Winchester Mansion
Information on the Winchester Mansion in San Jose California taken from the
Winchester Mystery House tourist pamphlet.
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WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE -- State Historical Landmark No. 868
525 S. Winchester Blvd
San Jose, CA 95128
General and special event info: 408-247-2101
Administrative offices: 408-247-2000
The Winchester Mystery House is open daily, except Christmas Day. Guided
tours depart on a regular schedule all day, rain or shine. Flashlight
tours every Friday the 13th and Halloween.
* Mansion Tour *
Tour through 110 of the 160 rooms and 6 acres of beautifully manicured gar-
dens, and look for the bizarre phenomena that gave the mansion its name; a
window built into the floor, staircases leading to nowhere, a chimney that
rises four floors to stop just 1 1/2 feet from the mansion's ceiling, doors
that open onto blank walls, and upside down posts.
No one has been able to explain the mysteries that exist within the Win-
chester mansion, or why Sarah Winchester kept the carpenter's hammers
pounding 24 hours a day for 38 years.
It is believed that after the untimely deaths of her baby daughter and
husband, son of the Winchester rifle manufacturer, Mrs. Winchester was con-
vinced by a medium that continuous building would appease the evil spirits
of those killed by the famous "Gun that Won the West" and help her attain
eternal life. Certainly her $20,000,000 inheritance was sufficient to
support her obsession until her death at 82!
* Moonlight Flashlight Tours *
Special tours of the Winchester mansion are given every Friday the 13th and
at Halloween. You'll tour the rambling, mysterious mansion at night... with
only the moonlight, a souvenier flashlight, and your imagination to provide
illumination through the bewildering maze of rooms and stairways.
For Halloween, special enetertainment and Trick-or-Treating in the gardens
provide "spirited" fun for the whole family.