EP44: Ghosts in the Ceilings

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Hello, Lovelies! Welcome to this week’s blog post about The Winchester Mystery House! We hope you enjoyed this episode as much as we enjoyed learning about it!

This week’s drink break is brought to you by the Best Forevers Podcast! Alysa Lucas hosts Best Forevers: A Podcast for Kindred Spirits with the goal of starting a movement to love more on our best friends, bros, and bosom buddies through sharing stories of friendship and talking about the most important topics to keeping those friendships afloat. Click on her logo to listen!

Tiffany’s Show Notes

  • Sarah Lockwood Pardee was born in New Haven, CT in 1839
    • Upper middle-class family
    • Father was a craftsman who moved up the social ladder by selling ambulances to the Union Army during the Civil War.
    • She was known as the Belle of New Haven
    • 4’10” – 90 lbs. – loved to read, played piano, fluent in 4 languages (Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, English… that’s 5…)
    • She was admitted to Yale’s only female scholastic institution at the time: Young Ladies Collegiate Institute
    • She advanced in math and science
    • Although her future husband went to Yale, they met at church.
    • Who was this man?
    • William Wirt Winchester – heir to the Winchester Repeating Arms Co.
  • A little about the Winchester Repeating Arms Co.
    • Oliver Winchester purchased the Volcanic Repeating Arms Co. in 1857 and changed the name to Winchester Repeating Arms Co.
    • The Winchester Lever Action Repeating Rifle is known as the Gun that Won the West
    • It could fire one shot every three seconds! Wow!
    • It was used during the Civil War (1861-1865) and by American Settlers of the West
    • Buffalo Bill, Teddy Roosevelt, Billy the Kid, and Annie Oakley were advocates for the Winchester brand 
  • William and Sarah
    • William Wirt Winchester was one of three children born to Oliver and Jane Winchester
    • He and Sarah were married in 1862
    • In 1866, they had a beautiful baby girl named Annie Pardee Winchester.
    • Unfortunately, Annie only lived to be 6 weeks old due to an infantile disease known as Marasmus (a severe form of malnutrition due to the body’s inability to metabolize proteins).
    • Dec. 10, 1880 – Oliver Winchester died leaving everything to his wife and two remaining children
      • The company was worth over $3 million ($75.3 million) and his personal fortune was worth roughly $1.5 million ($37.7 million)
    • William was now the owner of Winchester Repeating Arms Co.
    • 3 months later, William passed away from TB
    • This left Sarah with an inheritance of $20 million ($502 million) and nearly 50% of the Winchester Arms stock
    • She was making roughly $1,000/day! (over $25,000)
    • She inherited 2,000 more share of Winchester stock when Mrs. Winchester died in 1897
    • Although she was one of the wealthiest women alive, she was immeasurably broken-hearted.
  • Here’s where the legends start.  There will be facts mentioned but most of the information moving forward will be based on legends and hearsay.  
    • Sarah was said to have visited a medium, Adam Coons.  This wasn’t too weird as Spiritualism was reaching its peak, especially amongst socialites.
    • He told her one of two things depending on which legend you hear:
      • The medium was able to channel her husband who told her to move out west and she continued to communicate with him throughout her life.
      • She is cursed by the souls of those who died from a Winchester firearm. This is why her daughter, husband, and father-in-law all passed away.  It’s a Winchester curse. The only way to avoid this herself was to build a resting place for all the souls. 
        • There are two interpretations of this: You will die if construction stops or if you keep building, you will live forever.
  • So, what did she do?  
    • In 1886, she moved from New Haven, CT to San Jose, CA and bought an 8-room, 2-story farmhouse situated on 161 or 162 acres (depending on which source you read).  (This is roughly 65 hectares [ha].)
    • She called her home Llanada Villa.  (Side note: I need a cool name for my house.)
    • And so began the construction. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 38 years. (36 years…)
    • Construction never ceased from the time it began.  
    • The going rate for workers at the time was $1.50 per day.  She paid $3 per day with the caveat that you followed her instructions, or you left.
    • Workers rarely left.
    • Sarah wanted only the best for her home.  Tiffany glass, French wallpaper, Belgium crystals, West African mahogany, doorknobs made of copper, silver, and gold
    • Red Wood was used throughout the house (termite resistant)
    • If she found a material she liked in town, she would buy it all up so that no one else would have it.
    • She was very specific in what she wanted, and it didn’t take long for her to fire her architect and take over herself… kind of.
    • It is said that she would get the plans for the house each night from the spirits of the house. (some say her husband)
    • These séances took place in the designated séance room (the Blue Room).  
