The Winchester House - house number 525 on Winchester Boulevard in the city of San Jose - is a place that many tourists visiting California want to visit. The structure has 160 rooms, 40 staircases, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 6 kitchens, 47 fireplaces. In 1884, the house was purchased by Sarah Winchester, widow of William Winchester, son of Oliver Winchester, inventor of the legendary rifle.

A woman named Sarah Winchester lost her daughter almost immediately after her birth. A little later she lost her beloved husband. After the death of her husband, Sarah visited a medium in Boston, who, through a seance, was able to establish a connection with the spirit of her late lover. The spirit of the deceased said that all the tragic events of Sarah are connected with the revenge of those killed by the rifle created by his father.

To avoid further problems, the widow must build a special house in which the spirits cannot harm her. Stopping the repairs threatened her with death. Following the advice of a medium, Sarah purchased an old mansion on the west coast of California.

Construction began without delay. Sarah personally drew up all plans for repair and restoration work. I was engaged in the implementation of her strange ideas professional team builders. Each time, new rooms appeared, secret passages, windows into neighboring rooms and stairs, often leading to the ceiling.

The woman's main idea was to confuse the ghosts who wanted revenge. Over 38 years of construction, the mansion began to resemble a labyrinth. The hostess never invited guests to her house - they would not have withstood such horrors. What are the prices for real windows made in the floor...

At first the house had 6 floors, but after the earthquake of 1906, half of the floors collapsed. From then to this day, the house has only 3 floors. In front of you rare photo six-story construction option.

Sarah Winchester died in September 1922, aged 85. The owner did not find any money in the safe, only 2 strands of hair - her late husband and daughter. The entire fortune was invested in an unusual house.

After her death, inexplicable phenomena began to occur in the house: doors slammed on their own, things moved, lights went out. Specialists in paranormal phenomena, they believe that some angry ghosts, in their long search for Sarah, became eternal prisoners of the labyrinth mansion. In addition, the spirits are angry that they were never able to take revenge and the Widow Winchester died of natural causes. According to rumors, mystical anomalies occur in the house even today.

Video - the sinister Winchester house

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I went to the mysterious Winchester house with the feeling that someone was playing a trick on me, and quite brazenly: the entrance ticket cost a little more than $30. And this is for seeing a haunted haunt in the heart of Silicon Valley, i.e. three minutes from the headquarters of the famous Cisco and Adobe. After all, it’s already the 21st century, but superstition is, of course, a strong thing.

No one claims that Sarah, the owner of the Winchester house, "had everyone at home." But, because on late XIX century, her income was approximately $1,000 a day, which was not taxed until 1913, when Sarah was called not crazy, but eccentric. And today we see the result of her madness in the form of the Winchester house in the American city of San Jose, which, by the way, is on the list of historical monuments of the United States, which many consider quite logical: America honors its heroes, no matter what they do.

But first things first. Sarah Lockwood Purdy grew up to be a quite pretty petite girl who attended the best private schools, spoke four languages, and played the violin and piano. And in 1862 she married William Winchester- son of the famous Oliver Winchester, manufacturer of repeating shotguns. Such a gun existed before, but Oliver decided to put this thing on the conveyor belt. By the way, many people liked the gun, thanks to which, in fact, the Wild West was conquered. In general, the Winchester family managed to quickly get rich.

And then a series of tragedies began in Sarah's life. First, her daughter dies before she reaches two weeks of age. As soon as the woman began to come to her senses, a few years later her husband, having contracted tuberculosis, also passed away. 27-year-old Sarah Winchester becomes the heir to a huge fortune, estimated at $20 million. This is where the story of the mysterious Winchester house begins.

Arriving at an appointment with a famous clairvoyant, Sarah learns that her family is under a terrible curse - the spirits of all those who were killed with Winchesters are taking revenge on them. A woman decides to leave for the Pacific coast, buys a house and begins its endless reconstruction. Sarah Winchester believed that as soon as she stopped building her house, the spirits would immediately kill her.

