Winchester house construction history and legend. The Winchester House is one of the most sinister houses in the United States. Long-term house construction

Sarah Lockwood Purdy was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to moving company owner Leonard Purdy and Sarah Burns. The year of Sarah's birth is not established, so it is believed that she was born around 1840.
Her father's business provided decent income, enough for the girl to grow up in comfort and receive an education in the best private schools. At the age of 20, Sarah was a pretty, pretty young lady, less than 1.5 m tall, fragile and very intelligent. She spoke 4 languages, played the piano superbly, could support any small talk and was distinguished by her delicate taste and love of the arts.

In 1862, Sarah married William Wirt Winchester. William was the son of the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, a famous manufacturer of Winchester rifles. This product, as everyone knows, decided the outcome of the Civil War. It brought stable and huge incomes even after the end of hostilities (the most successful business was and is the arms business. The most successful orders are military ones). This made it possible to assert that all members of the Winchester family, both living and unborn, would never experience need, but would live and die rich.

You can call it a marriage of convenience, because William was the heir to a million-dollar fortune, but I wouldn’t dare call it a successful deal. I hope it will become clear later why.
Be that as it may, the marriage bond turned out to be very pleasant. The couple sincerely loved each other and felt absolutely happy, this was noted by all observers. The young Winchester couple shone in high society New England, carefree enjoying their love. It's sad that this state lasted only 4 years... Next - no angels, fluttering pink wings, catching up with a breeze that smells of vanilla.

I believe the beginning of a story full of oddities and mysteries called the House of Winchester began in 1866. Sarah and William's infant daughter, Annie, died this year. The cause of her death was never determined, and her short-term fatal illness was never explained. The terrible death of the baby shocked Sarah, she fell into depression, from which the best doctors could not bring her out. Only 10 years later she began to come to her senses, but she was not able to fully recover until her death.

The second blow for Sarah was the understanding that she would not have any more children and that she would not be able to feel the joy of motherhood. All that remained was to be consoled by the love for my husband and enjoy the reciprocity. However, this was not destined to last long: William fell ill with tuberculosis and died very young in 1881, taking with him the last consolation of the soul of the unfortunate Sarah.

A young widow inherited $20 million with a daily income of $1,000. This was not a consolation for Sarah, who was shaken by the blows of fate; she lost her taste for life and moved away from her relatives and friends. Long sleepless nights she was tormented by the question of why she received such a terrible lot and who was to blame for her misfortunes.
Often people in a similar state of mind look for answers to their questions from fortune tellers and other substitute psychologists. Seances were popular at that time, and Sarah decided to ask the spirits for advice. At that time, everyone was fond of spiritualism, there were plenty of mediums, among them there were especially popular ones who practiced in expensive salons. Going to them was not considered reprehensible; everyone went to spiritualistic seances: from an illiterate worker to a governor.

Sarah went to Boston, to the famous medium Adam Kuhn, and he, for an adequate fee, conducted a seance for Sarah, which became decisive in her fate. He went into the astral plane and from there called his partners, the souls of the dead.

The spirits who came to the session put everything in order. They explained that the untimely deaths of people Sarah loved were caused by the numerous curses of those who died from guns manufactured by the Winchester family. Particularly strong curses were imposed by the Indians killed with these guns - a people who possessed ancient magical knowledge. These curses are so strong that the deaths of little Annie and William were predetermined, and Sarah herself should die next. However (here the spirits, apparently, were afraid that Sarah would have a stroke out of fear right in the spiritualist salon and their medium would have to conduct the next sessions in prison) there is a way out. According to the spirits, Sarah could have avoided death and even gained immortality if she had met only three, very unusual, conditions:
1. She should have left her home and moved to the West, towards sunset, until she saw secret signs showing her the place of her new home. There, in this place, she should settle.
2. In order to a) appease the good spirits (those who came to this session with good advice and their fellow tribesmen) and b) confuse the evil ones who want to destroy the unfortunate Sarah, she should build a house. Meeting the first and second conditions simultaneously.
3. The construction of the house must be constant and continuous, because as soon as the knocking of hammers and sounds of construction in the house cease, Sarah will die. If the condition is met, Sarah may well count on eternal life.

We must give the medium his due; he acted quite reasonably in relation to Sarah.
He answered the question that was tormenting her. One that she was ready to believe and believed.
He excluded repeated visits from the unfortunate widow, sending her away from Boston.
He occupied her head with a new idea that would not let her go back into the world of grief and soul-searching: construction is a hectic business that does not allow her to relax for a long time. Simply put, he replaced one obsession with another, less destructive one.
After all, he saved Sarah's life!

Sarah, without hesitating for a long time, packed her things and set off towards the sunset, as the spirits advised her. Actually, she still remained a prudent woman, so she decided that, if she did not meet any secret signs along the way, she would go to California, where her niece lived in Menlo Park, stay with her and figure out how to live further.
However, I did not get to see my niece. On the way there, Sarah spotted the perfect place for her future home, Santa Clara Valley. In 1884, she purchased an unfinished farm three miles west of San Jose and 162 acres of land adjacent to it. Then, over the next 38 years, she expanded her holdings into the vast complex that is known today as Winchester House.
With unshakable determination, Mrs. Winchester set about building her immortality. She immediately hired a team of construction workers who worked in several shifts around the clock. Very soon Sarah was already settling into the eight-room mansion. By the end of the 19th century, this mansion was already an unimaginable 8-story architectural structure, which to this day raises many questions, the admiration of some and the disgust of others, and frightening with its absurdities.

The construction of the house was carried out by 22 carpenters 24 hours a day, without breaks on weekends and holidays. Mrs. Winchester, scary local residents with her strange lifestyle and incomprehensible passion for design, she inspired respect and brought stability to their lives.
This photo was accidentally taken by one of the workers. It is believed that if Mrs. Winchester discovered it, she would certainly tear it up. However, it seems to me that she is posing here. Is not it so?

When choosing goods, Sarah never wastes time on trifles, often paying in gold, which aroused such respect from merchants that goods were brought directly to her carriage for inspection before purchase.

She generously paid her workers, who brought in at least three dollars from each shift, and her plans to live forever provided jobs not only for local residents, but also for their children. In the end, the grandchildren of its builders also took part in the construction of the Winchester House.

It should be noted that the good spirits who showed Sarah the path to salvation turned out to be right: while the house was being built (and it always was), Sarah was alive in all respects. All day long she was busy designing, building and improving more and more new rooms in her house.

There was never any master plan for construction. Sarah never used the services of professional architects, drawing plans for future rooms and corridors on her own, sometimes directly on table napkins. Sometimes the plans were quite spontaneous, and sometimes they changed radically. A painter who worked for Sarah recalled how he spent three days painting the walls of one of the rooms red. The work was barely finished when Mrs. Winchester ordered the room to be repainted white. Sometimes the newly installed doors were dismantled, and the expensive parquet was opened and a new one was laid in its place.

