Instead, over the next 36 years, she directed the construction herself. Winchester’s maze-like house reportedly conformed to no set architectural plans. ( image courtesy San Jose Public Library California Room) Sarah Winchester’s grand home before the devastating quake of 1906 that saw the seven-story observation tower collapse. After purchasing a 160-acre plot of land she began building a house in the American Queen Anne style, which was popular during the late 1800s. Wikipedia images)Īfter several years of traveling, Sarah Winchester moved to California to be near family and, in 1886, began work on what would become a lifelong project-a grand home that would eventually boast, according to some sources, more than 200 rooms, extensive gardens and a tower that topped seven stories high. He left behind a wife, Sarah, and a monumental inheritance of more than $20 million, roughly equivalent to $500 million today. The story of what has since become known as the Winchester Mystery House begins in 1881, when William Wirt Winchester, treasurer of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and the son of its founder, Oliver Winchester, died of tuberculosis at just 43. The house's second story "door to nowhere" that opens out to a sheer drop. The house and its owner have become shrouded in myth and mystery, and are now set to be the focus of a new Hollywood movie. But on closer inspection, all is not as it seems. ![]() ![]() At first glance its myriad broad windows, turrets and balconies are eye-catching. Winchester Mystery House: Library of Congress imageįrom the outside, the Winchester “Mystery” House, located in a suburb of San Jose, Calif., undeniably extolls grandeur.
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