Winchester Mystery House

April 19, 2008We visited the bizarre 160-room Victorian mansion built by the rifle heiress, Sarah Winchester today. The Winchester Mystery House, located in San Jose, CA, is a collection of peculiar craftsmanship and architectural oddities. We took the mansion tour and saw the staircase leading to nowhere and doors that open onto blank walls. I found it fascinating how the dark and rather small rooms in the home were built specifically around a 4'10" woman who had her own obstacles to deal with; both physically and mentally. Sarah Winchester lost both her daughter and her husband, and attributed their deaths to that of the famous "gun that won the west". In an effort to appease or trick the evil spirits in her world - she used her $20 million inheritance to build continuously until her death. Weird. I definitely felt saddened while visiting her world for a moment, but could definitely comprehend the sorrow she must have felt by losing her loved ones...I could almost feel her sense of uncertainty and fear while in the house.