For many years, Mrs. Winchester's assistant (exclusively in this matter!), John Hansen, was in charge of the construction work of the house. He was an efficient man who knew a lot about construction. Sometimes Mrs. Winchester's projects were deliberate failures (literally). Hansen never challenged the owner’s ideas, and the structure fell apart as construction progressed. Every morning, meeting with Hansen, Mrs. Winchester announced to him her new plans for building, altering and reconstructing what had already been built. Some rooms have been reconstructed several times. Many of the designs were illogical and strange, but all the mistress’s tasks were carried out meekly and clearly. On the other hand, there have never been any deadlines for the delivery of objects, or any restrictions on estimates. What foreman can boast of such heavenly working conditions?



The house grew at an incredible speed. Sarah bought more and more plots of land, farms, gardens and fields.

During 38 years of construction, it was never interrupted. The exact number of rooms in the House is still unknown. It is assumed that about 500-600 premises were built, but due to the reconstruction of some and the destruction of others, there are much fewer of them left. There are approximately 160 of them. The house has 16 bathrooms, 6 kitchens, 40 staircases, 2000 doors, 450 doorways, 47 fireplaces, 17 chimneys and 10,000 (10 thousand) windows.
Much of this is not intended for traditional use at all.

You ask why such a huge thing does a small, lonely old lady need? Who told you that she needed the house? The spirits needed him! I talked about this at the beginning. She needed continuity of construction, because she did not want to die. And good spirits (including the spirits of William and little Annie who rest in peace) should have felt comfortable and happy in this house. A huge variety of fireplaces are for them. According to legend, spirits enter the house through chimneys.
There are only three mirrors in the huge house. This is also because of the perfume. Who likes to remember that you are not alive, every time you pass by a mirror and do not see your reflection in it? Servants working in the Winchester House were prohibited from using mirrors. They were allowed to bring them with them in their bags and keep them there or in their pockets, taking them out only for a while, if necessary. But then hide it back.
Here, in fact, are two of the three mirrors of the Winchester House. They are in one of Mrs. Winchester's bedrooms, which the servants recall loved. Sarah slept in different bedrooms, never staying in each for more than one night.

This is the wing where the maids lived

Bed linen for the bedrooms was brought from China, Ireland and the Philippines

Not only the evil spirits who were hunting for her life, but also the servants could not guess in which of the bedrooms Mrs. Winchester would deign to rest. A special servant calling system was purchased for them. Regardless of what room of the house the hostess was in, the call buttons were always available to her, and the servants could see on a special map exactly where the hostess was at the time of the call (the lights on the house diagram would light up).

The house has a Grand Ballroom, built almost without a single nail. Its cost is estimated at $9000. For comparison, a good, solid house for one family could then be built for $1000.

On the walls above are quotes from Shakespeare, in which people try to find secret signs. Sarah Winchester always loved music and played music brilliantly. There is a piano in one of her bedrooms, and a pipe organ in the Ballroom. Sarah played music often, almost every evening. IN old age Arthritis affected Sarah's knuckles and she had to give up playing music. But the servants claim that when Sarah was no longer able to move her fingers, they heard the sounds of the organ at night, during spiritualistic sessions of the mistress

Every night at a certain time, Sarah retired to the séance room. You can get into it only through a secret passage from the Ballroom. In addition to the table with the accessories necessary for the sessions and the chair next to it, on the wall of the room there are 13 hooks for 13 clothes different colors necessary for communicating with the souls of the dead.
It is possible to leave the room only through the closet. An inquisitive eye will notice a strange threshold near the cabinet that does not fit into the overall interior design. In fact, the top plate of the threshold is the door to the loophole. The loophole is so narrow that it is unlikely that anyone could squeeze through it. Through it you can see the kitchen located on the floor below. Why Mrs. Winchester needed to look at the kitchen late at night, when everyone in the house was asleep, remained a mystery.
The window there on the left is also strange.

No matter how Sarah Winchester tried to protect herself and her home from misfortunes brought by evil spirits, all measures were powerless before the famous San Francisco earthquake of 1906. It happened late at night when everyone in the house was asleep. Some sections of the structure were partially destroyed or damaged. Sarah found herself locked in her bedroom and unable to get out on her own. It took the servants several hours to find the bedroom in which the mistress slept that night and help Sarah get out of there. The Grand Ballroom and several other rooms were destroyed. The tower buildings that made up the top three floors were also destroyed. Recovering from her shock, Mrs. Winchester ordered the restoration of the Grand Ballroom and the rooms damaged by the earthquake. Mrs. Winchester did not restore the upper floors, considering the destruction of the top three floors as a sign indicating to her the correct height of her house. The work was completed, and the Grand Ballroom and 30 other restored rooms were boarded up, never to be visited by anyone again.
Since then and to this day, the Winchester house has risen 5 floors. The fifth and sixth are tower

The main thing and the first thing that guides working in the Winchester House ask tourists to do is to keep up with the group and not try to wander around the house on their own.

Not only is it easy to get lost there, there are many traps and unexpected dangers to health and, sometimes, life. What are the “doors to nowhere” worth? You will never guess where you will end up when you enter the next door: into another room
or you'll run your nose into the wall...



...either you'll fall into the kitchen sink on the floor below, or you won't fall out into the bushes at all

And in general. It’s good if there is a person nearby who knows exactly which door to enter!

2 thousand doors. Do you want to count?

For some reason, the doors of some bathrooms and toilet rooms are transparent

There is also a problem with stairs in the house. Of the 40 staircases in the house, only a few are simple and straightforward. The famous ones are those that lead to... the ceiling.

By the way, the pipes stretched under the ceiling along the “stairs to nowhere” do not continue on the other side of the wall. Their purpose is not clear

The only explanation for this is that the stairs are designed to confuse evil spirits, knock them off their feet and prevent them from hunting for Sarah's life.

The same stairs, which are quite logical and functional, are so narrow that obese people fed on hamburgers are not recommended to squeeze their bodies between the railings. The railing itself is unusually low, and people of average and tall height have to bend over in order to walk up the stairs, holding on to the railing. These features of the stairs of the Winchester House are quite understandable and explainable if we remember that Mrs. Winchester was of small stature (less than one and a half meters and a very thin build. The stairs were built only for her small body, since the rest of the owners of the house were incorporeal.

It is also clear why the staircase, with only one floor to go up, has 42 steps. These steps are gentle and only 2 inches high. It was more convenient for the elderly Mrs. Sarah, whose legs could hardly obey her, to overcome the staircase of just such a design.

I don’t understand the meaning of a staircase that goes down 4 steps and then goes up 7. Why is this?

There is a ladder called Vertical by employees. It is so steep that only a dexterous young man can climb it.
But by the way, towards the end of her life, Sarah was brought to the main floor of the house by an elevator, which became indispensable after Mrs. Winchester’s legs completely gave out and she was forced to use a wheelchair.

