![]() The rumors of supernatural activity surrounding the house have drawn in many from across the world, including Harry Houdini, Buzzfeed Unsolved, and over twelve million guests in the last century. “I do like seeing the third and the fourth floor, the little bit that we have, just because some of them have such an abrupt stop as to where things were cut off … and you can kind of imagine what could have been,” said Maldonado. This included a seven-story tower that had previously added to the mansion’s eerie, palatial aura. Unfortunately, Sarah’s labyrinth, reduced by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake left parts of the house irrevocably lost and damaged. Others say she built the house like a maze to confuse ghosts and make her harder to reach. Some thought that Sarah believed that the hammering and sounds of construction would scare away malicious spirits. While her exact reasoning for the continuous renovations on the house is unclear, many believe that Sarah - haunted by the ghosts of those killed by Winchester rifles - was advised by a medium to move out West, buy a home, and build nonstop. The allure comes from the odd and often random additions Sarah included, such as staircases and doors to nowhere.Ĭoupled with Sarah’s tragic background, the house quickly became the stuff of legend. It’s something that I know I and a lot of my employees are really proud of and we’re able to tell that story more factually than ever,” said Maldonado. “I came here for the architecture and the legend, I stayed for the actual history. Thirty six years and $5 million later (or $71 million today), Sarah left behind a sprawling 24,000 square foot mansion complete with ten thousand windows, two thousand doors, one hundred sixty rooms, fifty-two skylights, seventeen chimneys, thirteen bathrooms, six kitchens, and numerous strange passageways. Sarah had employees that lived here for decades and knowing how deep rooted this house is in not only San Jose history, but Santa Clara County history is something that I know I, and a lot of my other employees are really proud of,” said manager Olivia Maldonado. Before the 1906 earthquake, the house contained seven floors. There, she bought a modest eight-room farmhouse and began renovating - a project that would last until her death in 1922. After losing her infant daughter, husband, and both parents, Sarah moved from her hometown of New Haven, Connecticut to San Jose, California. The home initially belonged to Sarah Winchester, who was married to the heir of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, William. Complete with many strange architectural choices, thousands of people every day visit the sprawling mansion for its eerie vibes and history of supernatural activity. As Amador celebrates its centennial, so does the famed Winchester Mystery House : a pillar in urban legend and Bay Area history.
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