The story of the Winchester Mystery House is a strange one indeed.   Born of the wild imaginations and startling messages given Sara Pardee Winchester,  wife of the son of the Winchester Rifle manufacturer,  by Spirit Visitations and a misleading Spirit Medium,  this rambling mansion tells the story of a woman tormented by the Spirits of those who fell victim to the Winchester Arms Repeating Rifles.

When Sara's husband died,  she inherited the mass fortune of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.   But a Spirit Medium told her that she also had a curse upon her.  A curse that told of many Spirits who were upset by their deaths at the hands of those using the company's rifles.    The Medium told her that the only chance she had of escaping the curse was to move out west and build a home in which they could live in peace.  The Medium told her that the only way she could ever escape the Evil Spirits was to continue to build onto the house,  in hopes of confusing vengeful Spirits wishing to do her harm.

Sara Winchester moved close to the California coast and purchased a farm house.  There,  she began to remodel it as she believed the Spirits instructed.  The construction began in 1884 and continued until her death in 1922.  During this time, she employed hundreds of workers who worked continually,  24 hours per day, seven days per week.  Of course,  this included all Sundays and Holidays.

Hundreds of rooms were built,  torn down,  and rebuilt according to instructions given Sara when she contacted Spirits in her Blue Seance Room.  Stairways lead to nowhere and doors open to blank walls.  Some doors open in the floor which drop unsuspecting persons 40 feet to the ground outside.  And some just lead to outdoors,  even though they are located on the second floor.   Today,  160 rooms remain, including her death bedroom, and the room in which she was trapped after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It took over half an hour for servants to find her.  And after she was released,   she believed she was being punished by the Spirits. So,  she had the front, first 30 rooms sealed up, including the front door entrance.  Those rooms were never used again.  And the front door was only used once,  by the worker who placed it there.   Sara never used that door.

Only one visitor ever tried to visit Sara in her lonely area on the hill.   President Theodore Roosevelt came to visit.  But when he tried to enter through the front door,  a worker told him he would have to use the servants' entrance.  Insulted,  the President of the United States turned and left the property.  He never returned or tried to contact Sara again.

Occult based numbers and symbols are seen throughout the house.  The number 13 plays heavily in the construction and furnishings.  Posts and ceiling supports are placed upside down to confuse Spirits.  Sinks have thirteen holes in their drains,  and ceilings have 13 partitions separating the fine woodwork.  Windows also often are separated into thirteen panes.

The Bell Tower, which was only accessible by secret underground passage,  was rung daily at 2am.  This was supposedly to let the Spirits know when Sara was ready to receive Spirit Communications in her Blue Seance Room.  

Upon Sara's death on September 5, 1922,  all construction stopped immediately upon the pronouncement of her passing.

For much of Sara's life,  she suffered from crippling arthritis.  Easy riser stairs,  about 2" high each,  were installed throughout most of the home.  This,  of course,  makes it an easy walk for most tourists.   Be aware, many doors and halls were made to Sara's proportions.  She was only 4'10", and very petite.

The Winchester House is located at 525 South Winchester Blvd.  It is just off I-280 in San Jose, California.    Tours are offered every day except Christmas.  Late night Halloween and Friday the 13th Flashlight tours are a favorite,  so you should make reservations well in advance.  Daily tours do not require reservations.  Prices are about US$15.00 per person for the 1.3  hour tour.

For more information please feel free to phone: 408-247-2000.

In January 2001,  Shasta Supernatural Investigator and Founder, Craig S. Martin,  took the daylight tour,  about 10:30am.  About 30 people were in the tour group.  It was Mr. Martin's hopes to capture Spirit Manifestations during daylight hours and in a crowd of people.  In this way,  he could show that Spirits will manifest in daylight,  and with a diversity of emotions from a group of people.  Most Ghost Hunters say that Spirit Activity will NEVER occur with these conditions.   We have evidence which shows otherwise......

Out of 49 pictures taken,  only two show any Spirit Activity.  However,  EMF readings were plentiful.  We have included only a few of the pictures taken here.

                                                                                   This is the far end of Sara's main Bedroom.  We received a good EMF reading of 2.7 here.  Also,  a feeling of Spirit Energy was detected by Mr. Martin.   The bright light in the mirror is not a Spirit Orb. It is the flash of Mr. Martin's camera.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  This is Sara's main bedroom and death bed.  Here,  she died peacefully in her sleep.  EMF readings were between 1.7 and 2.7.  No Spirit manifestation was recorded in this room.

During construction,  many bedrooms were built, and Sara chose to sleep in several of them.  It was her guess that if she were to sleep in a different one each night,  the Vengeful Spirits of those killed by Winchester Rifles would not be able to find her while she slept.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Sara had many kitchens built in the house.  This one had a good EMF reading that seemed to center near the sink, cabinets, and especially the old furnace.  However, there is no power connected to the furnace now and it is no longer used.   Note the pentacle and protective circle on the furnace surface.  This is further evidence of her practice and study of occult matters and fear of Malevolent Spirits.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           This is another of Sara's bedrooms.  Here,  EMF readings were between 0.9 and 1.7.   However,  no Spirit Orbs or other manifestation was in evidence.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Here we see the room in which Sara was stuck after the San Francisco 1906 earthquake.  The walls shifted in the earthquake, which make the doors impossible to open by herself.  A little over half an hour later,  the servants managed to find her and release her from the room.  She considered the earthquake to be a direct warning from Spirits that she was not pleasing them,  and so construction was quickened.   So upset was Sara by this Spirit imprisonment,  that she decided to seal up the front 30 rooms of the mansion.  Today,  you can tell what part was sealed up by the normal stair height of each step.  All stairs built after the earthquake were easy risers,  used to help Sara climb stairs because of her severe arthritis.   The damage seen is exactly the way it was left immediately after the earthquake.  Sara would not re-enter the room before having it sealed off with the rest of the front,  original 30 rooms.

The picture above was taken from the door which was jammed shut during the earthquake.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              These two pictures are the only ones that contain evidence of Spirit activity in daylight and human crowding conditions.   The first is a picture of the most ornate window in the entire as released,   she believed she was being punished by the Spirits. So,  she had the front, first 30 rooms sealed up, including the front door entrance.  Those rooms were never used again.  And the front door was only used once,  by the worker who placed it there.   Sara never used that door.

In the picture below,  a faint Spirit Orb can be seen just above and to the left of the Organ pipes.  We got a good EMF reading, but the orb was not seen until we looked closely and enlarged the photo.  Sometimes,  when the house is closed to business and all is quiet,  it has been reported that the organ can still be heard playing.

Many paranormal researchers have verified the existence of Spirits in the Winchester mansion.  However,  no person has ever successfully contacted the Spirit of Sara Winchester.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  We should make a note here.  We took pictures of Sara's Blue Seance Room with the same camera used for all the pictures here.  But,  those pictures were not found with the others on the same memory disk,  even though the pictures of the room were taken in the middle of shooting.  The pictures just vanished.

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