THE WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE
New Haven, Connecticut, 1862 William Wirt Winchester, son of Oliver Winchester, of the Winchester Rifle fame, married cultural elitist Sarah Pardee, daughter of Leonard and Sarah Pardee (of the same name).
The Newly wed couple enjoyed their new lives and after four years of marriage on July 15th 1866, Sarah had given birth to the couples only child Annie Pardee Winchester, this is where the peculiar string of tragedies began.
Shortly after birth Annie Pardee Winchester contracted and was Diagnosed with the illness marasmus, causing the body of the daughter of William and Sarah to slowly waste away until her death 9 days after birth on July 24th 1866.
This Tragedy affected Sarah greatly, and may have swayed her decision to have another child, she was not seen as her self for some time after this most saddening of events.
15 years later the next tragedy struck in Sarah’s life as her husband of 19 years was Struck down with Pulmonary Tuberculosis on March 7, 1881.
After his Death Sarah Inherited a wealth surpassing $20 million and a large share in William’s Company, Winchester Repeating Arms Company, of 48.9%, she was also entitled to a $1000 a day income, however this did little to soften her loss as she was consumed with grief for the rest of her melancholy existence.
Obviously stricken with grief and probably suffering some sort of Depression, a friend of Sarah Winchester’s suggested that she may seek to commute with her lost “loved ones” through the powers of a medium, putting her weary soul at rest, or so was the desired goal, Sarah however was not destined to find peace in life as would become obvious in years to come.
The medium had gained Sarah’s trust by accurately describing her late husband and upon further consultation with the spiritualist Sarah was told that there was a curse plaguing her family, this curse was the byproduct of her husbands involvement in the invention of the Henry Rifle, a popular firearm among the Northern troop’s during the civil war.
She was told that the spirits of those that died due to the invention of the Winchester Rifle were seeking revenge upon the Winchester family and Sarah’s was soon to be next, the medium continued saying that Sarah must sever her ties with her life as a Winchester, selling the family home and settling in the first place she recognized as the starting point of her new life.
Sarah was told that she must build a house on this land to house herself as well as the multitude of vengeful spirits, “…You can never stop building the house. If you continue building, you will live. Stop and you will die.” were the words the medium left Sarah with, the impact of which ruled the rest of Sarah Winchester’s life.
Sarah , heeding the advice given to her, sold the family home and traveled to Western California, Finally settling down in the Santa Clara Valley, 1884.
The construction of what was soon to be referred as the Winchester Mystery House continued for the next 38 years of her life, right up until her mysterious death.
The scale of the construction must have been amazing at the time, it has been reported that at least 22 carpenters were employed year round as the house seemed to take on a life of its own.
Sarah’s own mix of melancholy, depression and madness seeped into the house as she designed room after room each one separate with no master floor plan and each one out doing the previous in strangeness, the house kept growing and as a true monster would consume its victim, this house surely consumed Sarah’s life.
Sarah poured basically all of her expenses into the project, designing and building Stairways that lead to the nowhere, Fire Places in which the chimneys fall short of the ceiling, A Doorway on the third floor that leas outside to steep drops with nothing but the lawn below ( http://pics.livejournal.com/witchylass/pic/0000zg3f/g15 ), Closets doors with nothing behind them besides a blank wall, some doors were even designed to solely accommodate Sarah’s short stature measuring a mere 4ft tall (http://pics.livejournal.com/witchylass/pic/0000sg94/g15).
On top of all of these oddities the house currently contains an estimated 160 rooms, 1257 windows, 950 doors, 47 fireplaces, 17 chimneys, 52 sky lights, 40 stair cases and an amazing 40 bedrooms, but most amazing of all is possibly a 9ft stair case containing 42 steps, each step being a mere 2 inches high.
However this pales in comparison to the house that once was, at the pinnacle of construction the monster house stood a massive 7 stories high, a castle in its own right, that was until an earthquake in the year 1906 shook the foundations of the home and the surrounding San Francisco area, the house was never fully returned to its former glory.
Sarah did not give up on her ambition though, in fact she strove even harder, convinced that the earth quake was a sign of the spirits anger at the near completion of the house she continued construction.
On the night of September 4, 1922, Sarah Winchester died in her sleep, age 83, the irony was that it took her death to ensure the house was never finished, to this day sections of the semi constructed house are boarded off from public tours as they are deemed a safety hazard.
It is said that the ghost of Sarah Winchester still walks the house and numerous reports seem to verify this, although no evidence has ever been found.
To read more about the Winchester Mystery house and the Winchester family visit:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/winchester.html
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/
http://pics.livejournal.com/witchylass/gallery/0000fc1a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House
For Further Images http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/press.html
Note: all pictures were taken from http://pics.livejournal.com/witchylass/gallery/0000fc1a
and info gathered from the various other sites linked to...
I've been there it is a trippy house and i loved the tour... 
I wonder how the workers there feel about the place being haunted.
