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Winchester Mystery House wins approval


Still Waters

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The Winchester Mystery House - a purportedly haunted mansion that's one of Silicon Valley's perennial tourist destinations - secured permits to allow overnight lodging and to build a full restaurant on the site as well as more places to drink.

http://www.bizjourna...ys-haunted.html

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I remember a doco about this place. Oh to have been a carpenter in that town at the time his wife owned the place :)

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I don't know, man. When I went on a tour of that place, the guide pointed out to us nails that were only partially hammered in, because the moment the carpenters heard the lady was dead, the put away their tools and left. Doesn't sound like they were too eager to keep working there.

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the architecture fascinates me but i don't think i'd be interested in spending the night in the place. it's such an over the top tourist attraction.

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Probably take 2 to 3 days just to see the whole thing.

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Probably take 2 to 3 days just to see the whole thing.

if i'm not mistaken, a lot of the building is closed off from the tours. Still, it would be cool to see Edited by JGirl
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if i'm not mistaken, a lot of the building is closed off from the tours. Still, it would be cool to see

Yeah it would be, then go off to a comfy hotel for the night. They'd have to make this place at least a 4 star hotel before this chick stays there.

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Yeah it would be, then go off to a comfy hotel for the night. They'd have to make this place at least a 4 star hotel before this chick stays there.

same here - and it has to be my idea of four star not theirs lol
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if i'm not mistaken, a lot of the building is closed off from the tours. Still, it would be cool to see

Imagine becoming separated from the tour and getting lost in the maze -the spending the night alone! :cry:
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That Winchester lady sure did love her mansion with ghosts and all. She lived in it and wouldn't have anything else. That's real uncommon loyalty.

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That Winchester lady sure did love her mansion with ghosts and all. She lived in it and wouldn't have anything else. That's real uncommon loyalty.

according to reports, she wasn't a happy camper by any stretch

"For 38 years Mrs. Winchester kept shifts of carpenters working around the clock, building and rebuilding room after room in the superstitious conviction that spirits would kill her if construction ever ceased."

http://winchestermysteryhouse.com/mediarelations.cfm?mode=press&id_press=15

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Toured the place a few years back, I'd happily stay for a night or two! If I had the money I'd probably grease some palms for access to the other areas, I love historical oddities such as this.

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Never been there....its always been a dream to go. My hubby isn't into that ki d of stuff.

Get a girlfriend to go with you and have fun!

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oh that Winchester House.

When I first saw the thread, I for some reason thought about a house in Winchester, Virginia where I used to live. A company wants to hold haunted houses at this particular residence in town and people are in an uproar about it. They bought the place fair and square...but the problem is...it was the home of a serial killer. Not sure what his kill count was but the residents of Winchester were NOT happy this company wanted to exploit the property.

Don't know how the legalities turned out. I moved before Halloween last year so...

But when I saw the thread title, that was what popped in my head...totally wasn't thinking about the Winchester firearms family house

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This place has always intrigued me since the wonderful Shirley Jackson found it an inspiration for her gothic classic The Haunting of Hill House, I really sense the semblance in some of her disturbed passages.

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I've been through the Winchester house several times, and I would stay there overnight. Not by myself, though.

Edited by theotherguy
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I've been through the Winchester house several times, and I would stay there overnight. Not by myself, though.

i don't think i'd be afraid to stay the night there, but it just seems to me that it wouldn't be the most comfy or accommodating place to stay.
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according to reports, she wasn't a happy camper by any stretch

"For 38 years Mrs. Winchester kept shifts of carpenters working around the clock, building and rebuilding room after room in the superstitious conviction that spirits would kill her if construction ever ceased."

http://winchestermys...ess&id_press=15

I must say that I haven't heard that version, undoubtedly there are a few since the mansion is a tourist attraction. The version which I have heard is decades older and says that she wanted to build her mansion to accomadate the ghosts of the people who had been killed with the patented Winchester rifle, of which she had inherited the rights to and the wealthy fortune of. Of course nobody should feed the malice of negative entities; I can't imagine anybody wanting to live with them either.

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I must say that I haven't heard that version, undoubtedly there are a few since the mansion is a tourist attraction. The version which I have heard is decades older and says that she wanted to build her mansion to accomadate the ghosts of the people who had been killed with the patented Winchester rifle, of which she had inherited the rights to and the wealthy fortune of. Of course nobody should feed the malice of negative entities; I can't imagine anybody wanting to live with them either.

yes that is the same story version as far as i know. she felt she had to appease the spirits of those that were killed or she would die.
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You have the best avatars.

Thanks! They have to be blondes! lol

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I went there a couple years ago, the tour was extremely fast, pushed people through like cattle. I was super excited to go and after the tour was over, I was really disappointed. Oh well. :su

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I went there a couple years ago, the tour was extremely fast, pushed people through like cattle. I was super excited to go and after the tour was over, I was really disappointed. Oh well. :su

Go during the offseason--it's much more in-depth and interesting. If you did go during the offseason, you got a bad guide.

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  • 3 months later...

Just visited there yesterday. Had both the standard and 'behind the scenes' tour. It's a beautiful and certainly fascinating place. Our tourguides didn't play up the paranormal aspects of the place at all other than a brief mention. The main focus was on the history of the family and the construction. A lot of emphasis was put on the self sufficient nature of the complex - gas production, farming, the water system, etc. Frankly it was much more interesting that the usual spooky stories you hear on the ghost documentaries and such.

In doing a little post-tour research, I was curious if there were other opinions on the Winchester story than the usual one you hear about her building onto the house to keep the ghosts at bay. Of note was a 2010 publication by a local history professor entitled "Captive of the Labyrinth: Sarah L. Winchester, Heiress to the Rifle Fortune" which states that pretty much the entire story is just a version of various urban legends about Mrs. Winchester and the house that circulated among the San Jose locals during her lifetime and has grown over the years since her death primarily to generate tourist dollars. She was the uber-rich old widow lady that lived in seclusion in a bizarre house - of course there were going to be stories about her. Here's an article about the book:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_16506081

Through her research of Winchester's letters and other documents, she's found that the oft cited legend that the house was under continuous construction is simply not true. Construction stopped frequently and often ceased for months at a time. She also found evidence that Winchester used the construction as simply an excuse to keep relatives from back East from visiting. Also, a lot of the weirdness of the house's layout can be attributed to damage from the 1906 earthquake and subsequent repair. Another interesting tidbit found by the author is that followign the earthquake, Wincheste spent much of the last 20 years of her life not at the house, but at her estate in Atherton.

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