Actually, you can never say with certainty that when you climb the stairs you won’t end up behind glass.

Or maybe you won’t get anywhere at all!

The windows in the house are also not simple. Each of them was designed by the owner personally, ordered and executed not just anywhere, but in Tiffany’s workshops.



10 thousand windows! It would be interesting to meet the person who counted them! How many windows are there in your high-rise building?


One of Sarah Winchester's favorite patterns, invented by herself, is the web.

If you look at the world through such a window, it looks different.
However, no one can be sure that, looking out of the window, he will see what he expects






The stained glass windows in the Winchester House are a special theme. Based on Sarah's sketches, they were made in Austria and installed by Tiffany craftsmen. Stained glass designs are mysterious and unusual. One can argue for a long time about what Mrs. Winchester wanted to tell them, but the artistic value of stained glass windows is not in dispute.



Inlaid with real precious stones

In addition to the fact that Mrs. Winchester had undeniable talents for playing music and designing buildings, she was a good artist.

Sarah's favorite flower is daisies. There are a lot of images of daisies.


The intricate play of light, the variety of sizes, shapes and color combinations creates an atmosphere of mystical mystery, but does not frighten, but fascinates.

It is completely unclear how many stained glass windows there are, whether one flows into another or whether they are stacked, which of them opens as a window, and which serves as a secret door.
There were many secret passages, holes for eavesdropping and spying throughout the house and none of the servants could say exactly where they were located.

Many of the house workers said that they were often frightened by the sudden appearance of their mistress. She walked silently around the house, emerging from hidden doors known only to her. Sometimes the servants literally bumped into the mistress, walking along the corridor and suddenly bumping into Mrs. Winchester, who unexpectedly appeared literally from the wall. No one knew exactly and still does not know all the doors, dormer windows and peepholes installed throughout the house. No one really knows the whole house - only its creator could do that.

Cabinets? Doors? Where do the windows face? Are these actually windows?

Due to Sarah's frequent use of secret passages and secret doors, there were rumors among the servants that Madame had the ability to walk through walls and see through them.

Of course, there are many stories from people who served and are currently serving in the Winchester House about encounters with ghosts and different manifestations the presence of otherworldly creatures in the house.
And today, every employee of the Winchester House Museum certainly has his own story, which sends shivers down the spine (of the storytellers).

What can we say about the sightseers who keep their cameras at the ready not at all in order to capture the unique artistic and historical values ​​of the house!

Photos, similar topics, which are below, complete! And no one is interested in figuring out where they photoshopped and where they didn’t - the main thing is that it’s creepy.


Female figurine in the lower right corner of the glass part of the door

Someone felt a cold breeze, someone touched, someone breathed, someone caught a slight movement in the air out of the corner of their eye... I liked the story young man, who, after working as a guide in the House for several years, quit his job and, before leaving, decided to say goodbye to the House. He entered the empty room and thanked Mrs. Sarah Winchester out loud for the amazing house that became the first place of work for the young man. In response, he felt a gentle kiss on his cheek. Such romantic young men lead tours of this house.

However, the dangers for nervous system The expenses associated with working in such a mysterious and mystical place for such an extravagant mistress were more than compensated for by such a generous salary and bonus gold that getting a place in the House of Winchester was considered a great success.
The work could not be called easy; neither the ghosts wandering around the house nor the restless housewife, who knew everything about everyone, allowed me to relax. It was necessary to always be alert and work impeccably, thereby showing respect for the owners - living and inanimate.

The owner of the beautiful park herself avoided crowded places and preferred solitude in the gazebo of one of the courtyards, not far from the flower beds with the collection medicinal plants, collected all over the world.

In fact, the park provided for walks with children was the ultimate manifestation of Sarah’s hospitality. She never invited anyone into the house. Contemporaries were able to remember only two episodes related to receiving guests in the Winchester house.
One day, Sarah’s nephew decided to visit his aunt, came from Kansas for this purpose and was caught with a silver tray in his hands. This was the end of his visit to his aunt.
Another time, it was not just anyone who asked for an audience with Mrs. Winchester, but President Roosevelt. He was traveling to Kansas and, on the way, decided to look at the amazing Winchester house with his own eyes. He sent a messenger with a letter of notification and a request for an audience. This was denied to him.

On the territory of the house there is a water tower, pumping station, a complex system heating and other engineering structures.


Laundry

As soon as the construction of the next room was completed and no further reconstruction was planned, Sarah began design.

She did not skimp on the best wallpaper fabrics, which were brought from Persia and India.
She bought the fabric she liked in batches so that no one else in the area would have a similar pattern. Rolls of upholstery fabrics are still stored in storage rooms at home.

The most exquisite furniture made from rare wood, made by the best craftsmen in the world, was commissioned by Mrs. Winchester and decorated the interiors of the house. It turned out to be quite a few corners so cozy that even those who have never been to the Winchester House, but just saw photographs of its interiors, feel the desire to sit down and relax.







Also interesting is the Hall of Fires, built to collect as much heat as possible. This probably alleviated the course of Mrs. Winchester's illness, which last years I suffered from severe arthritis throughout my life. Many windows on one wall let in maximum amount sunlight, heating the room, and the other three were adjacent to fireplace rooms, heated hotly. Streams of hot air from these fireplaces were discharged into special vents into the Hall of Fires. I hope Mrs. Sarah had a good time there.

By the way, many see even in the address of the house magic signs. The house is located in San Jose on Winchester Boulevard. House number 525.

Sarah Winchester died on the night of 4/5 September 1922 at the age of 82. Her death was not painful. After communicating, as usual, with the spirits at a nightly seance, she went to bed in her favorite bedroom and never woke up. “Cardiac arrest,” the doctors stated. No one saw her alive again. And inanimate - as much as you like! Mrs Winchester was buried in the cemetery Evergreen in New Haven, Connecticut next to her beloved husband.
The builders of her house. Having learned about the death of the hostess, holding back tears, they scratched the boards so that their nails broke off and bled.
The bedroom where Sarah Winchester spent her last night

After the death of Mrs. Winchester, 6 hectares of land were left on which her unfinished house is located, full storerooms of gold and silver interior items that were never installed in the places planned for them, jewelry and a will consisting of 13 clauses, according to which part of the rooms became her property to my sister, part to my niece, a substantial amount of money to my beloved assistant and faithful employees, the Winchester clinic and the orphanage.
When Mrs. Winchester's safe was opened, to everyone's surprise, no money was found in it. There were only two locks of hair - children's and men's, some personal belongings of the late husband and daughter and a will. It is possible that the mysterious house still contains treasures in its unexplored hiding places. One of the treasuries has long been known, but to this day has not been opened. This is a large wine cellar, which stores many bottles of expensive cognacs and liqueurs, which were preferred by the eccentric hostess. Once Mrs. Winchester discovered a dirty hand mark left on the wall of the stairs. leading to the wine cellar. One of the workers must have sneaked in there for obvious reasons. Mrs. Winchester ordered the door to the cellar to be boarded up, and no one ever set foot there again. Now the cost of the contents of this cellar can amount to a very impressive amount.
Strangely, none of Sarah Winchester’s many relatives have shown or are showing interest in the House of Winchester. No one has ever tried to find the treasures hidden there, and yet, by law, they belong to them!