    • This room is located in the center of the house on the second floor.  
    • There is one entrance to this room but 3 exits.
    • It is said that Sarah would go into this room (which only she had a key to) and emerge with the plans for the next day.
      • Séances weren’t too uncommon at this time.  Mary Todd Lincoln held séances in the White House after her son’s death.  President Lincoln is even said to have attended a few.
    • Floorplans changed CONSTANTLY.
    • It is believed that Sarah was trying to confuse the spirits by requesting oddities like stairs that lead to nowhere or windows on inner walls of the house.
    • She would have rooms built, torn down, then built again.
    • Or rooms would be completely blocked off by wall panels.
    • Additional wings were built mere inches from other wings. 
    • A bell tower in the yard was eventually surrounded by the house and could only be accessed via an underground tunnel.
    • The 7-11 staircase goes down 7 stairs and up 11 – they start and end on the 2nd floor
    • The switch-back staircase is a winding staircase with 44 stairs – 2 inches high and only rise 9 ft. (Some source said that would normally be 3-stories, but I can’t remember which source…)
    • By 1906, the 2-story farmhouse had been transformed into a 7-story mansion complete with an observation deck.
    • Unfortunately, April 18, 1906, an 8.1-8.4 Richter scale earthquake shook Llanada Villa.
    • The house held up okay… The observation tower fell, and the house was lowered to 4 stories.  Much of the 4th story was damaged and, I believe, the Mansion is now only 3-stories.  The front portion of the house was badly damaged, and Sarah had it sealed off completely.  
    • When the earthquake hit, Sarah was in the Daisy room and became trapped for hours.
    • Due to the winding maze that was her house at the time, and the fact that she slept in a different room of the house each night, it took quite some time for the servants to find her.  
    • She assumed that the destruction from the earthquake was a result of the spirits being mad at her.
    • It is believed that she sealed off the damaged part of the house so that it could never fully be repaired, and the house would never fully be completed.
    • From that moment on, the front door was never used again.  (Now I think it is but not during her time.)
  • Want to hear about the oddities in this beautiful home?
    • This beautiful home contains:
      • 160 rooms (500-600 over the course of construction)
      • 24,000 sq. ft.
      • 10,000 windows (more than the Empire State Building)
      • 2,000 doors
      • 52 skylights (many opening to the rooms above them)
      • 47 fireplaces
      • 40 bedrooms
      • 17 chimneys (some that stop short of the ceiling)
      • 13 bathrooms (only 1 shower)
      • 6 kitchens
      • 3 elevators (2 hydraulic and 1 electric)
      • 2 basements
      • 467 doorways
      • 2 mirrors
      • Closet door that leads to an 8 ft. drop to the kitchen sink below (in the séance room)
      • Cupboards with only 1-2 inches of space behind them
      • Cupboards that open to entire rooms
      • Railing installed upside-down
      • Stairs that lead to blank walls or ceilings
      • Stairwells and secret passageways covered by wall paneling
      • Large doors that lead to small rooms
      • Small doors that lead to large rooms
      • One solitary closet door that accesses 30 rooms
      • Another door that opens up to a 2-story drop outside of the house
      • Wide balcony that narrows to mere inches
      • A bathroom door made of glass
      • Doors and windows that open to solid walls
      • Rooms that can only be accessed through a window
      • The entire house encompasses 6 acres! (2.43 ha)
    • She furnished the house with state-of-the-art features:
      • Automated elevators – the first on the west coast
      • She was the first person to use wool as insulation
      • Plaster was made with horsehair for additional insulation
      • Carbide gas lights that had their own gas manufacturing plant for the estate 
      • Electric push buttons were installed
      • She was the first person in CA to have a hot water heater
      • She was the first person to have inside cranks to open and close outside shutters
      • Drip pans were installed under the windows and a zinc subflooring in the north conservatory was installed so that when you watered the plants, the runoff would be captured for the plants below.
      • She used a servant call system that she invited called the Enunciator – drop card to show which room she was in at the time
        • She was a very bright woman (remember the Yale thing)
      • The house had a floating foundation to prevent massive damage during earthquakes.
      • She installed little caps (for lack of a better term) in the corners of the stairs to make it easier on the maids when cleaning.
      • Her laundry room had built in scrubbers, soap holders, and hot and cold running water (state of the art)
      • The Grand Ballroom was constructed almost entirely without the use of nails (engineering feat at this time).
    • She was a very eccentric woman as well (No way!  Really?!).
      • She was rarely seen but when she was, she was always dressed in black and wore gloves and a veil.
