Sarah Winchester’s Strange House

Sarah Winchester inherited a fortune built on death when her husband William, heir to the Winchester rifle fortune, died in 1881. What she built with that fortune was one of the strangest houses in America, designed, according to legend, to confuse spirits.

The Legend

A medium allegedly told Sarah that she was cursed by the souls of everyone killed by Winchester rifles. To escape the curse, she must build continuously, constructing a home so confusing that the spirits could never find her.

The Construction

From 1884 until her death in 1922, Sarah oversaw constant construction. Workers labored around the clock. At its peak, the house contained perhaps 200 rooms. The 1906 earthquake destroyed much of it, but rebuilding continued immediately.

The Architecture

The Winchester Mystery House defies conventional design. Staircases lead directly into ceilings. Doors open onto walls or drop into empty space. Chimneys rise partway and stop. Windows look into other rooms. The number 13 appears obsessively throughout.

The Séance Room

Sarah reportedly held nightly séances in a blue room at the center of the house. She would receive instructions from spirits on what to build next. Only she was permitted in this room, and its location was secret.

The Ghosts

Today’s visitors report apparitions throughout the house. Footsteps echo in empty rooms. Doorknobs turn on their own. Sarah herself has been seen in her séance room and wandering the endless corridors.

Assessment

Whether Sarah Winchester was genuinely haunted, mentally ill, or simply eccentric remains debated. The house she created stands as a monument to obsession, and the ghosts within, whether real or imagined, continue to manifest.