After the announcement of the will, Sarah's sister hastily began to remove her share of the property. Loading valuables took a week; 6 trucks of furniture, valuables and interior items were removed, which were soon sold at auction. The niece also auctioned off her share of the inheritance. These items are now being sought by the museum, but most of them will never return to the Winchester House.

The main part of the house belongs to the board of trustees and is not financed by anyone.

Many who have been on an excursion to the Winchester House leave from there in a depressed mood. Some people experience increased heart rate, migraines, and increased nervousness. Children cannot stay inside the house for a long time - they start crying and asking to come out. The staff of the house-museum do not complain about their health, and attribute the deterioration of the condition of some of its visitors to suspiciousness and rich imagination. It is also believed that in a house whose rooms are built chaotically, the passages between them are narrow and confusing, a person feels discomfort and a mild form of claustrophobia. This corresponds to the design of the structure - after all, the house was not originally intended for visits by living people and was planned so that they would feel uncomfortable in it and feel a strong desire to leave its walls. In this way, the house fulfills its functions, protecting the peace of its ghosts.

The House of Winchester is called an example of bad taste, a stupid whim of a crazy rich woman, an example of lack of culture. But this does not reduce the flow of people wanting to see him.
The income from the cafe and excursions and the souvenir shop is used to repair dilapidated premises and there is no end in sight to the repair work - while some premises are being restored, others are deteriorating, and so on endlessly


The knocking of hammers does not stop even after the death of Sarah Winchester. The words of a medium from Boston came true 100%, because the spirits promised Mrs. Winchester eternal life until construction of the house stopped. The death of Mrs. Sarah was simply a transition to another state and a meeting with her beloved husband and daughter, but her spirit remained to live in her strange house.

Pulled from here.

In life, all sorts of strange things happen. For example, the Winchester house. It is located in San Jose (California, USA) at 525 South Winchester Blvd. This is not even a house, but a huge mansion built in the Victorian style. It is noteworthy that the construction was carried out without any architectural plan. It was just that other rooms were chaotically added to the original building and new floors were erected. The structure is now privately owned, serves as a tourist attraction, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

What's the story famous house ? It began in 1884 and is inextricably linked with a woman named Sarah Winchester, the widow of William Winchester. The latter was the son of Oliver Winchester, the inventor of the world famous rifle.

William died of tuberculosis in 1881, and Sarah inherited more than $20.5 million. She also received 50% ownership of the Winchester Arms Company, which gave her an income of $1 thousand per day. This is equivalent to $23 thousand in 2013. The woman invested all this enormous wealth in building a house. And her communication with a medium in Boston prompted her to do this.

He said that the death of his daughter almost immediately after birth and the early death of his husband are inextricably linked with the souls of people who died from a rifle invented by Oliver Winchester. A curse has fallen on the family, from which there is only one way to get rid of it: it is necessary to start building a house for the souls of the murdered. While the construction continues, the souls will not dare to disturb the widow.

Sarah took the medium's words extremely seriously. In 1884, she moved to California and bought an unfinished 8-room house in the Santa Clara Valley. Construction began immediately after the purchase was completed. The widow hired carpenters, and they began to work around the clock. The woman did not invite architects, so extensions to the building were erected without any system.

This is what the Winchester house looks like today

Over the years, the Winchester house has turned out to contain many oddities. It has doors and stairs that lead nowhere, windows overlooking other rooms, and extremely narrow corridors. Sarah considered the number 13 to be magical, so most of the stairs in the house have 13 steps, and the 13th bathroom has 13 mirrors. The 13th sink has 13 drain holes. In addition, many rooms have 13 windows. There are 13 palm trees along the access road to the main entrance. The woman divided her posthumous will into 13 chapters and signed it 13 times.

A bell tower was erected near the house. It was possible to get into it only by a ladder. During the widow's lifetime, the bell rang every midnight. With its ringing, it summoned the spirits of people killed by hard drives. After 2 hours, the bell rang again, inviting the spirits to leave the gathering place. All this, naturally, aroused great interest among both local residents and visitors. At the same time, there was a very high turnover among builders, despite high earnings. The people's psyche simply could not withstand the gloomy mystical component that was constantly present around.

By 1906, the mansion became 6-story. But an earthquake occurred, and the building was saved only by the floating foundation. Only the top 3 floors collapsed. However, this did not stop Sarah. Construction work continued, and the house became 3-story. This is how he remains to this day.

Inside the Winchester house

IN total construction continued for 38 years until the death of the widow on September 5, 1922. The work was carried out around the clock, without stopping for a minute. As soon as the woman died, work immediately stopped. After Sarah, the house remained with 160 rooms, 13 bathrooms, 6 kitchens, 40 staircases, 47 fireplaces, 2 thousand doors, 450 doorways and approximately 10 thousand windows. It should also be taken into account that during the widow’s lifetime the house was not only destroyed, but also constantly rebuilt. More than 600 rooms were built and destroyed.

Sarah Winchester bequeathed all his property, except the house, to his niece, who served as his personal secretary. The heiress took out all the furniture and belongings and sold them at auction. The Winchester house itself was valued at $135,000 and sold at auction to a local investor. He leased it for 10 years to the Brown husband and wife. They opened it to the public in February 1923, 5 months after the death of the widow. In 1924, Harry Houdini visited the mansion. When the lease expired, the Brown family bought the house. These days the famous mansion belongs to private company, representing the Brown family.

The home retains unique touches that reflect Sarah's belief in evil spirits and her desire to avoid contact with them. For example, an expensive chandelier that previously had 12 candlesticks now has 13. There are exactly 13 hooks on clothes hangers. A stained glass window with patterns contains 13 color stones. The drain covers on the sinks have 13 holes. Every Friday the 13th the bell rings 13 times at exactly 13:00. So the tribute to the strange lady is fully paid.

Sarah Winchester, born Sarah Lockwood Purdy, widow of William Winchester, died in September 1922, aged 85. There was no money in the safe of the heiress of the arms empire. There were only locks of hair, men's and children's, and the death certificates of the husband and daughter, as well as a will of 13 clauses, signed 13 times. And there is still the mysterious unfinished Winchester House. The will was silent about the fate of this house number 525 on Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, California...

Now it has become a popular tourist attraction. Inspired Stephen King to write the novel on which the film Rose Red Mansion was based. And it acquired a strong reputation as a “haunted house.”

Actually, it all started with ghosts.

Young Sarah Purdy would have laughed if anyone had told her that she would have a ghostly tea party every night for thirty-odd years. The life of the Pardee girl was reasonable and successful. She was 25 when she married William in 1862, the son of “that same” Oliver Winchester, whose multi-shot production is said to have decided the outcome of the American Civil War.