        • It is said that if anyone besides her Secretary (her niece, Daisy) or her butler saw her without her veil, they were immediately dismissed.
      • She supposedly spied on the staff through secret passages built into the house.
      • The Grand Ballroom was used just once before the earthquake hit and it was sealed up.  She hired musicians and caterers and planned a great spectacle. When the musicians arrived and started playing, they noticed that Sarah was the only guest at the party.  It didn’t take long for them to get freaked out and leave.
      • Her nightly visits to the séance room were eccentric in their own way.  Every night, the bell tower would ring at midnight inviting the spirits to the séance room.  She would then traverse a labyrinth of hallways, rooms, windows, steps, windows, elevators, etc. to get to the séance room.  At 2am, the bell would chime again dismissing the spirits and she would retreat to a lovely dinner.  
      • This dinner was set for 13 on gold plates and occurred every night.  (Only found this in one source so take it with a grain of salt.)
      • The light fixtures in the house were arranged to minimize shadows.  This was to make sure the ghosts would not feel bad or humiliated because they couldn’t cast a shadow.
      • There is a small room that has 4 fireplaces, 4 hot air registers from the central furnace, and 2 gas heaters.
      • She was a big fan of the number 13:
        • Almost every room is paneled with 13 sections
        • Lots of stairwells have 13 steps
        • Most chandeliers have 13 lights
        • 13 bathrooms
        • Nearly all the windows contain 13 panes of glass
        • 13 hooks in the séance room with robes hanging
        • 13 palm trees line the front driveway
        • 13 drainage holes added to a hand painted, antique Italian sink
        • Her will had 13 parts and she signed it 13 times
      • Spiderweb designs can be found throughout the house in windows, ceilings, fireplaces, and more.
        • It should be noted that the spiderweb design is the symbol for the Spiritualist Society.  Whether or not this is related is up to interpretation.
      • She was a recluse who once turned Teddy Roosevelt away.  
        • He had stopped by to see the house (which was the talk of the town by this point).  When he showed up at the house and knocked on the front door, which was blocked off after the earthquake, she reportedly said, “Who uses the front door?!” and refused to see him.
  • September 5, 1922 – Sarah Pardee Winchester passed away in her sleep.  
    • There are a few legends surrounding her death.
      • Workers had stopped to take a break and play cards the night before and she was found dead the next morning.  (If construction ever halts, you will die.)
      • When word got out that Mrs. Winchester had passed, workers quit so abruptly that nails are said to be half hammered into the walls.
  • A few additional oddities surrounding the Winchester Mansion:
    • No pictures were taken inside the house until after Sarah’s death.
    • After her death, her safe was opened and the only contents were obituaries for her daughter and husband and a lock of her daughter’s hair.
    • Her will did not specify what was to be done with the house after her death.  
    • She left all the furniture to her niece, Daisy, who auctioned everything off.  
    • It ended up taking 6 weeks to empty the house because of the confusing layout and sheer size of the mansion.
    • There is a storage room filled with Tiffany glass and other leaded glass windows that are worth millions today.
    • She spent $5.5 million on construction ($83.8 million today) but because of the haphazard design, the house was valued at only $5,000 ($76,217.86) and sold at auction for $135,531.50 ($2,065,984.10).
    • 5 months after her death, the house was opened for tours.
    • Harry Houdini is the one who dubbed it the Winchester Mystery House during his 1924 visit.  He performed an overnight séance to try and disprove the rumor of hauntings there. He did this a lot and famously debunked quite a few haunting stories.  He never disproved this location’s haunting though.
    • As Sarah was the architect for the building, and she received her plans during the nightly séances, there are no blueprints for this labyrinth.
    • In 1949, the house had to be brought to code and fire sprinklers were installed (without blueprints!).  They used 7 ½ miles of piping!
  • The mysteries of this house are still being unearthed to this day.  
    • In 1975, workers discovered a new room inside the house with a lock on the door.  It contained two chairs and an early 1900 phonograph speaker. It’s believed that Sarah forgot about this room and just built around it.
    • In 2016, another new room was discovered.  Inside was a pump organ, Victorian couch, dress form, sewing machine, and several paintings.
  • Let’s take a drink break really quick and then we can discuss some of the theories surrounding Sarah Winchester and we can tell some ghost stories.
  • Let’s start with some ghost stories!
    • Sarah herself is said to haunt the residence
    • Most haunts happen on the 3rd floor
    • Lights turn on and off on their own
    • Cold spots
    • Doorknobs turn on their own
    • Orbs in photos
    • Doors slamming
    • Unused kitchens smell of chicken soup and pots and pans can be heard banging around.