In general, the Winchester house, which is now visited by thousands of tourists every year, grew in the most unpredictable way. Sarah had no architect, no drawings, just a lot of money and workers: a room was added to another room, a new wing was formed, on top of which the next floor was built, and so on. Judging by the number of stairs in the Winchester house that lead to the ceiling, doors that rest against the wall, and windows in the floor, Sarah tried to confuse the spirits in this way so that they would finally leave her alone.

Of course, all assumptions about what Winchester house in San Jose was built under the guidance of spirits, mostly legends. After all, Sarah herself did not leave any explanations behind, and when the safe was opened after her death in 1922, only a will, newspaper clippings and curls of her late daughter and husband were found in it.

Sarah had a special relationship with the number 13. There were 13 palm trees in front of the Winchester house(now only 9 remain), all 40 staircases, with the exception of one, consist of 13 steps, many windows have 13 frames, there are also 13 drain holes in the kitchens, and 13 hooks on the hanger.

Although I myself am not particularly superstitious, but tricks with my camera still happened in the Winchester house. Having taken several photographs of different parts of the house, and then viewing them on the display, I noticed that many turned out to be color negatives. When I tried to reshoot it, I got the same result. It was the same inside the house. Maybe this is exactly what happens when a ghost appears in the frame?

According to the manager, footsteps are often heard in the Winchester house, lights flicker, doors slam, handles turn, and water from the taps begins to flow. The guide also added his two cents: often at the end of the day the ghost of a carpenter and the spirit of Sarah Winchester herself appear, but at night.

I took such an unforgettable excursion to the mysterious Winchester house in San Jose. Despite the external attractiveness, it was really creepy inside this house, and this is during the day! I can imagine what it would feel like to wander around it on the night of Friday the 13th.

Imagine and believe that in the very center of Silicon Valley, at 525 South Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, a few miles from the offices of world-famous IT companies, I will find this incredibly mysterious house, known as the Mystical House of Sarah Winchester, which is still said to be haunted by ghosts - I absolutely couldn’t! But it is so. There is such a house. And this is perhaps the most striking, unexpected and memorable sight during my entire trip to California this year.

Entrance tickets, even by American standards, were not cheap at all - $30, and at first I was quite skeptical and did not really imagine why such a high fee was being charged. Moreover, the excursion takes only 65 minutes. (You can take more than one, but my time was limited). Later, after walking around the house and garden, I realized that there were so many new impressions, emotions and so many interesting information, gleaned from the guide, were worth every dollar spent. Moreover, I would go back there again. Thoughts about this house and its owner still haunt me to this day.

So, first things first.

Sarah Lockwood Purdy grew up to be quite a pretty girl who attended the best private schools, spoke four languages, and played the violin and piano. And in 1862 she married William Winchester, the son of the famous Oliver Winchester, manufacturer of repeating shotguns. Such a gun existed before, but Oliver decided to put this thing on the conveyor belt. By the way, many people liked the gun, thanks to which, in fact, the Wild West was conquered.

The family rapidly grew rich from military orders, the newlyweds lived in love and prosperity. Petite as a doll, not even one and a half meters tall, but nevertheless, the lovely Mrs. Winchester was the soul of society in New Haven, Connecticut. But four years after the wedding, a misfortune struck the family - their daughter Annie died shortly after birth.

Sarah almost went crazy with grief, and only ten years later, as they say, she came to her senses. The Winchester couple had no other children.
In 1881, William Winchester died of tuberculosis, leaving Sarah a widow with an inheritance of $20 million and a daily income of $1,000 (more than $10,000 a day in today's dollars). During this time, she also lost her mother and father and was in complete despair. Mrs. Winchester was inconsolable. Trying to understand why fate was punishing her so cruelly, she went to Boston to see a medium.

