Hidden · San Jose, United States
Winchester Mystery House
A sprawling Victorian mansion with stairs that stop short and doors that open onto air, planned by a widow herself and wrapped in legends that historians question.
A farmhouse that grew into a maze.
Sarah Winchester, widow of firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester, moved to California in 1885 after her doctor suggested a warmer, drier climate for her arthritis. In 1886 she bought a 45-acre ranch near San Jose with an eight-room farmhouse and named it Llanada Villa.
She dismissed at least two architects and planned the additions herself, room by room, taking advice from the carpenters. She rebuilt or abandoned work that did not satisfy her, which produced a maze-like plan, with walled-off windows and doors and up to five levels in some parts. A newspaper reported in 1897 that a seven-story tower had been torn down and rebuilt 16 times.
When she died in 1922 the house had 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms and 6 kitchens. There was an early intercom for calling servants, an indoor garden with sloped floors that drained water, and a stairway with 44 steps that rises only ten feet, built for a woman four feet ten inches tall with health problems.
What the record says about the myths.
Guides and articles have long said she built around the clock for 38 years. In fact she paused regularly, sometimes for months, because she tired easily. The story that she was trapped in the house during the 1906 earthquake has no evidence behind it: she owned several homes and spent most of her time afterward in Atherton. The quake did badly damage the house, though. The tower and most chimneys fell and a wing was destroyed, leaving doors that open to nothing, pipes sticking out of old window boxes and staircases that end suddenly.
A master’s thesis from 1951, based on interviews with people who remembered her, concluded she built to keep workers employed and to express her artistic vision.
The house became a tourist attraction nine months after she died, when it was in disrepair. Former neighbors and workers objected to the superstitious claims and described her as clear-headed and sharper in business than most men. Some accounts say Harry Houdini suggested the name “Winchester Mystery House” after a brief visit in 1924. Today the house is a private business that continues to preserve it.
Odd corners and details.
Practical notes.
Before you go.
Did Sarah Winchester build the house nonstop for 38 years?
No. The claim is common in articles and guided tours, but she paused construction regularly, sometimes for months, because she tired easily.
How many rooms does the house have?
It had 160 rooms when Sarah Winchester died in 1922. At its largest it had about 500.
Why are there stairs and doors that lead nowhere?
She rebuilt and abandoned work as she went, leaving walled-off windows and doors. The 1906 earthquake also destroyed a wing and upper stories, leaving doors that open to nothing where balconies had been and staircases that end suddenly.
Was Sarah Winchester trapped in the house in the 1906 earthquake?
There is no evidence she was there. The quake badly damaged the house, but she owned several homes and spent most of her time afterward in Atherton.
Around San Jose
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