This one seemed obvious considering a certain movie is opening today. ;-p
The Winchester Mystery House is a Victorian mansion in San Jose, California, built by Sarah Winchester, the widow of the man responsible for the Winchester Rifles. According to legend, Mrs. Winchester believed herself and the home she was building to be haunted by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester Rifle, and so she built her home with no real plan, and no end in sight, in order to placate the ghosts. With doors and stairs that go nowhere, windows into other rooms instead of outside, the 7-story mansion was under nearly continuous construction for 38 years.
Now who knows if she really did believe in ghosts, but it makes a good story (as evidenced by a film about the woman being made suggests), and the house truly is extraordinary. It’s huge, and makes no sense. How anyone can work there without getting lost all the time, I will never know. But if you love old homes, and especially Victorian architecture, furnishings, and gardens, the house is well worth a visit.
We visited as part of our coastal tour of California for our anniversary in 2009 (obviously made a bit of a detour inland), so sadly the garden was pretty sparse, but still beautiful. I have to assume it would be even moreso in the spring months.
Here are just a few of my favorite photos from our visit.