The medium communicated with the spirit of William Winchester for a modest fee. The spirit ordered to tell Sarah that the family bears the curse of those killed, those who died from high quality products Winchester company. He also said that for salvation own life Sarah must move west, towards sunset, and stop at the place indicated to her and begin building a house. Not to build - but to build. Construction must not stop; If the hammering stops, Mrs. Winchester will die.

Inspired by this prophecy, collecting her belongings and saying goodbye to her old life forever, the widow headed west. In 1884, she reached San Jose, where, according to her assurances, the spirit of her husband told her to stop. She bought the house and set about renovating and expanding it. Sarah Winchester did this obsessively for 38 years in a row, without resorting to the services of professional architects.

The construction of the house was carried out by 22 carpenters 24 hours a day, without breaks on weekends and holidays. Mrs. Winchester, frightening local residents with her strange lifestyle and incomprehensible passion for design, inspired respect and brought stability to their lives.

Sarah had no architect, no drawings, just a lot of money and workers: a room was added to another room, a new wing was formed, on top of which the next floor was built, and so on.

Interior finishing:

Pumpkins, garlands and autumn bouquets are temporary home decorations for the upcoming Halloween holiday at the end of October, which, by the way, is in perfect harmony with this house))

There is not much original furniture left in the house. Most were sold at auction after Sarah Winchester's death in 1922. The furniture that can be seen during the tour is mainly furniture from the same era, as close as possible to the originals. Initially, there was a huge amount of original furniture - it took 8 trucks, which took all the furniture out for 6 weeks all day long. Most of this furniture was inherited by her niece. The widow bequeathed the remaining savings to her other relatives, her beloved employees, as well as several million dollars to a tuberculosis clinic in Connecticut for research and treatment of the disease from which her husband died. This clinic still exists today.

Judging by the number of stairs in the Winchester house that lead to the ceiling, doors that rest against the wall, windows in the floor, a chaotic accumulation of levels and long labyrinths of corridors, Sarah tried to confuse the spirits in this way so that they would finally leave her alone.

Floor window:

Staircase reaching up to the ceiling

Behind open door blank wall:

All these assumptions now form part of guide folklore, because Sarah did not leave any explanations behind.

But there really is a lot of mysticism in the house. All stairs except one are made up of 13 steps. Many rooms have 13 windows. Luxurious stained glass windows from Tiffany consist of 13 segments...Each curtain is attached to the rods of the cornice with 13 rings. Thirteen elements can be found everywhere in the house - in rugs, chandeliers, even in drain holes.

The image of Sarah Winchester in local society was contradictory and ambiguous. On the one hand, she was quite generous. Instead of the usual rate of one and a half dollars a day, she paid workers and builders $3. Particularly distinguished personnel could live and eat at the house, and for married couples the hostess could even build a house nearby. Various charity organisations periodically received substantial donations from an anonymous source. Neighborhood children were sometimes allowed to play in the garden near the house and even eat ice cream.

But, on the other hand, Sarah Winchester wore mourning until the end of her days, hiding even her face under a black veil. Employees who fell out of favor for the slightest mistake (for example, seeing her face) were instantly expelled from the house. She could ask a painter to paint the walls of a room red one day, and order them to be painted white the next day.

Mistress, afraid of persecution evil spirits, slept in a new place every night. The house had many bedrooms:

By 1906, the house had grown to more than six floors (it is difficult to accurately determine its height due to the clutter of all sorts of settings).

But an earthquake occurred and the top three floors collapsed. And since Sarah slept in a new place every night, after the earthquake the servants, who did not know where she was this time, did not immediately find her under the rubble. Sarah interpreted the incident as a spirit invasion at the front of the house. The 30 unfinished rooms were locked and boarded up and construction continued. Unsuccessful fragments were destroyed and new ones were built in their place.

Not only could they not guess which bedroom Mrs. Winchester would deign to sleep in evil spirits, who were hunting for her life, but also servants. A special servant calling system was purchased for them. Regardless of what room of the house the hostess was in, the call buttons were always available to her, and the servants could see on a special map exactly where the hostess was at the time of the call (the lights on the house diagram would light up).

