Episode Transcript
Amanda: Hey, there, all you spooky guys and gals. I'm Amanda.
Kori: And I am Kori.
Amanda: And this is Colorado crime. Today's episode is one I've been excited about for a while. We're talking about a house built on superstition, fear, and endless mystery. The Winchester Mystery house, located at 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, California.
Kori: Oh, the Winchester house. Just hearing the name send shivers down my spine. This place has been called one of the most haunted and bizarre buildings in the United States, with a story just as strange as its architecture.
Amanda: Exactly. This isn't just any old haunted house. It's a sprawling labyrinth mansion with staircases that lead to nowhere, doors that open into walls, and hallways that double back on themselves. And it's all thanks to one woman. Sarah Winchester. But before we dive into her story, let's set the stage with a little background. The Winchester house is closely tied to the story of the Winchester family and their wealth, which came from the famous Winchester rifle, known as the gun that won the west.
Kori: For those of you who don't know, the Winchester repeating Arms Company was a huge deal in the late 19th century. Their rifles were revolutionary because they could fire multiple rounds without needing to reload. This made them hugely popular in both military and civilian markets. And the company made a fortune off of it.
Amanda: A huge fortune. And at the center of that fortune was William Wirt Winchester, the son of Oliver Winchester, who founded the company. William married Sarah Pardee, a bright and well educated woman, in 1862. Everything seemed to be going well for them, but tragedy struck pretty hard.
Kori: Yes. Their only child, Annie, died just a few weeks after birth in 1866. And if that wasn't devastating enough, William died in 1881 of tuberculosis, leaving Sarah a widow with a massive inheritance. We're talking over 20 million, which would be about a half a billion dollars today. And a steady income of $1,000 a day, astronomical sum at the time.
Amanda: But all that money didn't bring Sarah any peace, did it?
Kori: No.
Amanda: She was consumed by grief. And many believe that guilt played a role, too. You see, there's a theory that Sarah Winchester felt the family's wealth was tainted by all the lives that had been lost because of the Winchester rifle.
Kori: This brings us now to what many call the Winchester curse. According to legend, Sarah believed she was haunted by the spirit of those who had been killed by Winchester rifles. This belief allegedly stemmed from a visit she made to a medium in Boston after her husband's death.
Amanda: That medium is said to have told Sarah that her family was cursed and that the spirits of the people killed by the rifle, were seeking revenge. The only way for her to appease them, according to the medium, was to move west and build a house. A house that she could never stop building.
Kori: The idea was that as long as construction on the house never stopped, she could confuse the spirits and keep them at bay. In 1886, Sarah bought a farmhouse in San Jose, California, and began the renovations that would turn it into a sprawling seven story mansion we know today as the Winchester mystery house.
Amanda: And renovations might be putting it mildly. The house grew and grew. Construction continued for 38 years, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until Sarah's death in 1922. Can you even imagine that?
Kori: No. The Winchester house isn't just big. It's weird. Like, really weird. Like you mentioned earlier, it's filled with architectural oddities. Staircases that lead to nowhere, doors that opened into walls, windows in the middle of rooms. Some even say it is a blueprint for a haunted house.
Amanda: Yeah. And it wasn't just strange for the sake of being strange. A lot of people believe Sarah was designing the house in such a way to confuse the spirits. For example, the famous staircase to nowhere leads up to a ceiling, probably so that the spirits would get trapped or confused. It's almost like a maze.
Kori: There are other stories that Sarah was deeply superstitious and believed in mystical numbers. The number 13, for instance, shows up a lot in the house. 13 bathrooms, 13 panes of glass and some windows, 13 steps in certain staircases. It was almost as if Sarah was trying to use numerology to protect herself from the spirits. And also, I have a question about your previous statement about spirits getting trapped or confused. They're spirits. Can't they just go through the wall?
Amanda: I would think so.
Kori: Okay.
Amanda: And maybe she was just ahead of her time and she was just a big swiftie.