The family rapidly grew rich from military orders, the newlyweds lived in love and prosperity. Petite as a doll, not even one and a half meters tall, but nevertheless, the lovely Mrs. Winchester was the soul of society in New Haven, Connecticut. But four years after the wedding, a misfortune struck the family - their daughter Annie died shortly after birth.

Sarah almost went crazy with grief, and only ten years later, as they say, she came to her senses. The Winchester couple had no other children. In 1881, William Winchester died of tuberculosis, leaving Sarah a widow with an inheritance of $20 million and a daily income of $1,000 (she received half of the firm's profits). Mrs. Winchester was inconsolable. Trying to understand why fate was punishing her so cruelly, she went to Boston to see a medium.

The medium communicated with the spirit of William Winchester for a modest fee. The spirit ordered Sarah to be told that the family bears the curse of those who died from high-quality Winchester products. He also said that to save her own life, Sarah must move west, towards sunset, and stop at the place that will be indicated to her and begin building a house. Construction must not stop; If the hammering stops, Mrs. Winchester will die.

Inspired by this prophecy, collecting her belongings and saying goodbye to her old life forever, the widow headed west. In 1884, she reached San Jose, where, according to her assurances, the spirit of her husband told her to stop. She bought the house and set about renovating and expanding it. Sarah Winchester did this obsessively for 38 years in a row, without resorting to the services of professional architects.

The result of her labors has not reached us in full. Now Winchester House has three floors. It has approximately 160 rooms, 13 bathrooms, 6 kitchens, 40 stairs. The rooms have 2,000 doors, 450 doorways, 10,000 windows, 47 fireplaces. An architect who tries to discover logic in the design of a house must be struck by neurosis. And if we consider the house a reflection of the owner’s soul, then any psychiatrist would not have doubted for a second the diagnosis of Winchester’s widow.

The house was built to confuse the spirits that would come after Mrs. Winchester. That's why the doors, and even the windows, open into the walls,

and the stairs reach the ceilings.

The corridors and passages are narrow and winding, like snake loops.

Some doors on the upper floors open outward, so that an inattentive guest will fall straight into the courtyard, into the bushes; others are designed so that, after passing the flight, the guest must fall into the kitchen sink on the floor below or break through a window built into the floor of the lower floor.

View of the “Door to Nowhere” from the inside and outside:

Many bathroom doors are transparent.

Secret doors and windows open in the walls, through which you can quietly observe what is happening in the neighboring rooms.

The window located in the floor directly above the kitchen is impressive. Through it, the suspicious housewife could watch the cooks preparing food downstairs. By the way, the cooks and all kitchen workers were strictly forbidden to look up - under pain of immediate dismissal - in case the mistress of the house was standing and watching them. It is not known for sure whether spirits visited the house, but Lady Sarah undoubtedly knew how to keep people in it under the highest degree of tension.

The skeptic will note that these numerous spirit traps, as simple as bear pits, betray the metaphysical ignorance of an elderly widow. The mystical symbolism of the house smacks of simple-minded directness. All stairs except one are made up of 13 steps. Many rooms have 13 windows. Luxurious stained glass windows from Tiffany consist of 13 segments...Each curtain is attached to the rods of the cornice with 13 rings. Thirteen elements can be found everywhere in the house - in rugs, chandeliers, even in drain holes. Even the petals of numerous daisy rosettes on the wooden wall paneling count the same 13 petals. The abundance of fireplaces in the house is explained by the fact that, according to legend, spirits could enter the house through chimneys.

No other guests were expected here, and, apparently, Sarah was quite content with her own ideas about the other world. Precious Tiffany stained glass windows poured their ghostly light everywhere from numerous windows, creating a mystical atmosphere, separating the gloomy world of the house from the living life outside its walls.

Two stained glass windows on the windows of the ballroom, which has become a favorite haunt of ghosts, are decorated with Shakespearean lines, but why exactly they were chosen by Sarah for the windows remains unknown. On the left window “Wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts” - from Troilus and Cressida, and on the right “These same thoughts people this little world” from “Richard II”.

Everything in the house was adjusted to the owner's standards. The steps are low so that a sick old woman could climb them without difficulty. To lean on the railing, you have to bend down - Sarah was short. The corridors and passages are very narrow - Sarah was thin.

It is unknown whether Jorge Luis Borges knew about the existence of this house, and Mrs. Winchester certainly could not read his works. But the house, the designs of which the hostess drew on a napkin at breakfast, seems to be the embodiment of the writer’s fantasies. The Minotaur could live here. Sarah Winchester was sure that spirits lived here. Every midnight a gong sounded, and the hostess retired to a special room for a seance.

During these hours, the servants heard the sounds of the organ in the ballroom, which the hostess, who was ill with arthritis, could not play. Apparently, this was played by invisible guests who arrived through the fireplace in the ballroom.

By 1906, the house had grown to more than six floors (it is difficult to accurately determine its height, due to the complex labyrinth of roofs, turrets, roof ledges and terraces).

But an earthquake occurred and the top three floors collapsed. The mistress, fearing persecution by evil spirits, slept in a new place every night, and after the earthquake the servants, who did not know where she was this time, did not immediately find her under the rubble. Sarah interpreted the incident as a spirit invasion at the front of the house. The 30 unfinished rooms were locked and boarded up and construction continued. Unsuccessful fragments were destroyed and new ones were built in their place.

Until her last breath, the owner of the house demanded that construction continue. Stocks of boards, beams, doors and stained glass windows still occupy the empty rooms of the labyrinth house, which has become a huge attraction for tourists. She died on a heavy antique bed, in a room now shown as "Sarah Winchester's last bedroom."

The massive headboard is decorated with a mirror that seems like a window into the other world. Maybe she saw something in him at the hour of her death. Perhaps she is still following through him the endless excursions exploring her possessions, multiplying and continuing her story, similar to an urban legend, but nevertheless, the real truth.

Children quickly begin to get tired and capricious in the intricate labyrinths of this gloomy house. It seems that the numerous ghostly guests of the Winchester House have been joined by its crazy owner, who still jealously does not want to see strangers here and refuses to be captured in the photograph.

In the end, she once refused President Roosevelt himself, who wanted to receive an invitation to her for a cup of tea. You can't deny her character and obstinacy. After all, she long years challenged the other world, the legacy of the empire of the Winchester arms barons.

The door that never opened.

In 2015, Walter Magnuson became the new senior caretaker of the Winchester House, located on Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, California, USA. When he came to see this famous, peculiar mansion, he asked the guides to show him everything. “I wanted to see what was behind closed doors, I wanted to see corridors that were dark. “I started asking questions about everything,” Magnuson says. “They told me: “You see, many of these rooms can only be opened with master keys, only one guide has the keys.”

