Winchester Mystery House

One of the most fascinating haunted houses in the United States is the Winchester Mystery House. It was in 1881 at the age of 41 that Sara Winchester found herself childless, widowed, and extremely wealthy. Yes her family is the one that made those famous rifles by the same name. It is in fact the spirits of those people killed by the Winchester rifles that Sara said talked to her and told her to build the house as a home for all the spirits killed by the rifles manufactured by the Winchester family.

It is said that Sara thought she was cursed and she sought the advise of a medium. The medium told her that to make the spirits happy that she needed to build a house for the spirits and she should never stop building. She was told by the medium that this would be the only way she could keep the spirits from harming or killing her.

By the time of her death the original eight room house had been built into a huge house that contained at one point 160 rooms. The house had and still has stair cases and doors that lead nowhere. The medium had told Sara to have the house built this way to confuse the spirits.

Sara died in her sleep in 1922 and as hard as it may be to believe all throughout the time she lived in the house up until the time of her death construction never stopped on the house. Surviving family members stopped the construction on the house almost as soon as Sara was dead.

The Winchester Mystery House is a well-known California mansion that was under construction continuously for 38 years and is reputed to be haunted. It once was the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of gun magnate William Winchester, but is now a tourist attraction. Under Sarah Winchester's guidance, construction on the house continued 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, until her death 38 years later on September 5, 1922. The cost for such constant building has been estimated at about US $5.5 million.

The mansion is renowned for its size and lack of a master building plan. According to popular belief, Sarah Winchester thought the house was haunted by the ghosts of individuals killed by Winchester rifles, and that only continuous construction would appease them. It is located at 525 South Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, California.

Ghost Stories From The Winchester Mystery House

The house opened to the public in 1923 and over the years many people have told of strange things going on in and around the house.

One thing that seems to happen quite often is that tour guides taking people through the house will have all of their groups flashlights stop working and doors around them will slam shut. Most people think it is part of the tour but its not.

Many people have witnessed Sara Winchester crying in her bedroom. Some people have been brave enough to ask her what is wrong and she tells them to get out of the house quickly that the spirits will get you. Other people have told of being pushed hard in the area of Sara's bedroom.

Sara Winchester loved homemade chicken soup and many people over the years have told of smelling wonderful smells of chicken soup seeming to come from one of the six kitchens where nothing has been cooked in decades.

Many people tell that when they go into the Séance Room they feel sick and have to flee the house. Many people on night flashlight tours of the house tell of unexplained scratches and people whispering in their ears when no one is there.

Other people have told of seeing a man running in the house screaming for help. He disappears through the wall and that is when people realize that the man is not really there.

There are often reports of a loud dog barking in the next room but no dog is ever found. And no one knows whose dog it was when it was alive. But many people over the years have told of the dog. Some say it sounds like a vicious angry dog is in the next room.

Its for certain that the Winchester Mystery House is haunted. What no one knows is if its the people who were killed with the Winchester Rifle or if its the spirits of other people.

Before the 1906 massive earthquake the house was seven stories high but today it is four stories high. It has doors that go no where. Staircases that are backwards and no public restrooms inside the mansion. You have to go outside to go to the bathroom. There is currently no running water in the house.

At This Time There Are 160 Rooms In The House

The house it's self is built on a floating foundation which is probably what saved it from total collapse during the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes. At this time there are 160 rooms in the house including 40 bedrooms and two massive ballrooms of which one is finished and one is not. As hard as it may be to believe many of the windows in the home were made by the Tiffany Glass Company.

The Number 13 Plays An Important Part In The House

When the house was built it had many of the conveniences found in modern day homes. This included steam heat, running water, flush toilets, and three elevators. Inside the house if you look around carefully you'll find the number thirteen showing up in some unusual places. Chandeliers have 13 lights. wall clothes hooks are in sets of thirteen, some staircases have thirteen steps. One thirteen step staircase goes no where. You'll also find spider webs worked into the home in many places.

More Strange Things About The Number 13

Mrs Winchester often told those that would listen that she was visited nightly by thirteen spirits. She insisted on paying off her workers every thirteen days. And when the table was set up for company there was always thirteen places set at the table. And no one was ever allowed to set at the thirteenth place.

Harry Houdini Said The House Was Truly A Place Of Mystery

Before his death the famous magician Harry Houdini visited the house and said that it was truly a house of mystery. He said that while he couldn't say there were any spirits in the house he would say that the house gave him a creepy unnatural feeling like he had never had anywhere else.

Mrs Winchester had often told while she was alive that the spirits of all the dead who had been killed by Winchester rifles had visited the house at one time or another and the only way to keep the spirits at bay was to keep building on the house. Quite possibly this would explain why people have reported seeing the spirits of plains Native Americans in the house. Other people have reported seeing men wandering around the house with horrible wounds visible on their bodies.

It is often reported that some of the doors in the house currently have been screwed shut because they kept banging open and closed on their own. Other people have reported hearing women running through the house screaming. It appears that something very paranormal is going on in the house and has been for many years.

Mrs Winchester often told that she was told by a friendly spirit that she should build spirit traps in the house. This would explain the staircases that go no where and doors that open out onto brick walls. Mrs Winchester always made sure that she was in her bedroom by sundown and her live in maid was forbidden to enter her room until after sunrise the next morning.

There Are Only Two Mirrors In The Whole House

Here's a really strange fact for you. There are only two mirrors in the house and there never have been but two mirrors in the house. Mrs Winchester believed that mirrors could trap spirits and this is why there are only the two mirrors in the house. She also had the belief that ghosts and spirits were afraid of mirrors. Every night at sundown as long as she lived Mrs Winchester covered the two mirrors with a black cloth that was made for each mirror. In the morning just at sunrise she would remove the coverings from the mirrors.

Some people have even told the story that her husband came to her at a séance and told her that if she would build a house and keep building it never finishing it that she would live a long life with no problems. Soon after she began building the Winchester House and as long as she lived she never stopped. Almost as soon as she died her relatives stopped work on the house and it was soon sold for $135,000.

Today the house is owned by Winchester Investments and every Friday the 13th the large bell on the property is rang thirteen times. Plants on the grounds are often planted in you guessed it groups of thirteen.