Kori: That could be.
Amanda: Just saying.
Kori: That could be.
Amanda: But speaking of superstitions, many believe the house was designed to reflect elements of the occult or spiritualism. Some people think she was creating a sanctuary of sorts, of where she could communicate with spirits, while others think she was building a place to trap them.
Kori: I think one of the creepiest features is the seance room. It's a small, hidden room where Sarah supposedly held nightly seances to get instructions from the spirits on how to continue building the house. They're like, okay, Sarah, we need stairs to nowhere. A door that leads outside that just opens up outside, and windows in the middle of rooms get on it.
Amanda: Also, we demand to have a door that opens up, like, two stories above a kitchen sink. That'd be great.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: Make it happen.
Kori: Yep.
Amanda: But I mean, like, imagine that, though. Every night this little lady is in this massive, enormous house, communicating with unseen entities, trying to figure out how to build her own home. It sounds like something straight out of a horror movie.
Kori: It is a horror movie. They did make a movie about it.
Amanda: No, thank you.
Kori: Mm hmm.
Amanda: It's a no for me dog.
Kori: Of course, no story about the Winchester house would be complete without talking about its hauntings. People have claimed to experience all kinds of paranormal activity in the mansion, from cold spots and strange noises to seeing actual apparitions.
Amanda: Visitors have reported seeing a woman in black, matching descriptions of Sarah in her later years wandering through the halls. There are also claims of construction workers spirits, which makes sense considering how many were employed on the never ending construction project.
Kori: There's a particular spirit that visitors call Clyde. He's often seen in the basement wearing overalls and pushing a wheelbarrow like he's still working on the house. Staff have also reported hearing footsteps in empty hallways, doors slamming shut and windows creaking open without explanation. That would be creepy.
Amanda: It's not surprising, given the sheer number of rooms and hidden passages. It's like the house itself is alive and it's hiding its secrets within its walls. If ghosts do exist, this would be the perfect place for them to wander endlessly. The house itself is 24,000 sqft. It has 161 rooms, 13 bathrooms, but only one of them has a working toilet, six kitchens, 2000 doors and 47 stairways.
Kori: And since Sarah was only 4ft ten and she had multiple health issues, a stairway was built that has 44 steps but only rises 10ft. Since Sarah Winchester's death in 1922, the house has become a major tourist attraction. It has been designated as California's historical landmark and people come from all over the world to explore its mysteries.
Amanda: Have you ever been?
Kori: No. I wish I had. I wish I could go.
Amanda: I. Before I became a total chicken, we went to California. I think I've been two or three times. I remember when I was five, I was like, I have to see this house. My mom was like, absolutely not. So then when I went in middle school, I was like, listen, I have to see this house. And everyone was like, no, thank you. You're here for an entire week and you have to sleep. And we have to sleep. So I've never seen it, but I would love to go on the tour.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: But there's actually been countless documentaries, tv shows and even a 2018 horror film titled Winchester, starring Helen Mirren, which I love her. The house continues to fascinate people, both for its bizarre construction and its potential connection to the paranormal.
Kori: And even though no one could say for sure what was going through Sarah's mind while she built it, her legacy indoors, the Winchester mystery house, stands as a testament to grief, fear, and the power of belief.
Amanda: Whether Sarah was trying to appease spirits, avoid a curse, or simply found solace in construction during her grief, one thing is clear. The Winchester mystery house is like no other place on earth, and it's still.
Kori: Standing today, ready to confuse, fascinate, and maybe even terrify its visitors. So if you ever find yourself in San Jose, don't forget to take a tour if you dare.
Amanda: And that's all we have for today's episode of Colorado Crime. Thanks for joining us on this eerie journey through the Winchester mystery house.
Kori: We'll be back again next week with another strange and unsettling tale. Until then, keep your wits about you, because you never know what mysteries are lurking in the shadows.
Amanda: Stay curious, everyone, and remember, not all mysteries have answers,
Kori: And maybe some shouldn't.
