Winchester
Mystery House
this unique mansion is a very famous building
that had been under construction for 38 years and reported to be
haunted, after being the residence of Sarah Winchester, the
widow of gun maker and mogul, William Wirt Winchester, and is
now a tourist destination that brings visitors from around the
world to visit and wander through this incredible house that was
constructed from the ground up that continued day in and day out
for 38 years, working twenty-four days the entire period. In
September, 1922, after Sarah passed on, the estimated cost of
the work was about $5.5 million that converts to $71 million
today. The Queen Anne style Victorian mansion is famous for its
size and complete lack of planning or master plans, since Sarah
was haunted by the ghosts of all the folks that had been killed
by the famous Winchester rifles her husband had manufactured,
according to legend, and the only way to appease them would be
to continue the construction of this more than unusual house.
Sarah had been deeply saddened by the deaths of her daughter
Annie in 1866 of marasmus and then later of her husband in 1881,
she would seek comfort in the advice of psychics. The fabulous
house was seven stories tall, until the earthquake of 1906 and
now stands four stories tall, and made of mostly redwood
framing, with a floating foundation that is believed to have
kept the house from collapsing in the earthquake. In 1989, it
would withstand the Loma Prieta earthquake and continue to bring
visitors from near and far to see and wander around the 160
rooms, with 40 bedrooms and two ballrooms, with one finished and
the other still in progress. It houses 47 fireplaces, 10,000
window panes, 17 chimneys, three elevators and two basements,
all sitting on what had been a 162 acre lot, but now is just 4.5
acres. There are silver and gold chandeliers, hand inlaid
parquet floors and trim, doors and stairways that go nowhere and
a large array of paint colors and materials. Over 20,500 gallons
of paint were used to cover the house.
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