He eventually gained access to the secret rooms, and what he found was astonishing and lived up to the house's eccentric reputation. Some rooms were missing floorboards, others were seriously damaged by the 1906 earthquake and were closed. There were also some amazing finds. Magnuson saw wallpaper that seemed gem, scattered sunlight into tiny spheres, rows of stained glass windows installed at waist level for some reason, and secret balconies that offered views of the peaked rooftops. “The house kept revealing more and more secrets,” says Magnuson, who previously held a senior position at Disneyland. - Some of the rooms raised a lot of questions: what was the purpose of the room? Who stayed here? What was Sarah thinking?

Magnuson wanted to make these rooms available to the public, but long-time staff asked that a number of them remain closed. “Some people supported me,” explains Magnuson. “Others liked the idea that only employees knew about certain premises.” However, Magnuson's vision prevailed. He decided to restore the front wing of the house and make it open to the public.

Inside the tower in the north wing

One of the first things that immediately catches your eye when you approach the Winchester House is the front door, which is not aligned with the peak of the roof above it; it is slightly shifted to the right. This may seem like an insignificant detail to some, but it hints at the chaos that reigns inside. This 160-room architectural oddity was designed by Sarah Winchester, widow of arms magnate William Winchester. Sarah was a secretive and eccentric woman. This mansion on Californian soil took more than 30 years to build. Legend has it that Sarah did this to calm or confuse the souls of people killed by Winchester rifles. Inspecting a house is strangely similar to meeting the woman who built it - and no horror stories are needed, because her creativity and ambition are amazing even without them.

Sarah Winchester inherited $20 million upon her husband's death in 1881. Shortly thereafter, she moved from New Haven, Connecticut, to an eight-room farmhouse with an orchard in the Santa Clara Valley. She began construction work almost immediately. The dedicated team of carpenters skipped drawing plans and immediately began building new rooms. Sarah herself didn't hesitate to make unorthodox building decisions - a staircase leading to a wall, a closet about an inch deep, a door leading to nowhere. After Sarah's death in 1922, the house was rented by businessman John Brown, who dubbed it a tourist attraction and bought it outright some time later. Since then, the mansion has become a favorite place for curious Americans. More than 12 million people visited it.

Apart from the servants, few people saw the interior of the house during Sarah Winchester's lifetime. She was trying to move on from the death of her husband and daughter Annie, who died of illness in infancy. For the most part, no one was even allowed to take photographs of him. “One story goes that Theodore Roosevelt, while passing through San Jose, wanted to meet the Widow Winchester,” Magnuson says. “He knocked on the front door, but no one let him in.” The eccentricity of Sarah, who led an isolated lifestyle, and stories about ghosts could not but affect the history of the house. What is most striking, however, is the extraordinary artistic freedom she took in creating the house, and the lengths to which her staff are willing to go today to keep the mysterious mansion intact.

Aerial view of the house

For decades, visitors followed the same tour route through a hundred rooms. It began in the courtyard, then explored the entrance hall and spaces such as the wood-panelled Venetian Dining Room and the Grand Ballroom, where Sarah Winchester installed stained glass windows with encrypted quotes from Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida and Richard II.

Magnuson thought it was a good idea to open the new premises to visitors. His restoration plan began to be implemented in August 2016. After ten months of intense work, in May 2017, 40 secret rooms, including those rarely seen even by employees, were opened to the public.

According to Michael Taff, head of the house's operations and maintenance team, the work was primarily aimed at making the new premises safe. “We've actually made a lot of changes,” he says. - We had raw mahogany; it had to be treated and sealed with plaster.” Rusty nails were replaced, earthquake damage was repaired, and missing floorboards were added.

Reception

The biggest effort went into restoring one attic, according to longtime house historian Janan Boehme, who helped with restoration plans. “Basically, there was only a platform with holes. The stairs had no railings. In general, there was no question of safety,” she says. “You could easily fall into one of the holes.” The home's operations and maintenance team had to construct a wooden platform.

All this work was necessary - partly because Sarah Winchester had almost completely abandoned the front wing of the house after the earthquake. “She just stopped construction at that location,” Taff says. “It is impossible to determine exactly what the rooms looked like before the earthquake.” However, various clues helped us - a piece of glossy tile here, a piece of wallpaper there. One of the restored rooms, the dining room, features period furniture and wallpaper that was once popular among wealthy Victorians. The earthquake severely damaged the wallpaper, so workers had to restore it using surviving samples. (The dining room was not included in the new tour itinerary, but is available for special events.)

Damage caused by the 1906 earthquake

After the restoration, some intriguing details remained. Near the front door there is a room with bare walls, inside of which there is a storage room. “Sarah often carved out small spaces from what already existed,” Boehme explains. There is also an empty fireplace not far from the entrance. After the earthquake, Winchester removed the shelves above the fireplaces and encased the brick chimneys in metal, presumably to prevent them from falling apart in the next disaster.

The grand staircase leads to a Tiffany-style stained glass window that no doubt once bathed the space in colorful rays. However, it was later completely closed off by a new outer wall, apparently built at the request of Sarah Winchester.

And although the house has a reputation as a "dim labyrinth", there are 10 thousand glass windows, which speaks to Sarah's desire to fill it with natural light.

Crystal Bedroom

The landing opens onto a series of finished and unfinished rooms, including the Crystal Bedroom with pale yellow wallpaper. One of the reasons this room has been closed for many years is concern that sunlight would ruin the wallpaper. Therefore, there is a possibility that it will be sealed again.

An old photograph of the house hangs in the room, showing a milky white ghost in the front window. The staff gives vague explanations on the subject of ghosts, but is willing to share the experiences of others. “There are people who really love the paranormal. They've heard many stories about this place and want to test their veracity for themselves, Magnuson says. “They might feel a little tap on the shoulder or something like that.” One of Sarah's servants, Clyde, apparently still continues to work here; some visitors see him with a wheelbarrow from time to time.”

Tuff says, "When you're in the house, you feel like you're not alone."

“But at least they are friendly,” adds Boehme.

“Yeah, I never feel afraid,” agrees Tuff.

Corridor

Reports of ghosts, myths about Sarah Winchester herself and the enthusiasm of the staff all create an atmosphere of suggestibility. The new Sarah Winchester film also plays on this idea, as do a number of changes made to the house. Taff, who formerly worked at theme park, is well versed in this kind of theatrics. He and his team recently perfected a sound recording that reproduces the sounds of the earthquake that hit the house in 1906. It destroyed the tower and kept Sarah trapped in the Daisy Bedroom for several hours. “Here she is,” says Boehme. - Full-length.” A loud roar comes from the speaker in the next bedroom and the floor begins to shake. The sounds of breaking glass and dishes are heard, interspersed with a crash. Instability is always present.

