mystery House is a sprawling mansion with an uncertain number of rooms—the average count is 160, but counts often end up with differing totals.
Built between the years 1884 and 1922, it was the home of Winchester Rifle heiress Sarah L. Winchester. Haunted by what she believed were the spirits of those killed by the rifle, she migrated from Connecticut to San Jose where the spirits instructed her to build continuously around a small farmhouse. It is thought that Mrs. Winchester believed she would die if construction ever stopped.
For thirty-eight years, non-stop, construction continued. Mrs. Winchester’s vast fortune was put to good use, filling the house with beautiful inlaid flooring and dazzling Tiffany windows. Her unique genius led her to invent devices within the house, such as window latches and specially-molded laundry sinks, which ironically brought in yet more income as patents were awarded. The house featured then-unheard of systems for sewers and gas lights, as well as elevators.
Yet she was an eccentric genius. The house features what can only be described as bizarre or demented features—doors that open to sheer drops; Tiffany windows that face not the sun, but other rooms; chimneys that stop inches short of the roof; staircases that lead nowhere. Mrs. Winchester drew the plans for construction on scraps of paper and tablecloths.
Originally seven stories tall, the house was severely damaged in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Only four original stories remain.
The Winchester Mystery House is open for tours daily.
http://winchestermysteryhouse.com
525 South Winchester Boulevard
San José, CA 95128
(408) 247-2101
Google Earth: File:WinchesterMysteryHouse.kml
Category:Oddities
Category:History
Category:Architecture
