![]() ![]() A relative said many decades later Winchester fell “under the thrall” of a medium, who told her that she would be haunted by the ghosts of Winchester rifle victims unless she built, non-stop-perhaps at ghosts’ direction, for their pleasure, or perhaps as a way to elude them. A spiritualist in the mid-1800s, when plenty of sane Americans believed they could communicate with the dead, Wincehster became terrified that her misfortunes, especially the death of her husband and one-month old daughter, were cosmic retribution from all the spirits killed by Winchester rifles. The answer: Her building is a ghost story of the American gun. In 1911, the San Jose Mercury News called Winchester’s colossus a “great question mark in a sea of apricot and olive orchards.” Over a century later, the San Francisco Chronicle was still baffled: “the Mansion is an ornately complex answer to a very simple question: Why?” ![]() She had apparently forgotten about it and built over it. It had two chairs, an early 1900s speaker that fit into an old phonograph, and a door latched by a 1910 lock. Winchester hastily sketched designs on napkins or brown paper for carpenters to build additions, towers, cupolas or rooms that made no sense and had no purpose, sometimes only to be plastered over the next day. She built her house with shifts of 16 carpenters who were paid three times the going rate and worked 24 hours a day, every day, from 1886 until Sarah’s death in 1922.Īn American Penelope, working in wood rather than yarn, Winchester wove and unwove eternally. After she moved from New Haven, Connecticut, to San Jose, Winchester dedicated a large part of her fortune to ceaseless, enigmatic building. Her father-in-law Oliver Winchester, manufacturer of the famous repeater rifle, died in 1880, and her husband, Will, also in the family gun business, died a year later. Winchester had inherited a vast fortune off of guns. In this provocative and deeply-researched work of narrative history, Haag fundamentally revises the history of arms in America, and in so doing explodes the clichés that have created and sustained our lethal gun culture. While you are at the Vbar, try our inspired cocktail, The Winchester.The Gunning of America: Business and the Making of American Gun Culture Show your Winchester Mystery House tour tickets at the Vbar and receive 10% off your bill. Looking for a group activity? “Spook” up your team building with Hotel Valencia and Winchester Mystery House. Please contact The Hotel at 855.596.3396 for questions. "Book your tour online at The Winchester Mystery House and enter your promotional code to receive discount pricing. Please call the front desk with your confirmation email to receive your promotional code. ![]() Visit their website to check for any changes to hours of operations. The Winchester Mystery House is closed Thanksgiving Day and December 25. Be sure to find out about Special seasonal tours, Halloween happenings and events. Visit the Winchester Mystery House Website for more information and to schedule a tour. in San Jose, within walking distance from Hotel Valencia Santana Row. The Winchester Mystery House is located at 525 South Winchester Blvd. So, when you visit San Jose or the Bay Area, be sure to include the Winchester Mystery House among your things to do. Whether you are looking for a spooky thrill or to tour the magnificent architecture and craftsmanship, the Winchester Mystery House will not disappoint.ĭesignated as a National Historic Place, a California Historic State Landmark and a San Jose City Landmark, visitors can take guided tours, and for a limited time, can tour areas of the mansion that have never been open to the public. As one of the world's most well-known haunted houses, this famed 160 room Victorian style mansion is both an architectural wonder and a mystery. One of THE things to do when you visit San Jose is to plan a visit to the legendary Winchester Mystery House. ![]()
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