It’s one of the most famous “haunted” and peculiar places in America, and its story is definitely a one-of-a-kind tale. A recent movie tells the tale of the Winchester House, and here is a bit more about its history.

What makes it strange?

The house’s architecture is simply bizarre, as is the history of the house. This mansion is a quirky mix of stairways and doors that go nowhere, rambling hallways and almost never-ending rooms. There are windows that offer views between one room and the next instead of outdoors, and a chimney that stops short of reaching the roof. This unusual home is an absolute monstrosity in terms of design and architecture.

The History of Winchester House

The house was built by Sarah Winchester in 1884, whose husband was William Winchester. Owner of the famed Winchester rifle company, he left her quite a fortune when he died suddenly of tuberculosis. Their only daughter had died as an infant years earlier. After their deaths, Sarah asked a psychic for advice and discovered that she was being haunted by the ghosts of all the people killed by a Winchester rifle. Needless to say, that would be a lot of ghosts.

She fled west to California and bought a farmhouse, to which she began construction on immediately. Her intention was to continue building without pause, in order to confuse the spirits who pursued her. This plan also led to many strange decisions, like the stairway that leads up to the ceiling. It was all to confuse the hostile spirits that were after her. She made design decisions on the fly and often jotted down “plans” on napkins for the builders as she thought of them.

She died nearly 40 years later in 1922, without any break in construction during the entire time. And that was quite literal, too. There was work being done on the house 24-hours a day. The house went to her niece, who sold it as a tourist attraction. It took 6 weeks to get all the furniture out after Sarah’s death, because of the confusing and maze-like floorplan.

What is it like?

For one thing, its huge. The mansion is spread over 6 acres of land in total, and contains 160 rooms, 6 kitchens, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms, 52 skylights, 47 fireplaces, 3 elevators and 2,000 doors. There were 7 stories at one point, but the fire and earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906 did considerable damage to the house. Some parts were boarded up at that time. The entire building cost her more than $5 million dollars to construct.

Go for a visit

The house is located at 525 South Winchester Boulevard, in San Jose, California. There are daily tours, which can take a few hours. Full details of the facilities are on their web page.  Tour rates start at $23.95, and there are behind-the-scenes tours available as well. On every Friday 13^th, and Halloween, there are special flashlight tours.