#TravelTuesday: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Winchester Mystery House

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Welcome back to #TravelTuesday, a summer series on Spooky Little Halloween where we put a spooky twist on this popular hashtag and travel to haunted destinations across the globe.

This week Mike from All Hallows Geek is taking us on an insider’s tour of the Winchester Mystery House! He visited earlier this year and has a ton of fun insights from his trip. Read on to learn more about the house Sarah Winchester never stopped building.


#TravelTuesday: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Winchester Mystery House

 

By Mike, allhallowsgeek.com

 

The 2018 film Winchester may not have been met with critical acclaim. Scoring only a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 28% on Metacritic and a 5.4/10 on IMDb it left even fans of the home and its lore with something to desire. However, what it lacked in critical acclaim it made up for in generating a ton of new buzz around a California landmark.  And with newly sparked interest came new tours and new opportunities for guests to explore the mysterious mansion of the late Sarah Winchester, heir to the Winchester rifle.  Making new, more than ever, a great time to make the trip out to California and explore the mansion for yourself.

 

Photo courtesy of allhallowsgeek.com

 

What is the Winchester Mystery House?

 

If you’re unfamiliar with the mansion’s history, Miranda outlined a handful of facts about the house when the Winchester film was released, but to get you up to speed I’ll give you a quick rundown:

Located in San Jose, California the Winchester Mystery House is the end result of a 38 year, $5.5 million renovation of a small eight-room farmhouse.  While the true motivation behind the bizarre home is uncertain, legend has it that the home was purchased by Sarah Winchester after she was instructed to do so by a medium whom she found solace after the passing of her husband and only child.  Believing she was cursed and being haunted by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle Mrs. Winchester took the medium’s advice and left New Haven, Connecticut to start a new life in California in 1184.  Work on the home would continue around the clock until her passing on September 5, 1922.  In the end, the home would span six acres and contain 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, and six kitchens.  It’s a modern marvel and as you tour the home it feels like you’re walking through a full-size funhouse or mystery shack.

 

Photo courtesy of allhallowsgeek.com

 

Touring the Winchester Mystery House

 

The Winchester Mystery Households various tours of the estate daily, along with seasonal events around Halloween and Friday the 13th.  Earlier this year my wife and I head up the California coast to visit the mansion for the first time and took part in the Mansion Tour and the all-new Explore More Tour.

The main mansion tour takes about an hour and five minutes to complete and explores 110 of the 160 rooms in the house.  The guided tour explains much of the mansion’s history and explores some of the more iconic elements of the home such as the window built into the floor, stairs leading to nowhere, doors that open into nowhere and rooms like the “25,000 room,” Sarah’s bedroom, the Séance room, and the Grand Ballroom, which is said to have inspired The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.  During the tour you’ll also learn a lot about Sarah Winchester as a person, while many believe her to have been eccentric or even crazy, she came up with a number of incredible innovations that helped with life in such a large home and also took great care of her staff.

The Mansion Tour also includes admission to the Victorian Gardens, Historic Firearms Museum, and Specialty Gifts and Antique Products Museum.

The Explore More Tour is currently open for a limited run and gives tourists access to sections of the home previously closed off to visitors.  The tour explores rooms that were under construction when Sarah passed and also gives you access to the “Witch’s Cap,” a room with bizarre acoustics that was believed to be used as an alternate séance room as well as the home’s basement, because who doesn’t want to tour a creepy home’s, creepy basement.  This is a unique tour that spends a bit more time exploring the “hauntings” of the home and definitely takes you deeper into the house than you go on the main mansion tour, so much so hard hats are required.

A few important things to note:  If you plan to visit the mansion be sure to book your tour ahead of time through the Winchester Mystery House website to reserve your spot. While you can purchase tickets on site, this will secure your tour time for you so you won’t have to wait.  As mentioned previously the tour is rather lengthy and includes a number of stairs, however because of Mrs. Winchester’s arthritis many of the stairs are what are called “easy risers” which are more shallow so they’re easier to climb and much less tiring than a traditional staircase.  Not surprisingly the home is not wheelchair accessible, however, the mansion does offer a special Video Access Tour that allows guests in wheelchairs to experience the Winchester history and house without making the mile-long trek and includes access to the Victorian Gardens and Historic Firearms Museum.  Finally, if you like to document your trips, you’ll be disappointed to know that picture are currently not permitted inside the mansion.  It sounds as if this restriction is only temporary and is a result of the Winchester film, but the only point we could take pictures on the tour were in the final room where they are currently showcasing memorabilia from the film and preview the film’s trailer for guests.

 

 

A Modern Marvel That’s Probably More Fun in the Dark

 

Perhaps my expectations were too high when I visited the mansion after hearing of its lore for so many years, but as I mentioned early on, this really does feel more like a full-size funhouse than a spooky estate.  While its lore is tied to ghosts and spirits the only time I felt any sort of unease was during our time in the Witch’s Hat.  That said, during the day the home is extremely well lit, which may take away some of the spooky factor, which is why my wife and I are considering making another trip in the future to take part in either the Halloween Candlelight Tour or the Friday the 13th Flashlight Tour.  That said, the mansion is worth a visit for anyone who’s a fan of ghosts, history, and the spiritualist movement, all of which make up the lore of this epic home.

 

Mike Wilton is The All Hallows Geek, a Southern California-based blogger that is dedicated to that section of the Venn diagram where geeky and creepy intersect. He shares the latest from the darker side of pop culture ranging from toys and games to Halloween events and horror movies on the All Hallows Geek website.  You can also keep up with his latest on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween

Miranda is the Houston-based writer, blogger, and Halloween lover behind Spooky Little Halloween, the blog celebrating October 31st all year long. Her favorite Halloween things include pumpkin guts, chocolate bars in her trick-or-treat pail, real haunted houses (including the one she lives in!), and historic cemeteries.

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