Sanctuary

The Winchester Mystery House was built by Sarah William Winchester, the widow of William Wirt Winchester, owner of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company which made and sold Winchester rifles – “The Gun that Won the West”. After the death of her infant daughter in 1866, followed soon after by the death of her husband, the grieving widow sought the advice of a psychic who told her that her family was cursed by the spirits of all of the people killed by her husband's rifles. The psychic told Sarah that she must move west and begin building a house for the spirits. She must never stop construction on the house, for is she ever stopped building it, she would die. Construction on the home in San Jose, California began in 1884 and continued until Mrs. Winchester's death in 1922.  38 continuous years of construction.

The house was originally seven stories tall, but after an earthquake destroyed a large part of it in 1906 it was only rebuilt to four stories. It contains about 160 rooms, 47 fireplaces, 17 chimneys (possibly 2 more), three elevators, 2 ballrooms, 5 or 6 kitchens, and two basements. In order to confuse the spirits the house was built with stairways that go nowhere, rooms built on optical illusions to appear larger than they really are, and doors that open to blank walls. The house is full of the number 13 and spiderweb motifs are everywhere.

The house rambles through confusing corridors and additions with no master plan. The Widow Winchester made things up as she went along and never had a set of blueprints. It is possible that there are hidden rooms, either built on purpose or walled off in the jumble of continuing construction. There are two chimneys that don't seem to connect to any of the existing fireplaces. And there is at least one closet with no floor. The house even has a room specifically for seances.

For More Information:

http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/- The official Winchester Mystery House website

http://strangetastic.com/strangetastic-winchester-mystery-house/- StrangeTasic – a virtual tour of the Mystery House and Mystery House Blog