When Sarah Winchester’s husband, William Wirt Winchester, died in 1881, she became one of the wealthiest women in the world. The Spooky History of the Winchester Mystery House. Sarah left the majority of her fortune to charity. The film tells a fictionalized version of the story behind the mansion but many people believe that the truth is far stranger than fiction. When the news broke, all construction on the house ceased the decades-long project finally finished. William took over the company in 1880 but died from tuberculosis the next year. Tragedy struck quickly when their only child, Annie, died in infancy in 1866. Read on to learn 13 spine-tingling facts about the Winchester Mystery House. Winchester died of heart failure in her sleep on September 5, 1922. The Winchester Mystery House was built by Sarah Winchester, who had married Winchester Repeating Arms Company heir William Wirt Winchester in 1862. Winchester hired carpenters to work around the clock, expanding the small house into a seven-story mansion.

At the time of the sale, the house was a small unfinished farmhouse, but that quickly changed. As a result, the mansion contains many odd features, such as doors that lead to nowhere, indoor windows, trapdoors, and stairs that lead into the ceiling - all with the goal of 'confusing' the spirits.Ĭreepy stories about the Winchester Mystery House abound from its tour guides, from a ghost named Clyde in the basement to mysterious footsteps on the third floor. In 1884, Sarah Winchester purchased what would later become known as the Winchester Mystery House. She promptly hired a crew who proceeded to work nonstop on her house from morning until night, building continuously until her passing in 1922. Legend has it that after the tragic deaths of many of her close family members (including her husband and infant daughter), she consulted with a medium who told her that she needed to buy a house and never stop its reconstruction in order to appease the ghosts of all the people who had been murdered by Winchester rifles. The eerie and labyrinthine Victorian mansion was built by. The eerie and labyrinthine Victorian mansion was built by practicing spiritualist Sarah Winchester, the widow of William Winchester and heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune. Located in San Jose, CA, the Winchester Mystery House is a chilling real-life haunted house story. Located in San Jose, CA, the Winchester Mystery House is a chilling real-life haunted house story.

Winchester mystery house story