In the Daisy Bedroom (included in the original tour), Sarah Winchester rang the bell to summon the servants, who could not find her in the chaos. Here, to this day, the cracked walls and torn wallpaper remain intact, as well as the panels of stained glass flowers that gave the room its name. “How would you feel if you were suddenly awakened by an earthquake? - asks Boehme. “You feel like the whole world is collapsing around you.” After Sarah was finally rescued, she left the mansion and lived for a time on a houseboat in the San Francisco Bay. Perhaps this helped her overcome her own fears.

Witch's Cap in the South Tower

The remains of the seven-story tower, destroyed during the 1906 earthquake - decorative elements, railings and trim - are stored in the attic. To ensure visitors can see them, Taff's team equipped it with a variety of handrails and stabilizing bars. Next, the path leads to the Witch's Cap in the South Tower - this is the highlight of the new tour. To reach it, you must pass through a narrow corridor, which is barely 1.5 meters high. It has random windows that let in light, but visitors still find it difficult to navigate the space because the walls are too close together.

The Witch's Hood is an unfinished circular room with mahogany beams. If you stand in the very center of the tower, your voice will bounce off the walls in a strange way. Boehme says one psychic described the room as a great place for readings. And this is reportedly what attracted Harry Houdini to the house in 1924, however he had no interest in communicating with the dead, he only wanted to prove that the practice was nonsense. No one knows what happened, but Houdini found the visit very memorable and sent a newspaper clipping about it to the owner of the house.

Entrance to the basement

There are suggestions that Winchester did have an interest in the supernatural. This is evidenced by the stained glass cobwebs and tribute to the number 13 (windows with 13 panes, ceilings with 13 panels and staircases with 13 steps). Such views were not unusual at the time. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a surge in spiritualism throughout the country. “The Civil War was a good reason for this,” says Boehme. - All these women, they lost their husbands, sons, brothers, fathers. They were sad and desperate." Winchester also faced the loss of her entire family.

However, the main legend associated with the house - that it is haunted by the ghosts of people killed with a Winchester rifle - was invented not so much by Sarah, but by the original promoters of the house and the psychic Susie Smith, who wrote a book in 1967 called Famous American Ghosts " Boehme believes that the legend cannot explain Sarah Winchester's unusual building ideas. “At that time, guns were looked at differently. It was a vital necessity,” she says. - There were many stories about Sarah in those days. She didn't really want to deal with the press because they wrote a lot of bad things about her." Perhaps it was her silence that fueled various rumors.

Winchester family grave in Connecticut

Boehme sees the Winchester mansion as more of an artistic endeavor than an attempt to appease the ghosts. Local historian Mary Jo Ignoffo agrees. “This concept of gun guilt arose from the progressive social ideals prevalent at the turn of the twentieth century,” she writes in Captive of the Labyrinth, the first full biography Sarah Winchester. “It is unlikely that Sarah Winchester felt responsible or guilty for making firearms that killed people.”

However, house promoters and Hollywood are well aware that tragedy - the real Lady Macbeth who wanted to erase the blood stain from her family - sells better. However, it also helped save the house. “Without those legends, I don't think the house would be here anymore,” Taff says. “They would have demolished it.”

Sarah Winchester in a carriage

However, these stories somewhat obscure who Sarah Winchester really was. Although she did not like publicity, she was more attached to real world, not spiritual. By all accounts of the home's staff, she was a creative virtuous woman who was suffering deep personal loss. “Sarah invested in what she cared about,” Boehme says. “She paid her workers more than the standard wage and kept them for many years, in part because she wanted to provide them with a livelihood.” Ignoffo speculates that she threw herself into the building project to feel closer to her late husband - architecture was one of William Winchester's longtime passions.

Team of carpenters

Was the House of Winchester a "magnum opus" or the product of a restless mind? Or perhaps both? Be that as it may, what was once built for the eyes of one person has now become public knowledge. “Most of the attention is focused on Sarah's most eccentric qualities and the secrets surrounding her,” Magnuson says. “I think this is necessary to understand what a wonderful woman she was.”

As soon as you leave the manicured grounds of the house, you immediately stumble upon the polished facade of an upscale shopping center built across the street. And you will understand that in the labyrinths and hidden rooms home has a certain comfort, there is freedom in its oddities, and greatness in its abstractions. It's also awe-inspiring to realize that Sarah Winchester hid some of the rooms so well that no one has seen them for over a hundred years. “There may be more rooms that we haven't discovered yet because we don't have the blueprints,” Magnuson says. There's some consolation in the fact that in Silicon Valley, there are still secrets - and a lot of questions that don't really need answers.

Sarah Winchester is an eminent widow who inherited her husband's vast fortune and squandered it on building a huge estate designed to protect the woman from ghosts. At the same time, she dreamed of peace, recognition, and once sought to help the poor. Sarah Winchester's house in San Jose, California, still attracts tourists from all over the world as a mystical and mysterious building. A new owner does not forget to make money from it.

At the same time, the real Sarah Winchester was just an unfortunate victim of her belief in the curse hanging over her, and therefore tried to find peace in flight when she should have fought back her “ghosts.” However, who knows for sure? Perhaps Sarah Winchester actually had something to fear.

Biographical excerpts and early years

She was born Sarah Lockwood Purdy around 1840. No one knows the exact date or place of birth of this woman. Presumably, the girl was born in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. On September 30, 1862, she married the founder and head of Winchester & Co. William Wirt Winchester. At that time, his father was at the helm of the trust, and therefore the newlyweds could enjoy life without worrying about their future. The profession of Sarah Winchester's parents is unknown, presumably farming. Despite some weakness in the position of a woman, albeit from high society, being married, the heroine sought not only to spend, but also to increase her husband’s fortune.

Birth of a daughter

It should be noted that the absence of children for 4 years life together at that time it was considered, if not shameful, then quite strange. On June 15, 1866, the couple had a daughter named Annie Purdy Winchester. The girl lived until July 25, after which she died. The cause of death is unknown; it is quite possible that the child was already born rather weak. The couple never had children again and, as is known, did not even try to have them. The loss of her daughter hit the heroine hard, and for the first time her health deteriorated quite noticeably. It is not known for certain how Sarah Winchester managed to survive the tragedy, but in the end she closed herself off and practically did not speak for a long time. Later, when she had already gained fame as a “crazy woman,” people around her noted how sad the woman’s eyes were.

Death of loved ones

In 1880, Oliver Winchester, the heroine's father-in-law, died. At that time, this became an even stronger blow, since Sarah’s husband was forced to take over the reins of the company. Combining grief over the loss of his father, concern for his wife and company, he was exhausted, looking tired and sick. In March 1881, William died of tuberculosis, suffering greatly before his death. At that time, Sarah Winchester, whose biography was actually concentrated in New Haven, decides to move. It was then that she had her first suspicions about the “curse” that hung over her. She believed that she was guilty of the death of her loved ones and was forced to live on, paying an unknown debt to mystical forces.

