Renovations on the farmhouse began in 1886 and lasted for the next 36 years. Reports claim the property was constantly under construction. It’s rumored that her carpenters worked around the clock, rotating in shifts to meet her ever-changing demands. According to Little Things, however, Sarah generously paid her workers 50% more than the average wages of the time, It wasn’t until September of 1922, when Sarah died, that construction finally ceased. Despite having no professional training, Sarah was the sole architect and visionary behind the home. “That she took it seriously is supported by the fact that she subscribed to the Architectural Record while living in California and building her home,” Janan Boehme, a historian at Winchester house, tells AD.” Boehme started as a tour guide at the mystery house in 1977 and has worn many different hats throughout her years at the property, serving as operations manager, cafe manager, and tours manager before becoming the house historian. “I always come back. It’s like home to me. I became fascinated by the place as a very small child, when I saw it as we passed on the way to my grandmother’s house in San Jose.” One of her grandmother’s brothers actually worked for Sarah back when the house was still Llanada Villa, probably as an orchardist.
Looking at the Winchester mansion now, it is almost unfathomable to think it was once a modest eight-room farmhouse. Today, the 24,000-square-foot Victorian mansion has endless twists, turns, and oddities. There are a total of 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 160 rooms, 52 skylights, 47 stairways and fireplaces, 17 chimneys, 13 bathrooms, and 6 kitchens. Some of the staircases lead to nowhere, while doors open to nothing but air, supposedly in an effort to confuse and mislead the rumored murdered spirits around the haunted mansion. Legend has it that Winchester would conduct séances and communicate with spirits in her Blue Room.
Up until 1906, the crown jewel of Sarah’s home was a seven-story tower. That was until the great San Francisco earthquake rocked the sprawling home, causing the tower to partially collapse. It was determined the tower could not be salvaged, which led to its deconstruction and removal from the skyline of the mansion. Some remnants of the tower—like the top finial—can now be seen in the attic of the home.
According to the official website of Winchester Mystery House, the home has over 10,000 panes of glass—more than the Empire State Building. One of the great mysteries that surrounded the mansion for many years was the origin of its stained glass window collection. “My absolute favorite thing to see and learn about there was the stained glass windows and the secrets that Sarah added to her house along the way as the home was being built,” Skylar McCollough, a student from California who visited the home this spring, tells AD.
