Winchester Mystery House

A sprawling Victorian mansion famous for its architectural curiosities - stairs to nowhere, doors opening to walls, and 160 rooms. Built by Sarah Winchester, widow of firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester, from 1884 until her death in 1922.

The Winchester Mystery House stands as one of America's most iconic haunted locations, a sprawling 24,000-square-foot Victorian labyrinth that was under continuous construction for 38 years. Sarah Lockwood Pardee Winchester, known as the Belle of New Haven, married William Winchester, heir to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, in 1862. Tragedy struck when their infant daughter Annie died just five weeks after birth in 1866 from marasmus, followed by William's death from tuberculosis in 1881. Sarah inherited approximately $20 million and 50% of the Winchester fortune.

In 1886, Sarah purchased an eight-room farmhouse in California's Santa Clara Valley and began transforming it into an architectural maze. By her death on September 5, 1922, the mansion contained 160 rooms, 950 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 6 kitchens, and 3 elevators. The house features bewildering oddities: staircases leading to ceilings, doors opening to blank walls or dangerous drops, trap doors, secret passages, and a skylight built into the floor. Sarah's obsession with the number 13 appears throughout—13-paned windows, 13-paneled ceilings, and 13-step stairways.

The most enduring legend claims a medium told Sarah that the ghosts of those killed by Winchester rifles demanded continuous construction to house their spirits. While historian Mary Jo Ignoffo's research found no evidence Sarah believed this, the supernatural narrative has persisted since yellow journalism reports in the 1890s.

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, a 7.9-magnitude tremor at 5:12 a.m. on April 18th, collapsed seven stories of the mansion's tower and trapped Sarah in the Daisy Bedroom for hours until servants freed her with a crowbar. Rather than rebuild the damaged sections, she sealed them off entirely—adding to the house's already maze-like quality.

Paranormal activity has been reported since Sarah's death. The most frequently encountered spirit is "Clyde," a mustached construction worker in 19th-century attire who appears pushing a wheelbarrow in the basement or working on the fireplace in the Grand Ballroom. Visitors have mistaken him for a costumed actor, but the house employs no such performers. Maintenance worker Denny reported hearing footsteps in the water tower that always stayed one floor ahead of him, culminating on the roof with no one in sight.

The Daisy Bedroom, where Sarah was trapped during the earthquake, is particularly active. One tour guide heard a loud sigh from the hallway while presenting the room, then witnessed "a small, shadowy figure moving away"—believed to be Sarah showing displeasure at the room's public display. The Grand Ballroom, allegedly where Sarah conducted séances, generates reports of cold spots, flickering lights, and an unseen presence.

Executive Director Walter Magnuson has documented his own experiences: "I have experienced windows slamming shut during meetings as if they were exclamation points, doors slowly opening down the hall as I approached, and voices in an adjacent room when I believed I was the only person onsite. You never feel alone at Winchester Mystery House."

The paranormal TV show Ghost Adventures has investigated twice. During their 2011 investigation, investigators captured a blue orb photograph and experienced a dramatic temperature drop from 72°F to 65°F. Their 2016 return yielded more compelling evidence: a figure in a hat and white overalls was captured passing a window, an SLS camera detected a figure standing on a chair in the séance room, and lead investigator Zak Bagans was pushed against a wall on a switchback staircase with such force that he experienced back pain for two weeks afterward. EVPs captured included children's voices saying "I want to go home" and a spirit identifying himself as "Russell."

The British show Most Haunted Live conducted a seven-hour live investigation on October 19, 2007, exploring the basement, secret passageways, and the mysterious séance room with night-vision and thermal-imaging equipment.

Interestingly, legendary magician Harry Houdini visited in 1924 and toured the rooms said to have the most otherworldly activity, including the séance room. He never publicly reported his findings, but suggested renaming the property the "Winchester Mystery House"—a name that stuck. Time Magazine has named it one of the "Top 10 Most Haunted Houses in America."

Today, over 12 million guests have visited since the doors opened on June 30, 1923. The mansion offers official paranormal investigation experiences where visitors can attempt to connect with spirits like Clyde, Sarah, and the many unnamed souls said to wander its endless corridors. Staff report that the most common supernatural occurrence is shadowy human-shaped manifestations seen "roaming around corners, down long hallways, and appearing in windows." As one employee noted: "You don't feel alone in the house. But it's friendly, at least."