Approximate condition assessment

After the death of her husband, Sarah Winchester received not only his fortune, but also more than 50% in the family's arms company. At that time, the approximate estimate of Sarah Winchester's assets was $20 million, which in 2017, for example, would have amounted to 0.5 billion bucks. The company brought in an income of 1 thousand per day, which in terms of equivalent amounted to 25 thousand dollars per day. modern world. This should also include Sarah Winchester’s first house, a photo of which has not survived, as well as her car. In 1888, the lady acquired another 140 acres of land in California and organized a ranch there. She tried to support her family, her sister and brother, and bought a farm for them.

In the 1920s, Sarah Winchester purchased a boat marina and her workshop in Burlingame, California. There was also a ship called the Ark of Sarah. At the same time, family and friends began to suspect that the girl was crazy. Gossips were more merciless towards Mrs. Winchester. She was accused of going crazy. They claimed that Sarah was preparing for another flood, and that is why she bought a boat. If before that she tried to manage the company’s affairs and keep track of the money, now she was exclusively concerned with her own protection, in order to ensure which Sarah Winchester’s mansion was later built, which became a trap for her mistress.

Death and fate of the estate

The heroine died on September 5, 1922 from a heart attack in her sleep. After the body was discovered, a note about the deceased's last wishes was also found. There were 13 sheets in total, which the hostess also signed thirteen times. The house itself went to Mrs. Merian L. Marriott, who took what she wanted and sold the rest. According to unconfirmed reports, it took 6 and a half weeks to move all the furniture and personal belongings from the house, with movers removing several fully loaded cars every day. Sarah Winchester's house was so huge that it was not possible to find absolutely everything right away. At one time the lady was the most rich woman in the world, and she built her mansion for almost 38 years.

Sarah Winchester's house went under the hammer for an unknown price, after which the new owner turned it into entertainment for tourists, surrounded by rumors and hoaxes. The remains were buried in a local cemetery, but later relatives moved them to Connecticut, where Sarah found peace next to her husband and young daughter. On this moment photos of Sarah Winchester's mansion serve as bait for coming to California. The owners claim that this “gloomy and seedy” place can terrify even the strongest and most resilient. In fact, this is just entertainment for tourists for a considerable amount of money.

Heritage and history

Sarah herself appeared as a protagonist in the 2018 film Winchester. She was performed by actress Helen Mirren. Despite external differences, the image fit perfectly, and the picture itself turned out to be more tragic than frightening. Most experts believe that the story of Sarah Winchester is a classic example of hypertrophied persecution mania with obsessive and psychologically destructive ideas. And the woman herself became a victim of the disorder, but not mystical powers. However, those who like horror will also find something of their own in the film. Scientifically, Sarah Winchester's house is just an attraction, although research has been conducted there to discover paranormal manifestations of the otherworldly.

Description of the mansion

The owner put everything she had into her project. At first, the house was conceived as a seven-story building, becoming the first skyscraper in the area. But in 1906 there was an earthquake, as a result of which the construction had to be frozen first and then significantly changed. Ultimately, Sarah Winchester's mansion appeared as a grotesque four-story building. Since the lady did not use the services of architects, but relied on her understanding of the essence of the house, construction lasted a very long time and was extremely problematic. So, for example, the owner could demand that an entire wing be rebuilt, simply because she did not like it for far-fetched reasons. Several times the workers tried to take up arms, but the lady dutifully paid. The original mansion is considered unfinished. It was repaired several times due to subsidence, but no one knows Sarah Winchester’s true construction plans to this day.

Reasons for construction

According to unconfirmed reports, the owner was thinking about a new house because of a medium from Boston. No one is certain about the actual words spoken to the widow at that time. It is believed that Sarah left the clairvoyant as pale as a sheet. According to the medium, her family was haunted by the curse of every soul that was taken by a rifle designed by the Winchesters. The ghosts allegedly took away first the daughter, and then Sarah’s husband. The frightened and apathetic woman took this statement on faith, after which she invested everything without a trace in the construction of her “fortress.” Her house was intended to be a spirit trap. It would take the souls forever to find the owner of the mansion. Constant reconstruction, changing projects, room layouts - all this cost a lot of money, and Sarah spent it recklessly. Only in her home could she sleep peacefully.

Presumably the medium who gave the widow this idea was named Adam Kuhn. At that time, people of his profession turned from just jesters and clowns into serious, supposedly specialists. They deceived and fooled the wealthy public with the help of special tricks. Devout Sarah would never have gone to see a medium, but she wanted to “hear” her husband too much. The deceiver took advantage of the woman's weakness and simply made up a ghost story to make it more convincing. Who would have imagined that Sarah would take this seriously. In addition, a specialist in communications with the paranormal stated that “the sound of hammers should not subside even for a minute,” and therefore construction was carried out constantly, and also very chaotically.

The Legend of the "Visitors"

There is an opinion that the medium told Sarah something else. “You must repent, ask them for forgiveness, give them something as a gift” - this is what that same phrase supposedly sounded like. For this purpose, the owner allocated a special “blue” room in the mansion. Every day a servant in black livery climbed to the very top high tower in the building, after which he rang the bell once exactly at midnight. At the same time, Mrs. Winchester received her visitors. Who they really were, no one knows. It is quite possible that the woman simply went crazy and began to see hallucinations, or that friends of spiritualism came to her. In any case, visitors were still seen. The conversations continued until 2 am, until the next bell rang, then the lady went to bed.

The Oddities of Sarah Winchester

The widow was an extremely extraordinary person during her lifetime. She abandoned the plans, and the builders complied with her demands, drawn on napkins at breakfast. Serving in the house was considered perhaps the most difficult test for a servant; it was difficult to learn the entire route to the new bedroom of the mistress. The woman was literally obsessed with the number 13. Most of the stairs in the house contained exactly this number of steps. Sarah wore 2-3 sets of clothes at a time in order to change her look and rush away at any second, even in the middle of a conversation, because she considered unpredictability her main defense against ghosts.

"Requests" from the other world

One day, Sarah demanded the creation of a triangular room for the sake of Sir Quentin Orwell, who died because of the famous rifle. Often empty rooms appeared in the house, in which there was only 1 chair among the furniture. All this was part of the constant demands from the "ghosts". Mrs. Winchester was so unusual that she could disperse a team during the construction process or force it to destroy everything at its roots and start again. Soon, the workers began to leave the project, as they themselves witnessed manifestations of the otherworldly. Although it seems more likely that the widow simply ran out of money. Latest photos Sarah Winchester shows a tormented and sick person for whom life has become a burden.

Winchester Mansion today

At the moment, the mystical house has become one of the most popular attractions in California. It is huge, the number of rooms is 160. At the same time, it is very easy to get lost in the house, since many stairs lead into the walls, and doors open, for example, into the same room. Some tourists note that when they stay in the mansion for a long time, their heads begin to hurt, hallucinations and obsessions appear, and their perception and understanding of the essence of things suffers. Even now, when each room is located on the plan and painted in a light shade, the house evokes gloomy thoughts, and visitors feel as if they will never be able to find a way out.