Sarah Winchester consulted a medium in order to seek solace after her husband’s death. This medium, known as the “Boston Medium” told her that thousands of spirits were angry with her and her husband because of the rifles they built to kill them. The medium then instructed her to move west to build a house for these spirits to live in.

“You can never stop building the house. If you continue building, you will live. Stop and you will die.”

Sarah moved to San Jose, California in 1884 and bought a six-bedroom house. She kept a crew of construction workers busy twenty-four hours a day, every day for the next thirty-eight years. By the time she died in 1922, the Winchester Mystery House had grown to approximately 160 rooms. She had succeeded in building a colossal maze in which to confuse the angry spirits that she believed were hunting her. Rumor had it that she slept in a different room every night to avoid capture.

Today, The Winchester Mystery House is one San Jose’s most popular tourist attractions. Most of the people come to take a tour of the old house and listen to the tour guide tell stories about Sarah Winchester and her strange house. Both employees and tourists have experienced strange things while walking through the rooms and corridors, such as the sounds of footsteps and cold spots. Dozens of psychics have claimed that they have seen sightings of Sarah’s ghost, among others, over the years.

Whether the house is haunted or not, it is definitely a sight worth seeing.

Photo Courtesy of Winchester Mystery House
The Winchester House