    • One employee heard a ruckus and went to investigate.  Once she entered the room where the commotion was heard, the door locked behind her.  Fortunately, she had one of two keys to this room on her. The other key was with the Manager on duty (on the other side of the property).
    • One employee was in the Oriental room and noticed a full apparition standing by the fireplace.  She turned away and then looked back and the apparition was still there! She did this once more and the figure vanished.
    • Clyde is the wheelbarrow ghost people see in the basement.  He was one of the grounds workers while Mrs. Sarah was alive.  He is the most famous ghost on the property.
    • There is an urban legend that Sarah had a wine cellar with thousands of bottles of wine.  After noticing a black handprint on the wall, she had the cellar boarded up and it hasn’t been found to this day.
    • For it to be one of the most haunted houses in America, there were surprisingly few ghost stories.  However, it has been featured on Ghost Brothers, MythBusters, Buzzfeed Unsolved, and two episodes of Ghost Adventures. 
  • So, should we believe Sarah Winchester had gone crazy?  Was she constantly running from the spirits of those lives lost the Winchester rifles?  Did she embrace the ghosts and cater to their wishes? 
    • There is no evidence of Sarah ever visiting a medium.
    • She had family that lived out west and it is believed she moved out there to be near them.
    • She was beyond wealthy and was extremely generous with her money.
      • As mentioned before, workers were paid twice the daily wages of most employers.
      • When she moved to town, anonymous donations started coming into local charities.
      • When she was younger, her father had a hard time finding work which may explain why she constantly had construction.  She was providing well paying jobs to the locals.
        • One rail line was even diverted to be closer to her house for bringing lumber and supplier.
      • Gifts of food from her garden were sent anonymously to hungry families nearby.
      • She would host ice cream socials for orphans.
      • She donated money to build a medical center at Yale.
    • Based on letters to her sister-in-law, it is believed she kept the house in constant disarray to avoid having company come over. (I think a lot of people can relate to that.)
    • Remember, she is mourning the loss of her daughter and her husband. 
      • Constantly wearing black could be a show of mourning.  Or it could just be her preference.
      • One likely explanation of the veil and gloves is explained as so: the young beauty was beginning to show signs of aging.  It was rumored that she was missing teeth and was ashamed of her looks. The gloves hid her gnarled, arthritic hands.
    • Speaking of arthritis, the 2 in. stairs would have been easier to navigate for someone with arthritis.
    • The stairwells that lead to nowhere could have once led to higher floors that were either lost during the earthquake or simply built over during one of the redesigns.
    • Speaking of the earthquake, windows on the inside of the house and even on a bathroom door could have been to avoid being lost in the event of another disaster.
    • There is also the question of her building the house to confuse the spirits but also taking direction from them?  That doesn’t make sense.
    • Along those same lines, if she believed she was caught up in the Winchester curse, why would she continue to use the “blood money” and keep her shares in the company?
    • Her nephew once said his aunt took up architecture to get her mind off past traumas.  
    • There are letters written by Sarah to her family in New Haven, CT that acknowledged taking breaks from construction for months at a time to simply rest.
    • If you’re into conspiracy theories (who isn’t?!), check out thetruthaboutsarahwinchester.com.  It is a fascinating page dedicated to proving Sarah Winchester was a Freemason and her house was just a bunch of elaborate clues to prove it.  It’s a fascinating read but could be a topic all by itself, so I won’t go into that here.
  • Today, the Winchester Mystery House is a historical landmark and receives visitors from around the world.
  • There are a few tours you can choose from: 
    • The Mansion Tour
      • Tour through 110 of the 160 rooms and see the bizarre attributes that give the mansion its name. 
    • The Explore More Tour 
      • The first all-new tour to be offered in more than 20 years, this exciting new experience takes guests to areas of the house never-before open to the public or which have been off limits for decades. (For safety concerns under 6 are not allowed on this tour.)
    • There is also a video tour for any guests or escorts who cannot traverse the mansion.
    • Winchester Mystery House After Dark
      • There are two seasonal opportunities to explore the house: 
        • UNHINGED Experience: all new immersive horror experience.  Step into a real life psychological and paranormal thriller where you explore the dark hallways of the cursed Winchester Estate.
        • Friday the 13th Flashlight Tour: It’s claimed to be the most haunted house in America.  Do you have the courage to explore it after dark? Not for the faint of heart.
    • Private Group Tours (minimum 15 people – by appointment only)
    • Or host an event there!

Sources

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