Paranormal Path
Built By Fear
Imagine living in constant fear. Feeling as if spirits were following and threatening you and that you must spend immense amounts of time and money to appease them. This is how Sarah Winchester lived for 38 years until she passed away in 1922.
In 1862 Sarah married William Winchester of the Winchester Repeating Arms company. They had only one child who sadly passed away in 1866 at only 6 months old. A few short years later William also passed away from tuberculosis.
Sarah was very distraught and decided to see a psychic in Boston. The psychic told Sarah that the deaths to her family were brought on by vengeful spirits of those killed by the rifle bearing her husband’s name. She advised Sarah to move out West and begin building a home to allow protection from the ghosts.
Sarah moved to San Jose California in 1884. She had a 20 million dollar inheritance and a thousand dollar a day income. She bought an eight room farmhouse and began building. There really was no plan or blueprint. Workers built 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Sarah wanted to make sure to confuse any “bad” spirits that may have followed her. Every night Mrs. Winchester would travel to her séance room to communicate with the spirits and decide upon new additions of the home. Traveling to the séance room alone was meant to be discouraging to any malicious spirits. She would push a button that would cause a panel to swing open, revealing another room, she would then climb out of a window that lead to the top of a staircase, she would go down the steps and then up another staircase that led back to the floor she was originally on.
This was not the only trick to confuse evil spirits. Some columns in the home were built upside down. Rooms were remodeled often and torn down week after week. Stairs would lead to ceilings; doors would open into walls, and the famous door to nowhere that leads outside to a large drop. The house was nearly 7 stories at one time, but the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 caused great damage. Sarah was trapped in her bedroom for several hours. She felt the quake was a warning from the spirits that too much time and money was being spent on the front portion of the home. She boarded up 30 rooms as well as the front doors.
Mrs. Winchester also had a bizarre obsession with the number 13. There are 13 gas jets in the ballroom chandelier, many windows have 13 panes, there are 13 bathrooms, there are 13 steps leading to the 13th bathroom and 13 wall panels prior to this bathroom. There are 13 hooks in the séance room and even her will was written in 13 parts and signed 13 times.
When Sarah passed away in her sleep in 1922 construction ended on the house. This once 8 room farmhouse now covered 6 acres, had 160 rooms, 6 kitchens, 13 bathrooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 fireplaces, and 40 staircases. Found in her safe were locks of her husband’s and child’s hair along with copies of their obituaries.
The house is currently open to the public as a museum. Ironically it takes just as much around the clock effort to maintain. Some damage from the San Francisco quake has been left as pieces of history. Of course ghost stories continue to hover throughout the home. Sarah herself is one of the most frequently sighted spirits as well as phantom workmen who seem to continue to come to build for Mrs. Winchester.
Guided tours will take you throughout the home and there has been a behind the scenes tour added since my last visit. I will definitely have to make another trip to explore all I was unable to see before. This house has to be seen to be believed.