Much in the house is calculated based on the size of the owner of the house. The levels of sinks, toilets, and showers seem to be designed for a child. Sarah Winchester was a petite lady, small and thin, and she also suffered from arthritis and could hardly lift her legs when walking. Therefore, the steps in the house are very low, the staircases are very narrow, and the ceilings on the stairs are very low. This must be kept in mind so as not to hit your head or trip.

There is a room in the house where the widow “communicated” with the spirits of those killed by rifles. The spirits gave her advice on building a house, here she drew her endless crazy drawings at night, and the next morning she handed them over to the builders to bring them to life. From the same room she “spyed” on her employees having lunch in the adjacent kitchen. She eavesdropped on their conversations and made decisions about who could be trusted and who would discuss and judge her. She paid very good money and expected exceptional loyalty in return.

The stained glass windows in the Winchester House are a special theme. Based on Sarah's sketches, they were made in Austria and installed by Tiffany craftsmen. The stained glass designs are amazing!
I was ready to look at each stained glass window for much longer than the scope of the excursion allowed.

One of the most valuable rooms in the house (valued at $25,000 at the beginning of the 20th century) now houses some of the remaining building materials, rolls of expensive wallpaper, and stained glass, including one precious window custom-made by Tiffany. On the window you can see an image of a spider's web - one of Sarah Winchester's favorite patterns. She designed this window herself, like almost everything else in the house. The window is decorated with 13 precious stones.

(This window is located in the center, it is semicircular on top. The quality of the image is poor: the room is dim, you can’t use a flash, but what about a flash... since the house is privately owned, you can’t photograph anything inside it at all!... But I really I really wanted to preserve this beauty for myself and I quietly took a small number of photographs, although I wanted to take many more of them! In addition, I saw that my photographs on the Internet are not unique - similar photographs interior decoration have been in the public domain for a long time. And that’s why I, stepping on the throat own feeling I was ashamed of disrespecting other people’s rules, but I decided to post my photos too...)

Despite the fact that the owner of the house did the design herself, most often the construction was completed without any serious mistakes. And yet, one day Sarah made a terribly offensive and unforgivable mistake! This story particularly upset me. The mistake was that one incredibly beautiful stained glass window, custom-made by the Tiffany company for one and a half thousand dollars, according to Sarah’s idea, was supposed to reflect sunlight and play with all the colors of the rainbow, flooding it with light inner space. But it was installed in the northern part of the house, and then it was blocked from the outside by new extensions, so that all its value was simply lost. It's a pity!

This is the window:

The hostess never invited guests to her house - they would not understand all her oddities. Once, it was not just anyone who asked for an audience with Mrs. Winchester, but President Roosevelt. He was traveling to Kansas and, on the way, decided to look at the amazing Winchester house with his own eyes. He sent a messenger with a letter of notification and a request for an audience. This was denied to him. (I don’t know how true this story is, although I find mention of it in various sources)

Unlike the inside of the house, the area around it, the outside of the house itself and the wonderful garden could be photographed without a twinge of conscience. Which I did with great pleasure!

No matter how strange the house is from the inside, it is beautiful from the outside!

Sarah Winchester died in September 1922, aged 85. natural reasons. The day after her death, for the first time in 38 years, construction of the house stopped.

At the time of Winchester's widow's death, the house had 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 staircases, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, 6 kitchens and 1 shower.

There was no money in the safe of the heiress of the arms empire. There were only locks of hair, men's and children's, and the death certificates of the husband and daughter, as well as a will of 13 clauses, signed 13 times.

The park around the house is also magnificent and does not make a gloomy or depressing impression at all

Sarah Winchester was buried in Connecticut next to her husband and daughter.

They say that to this day, footsteps are often heard in the Winchester house, lights flicker, doors slam, handles turn, and water from the taps begins to flow.
They also say that often at the end of the day the ghost of a carpenter and the spirit of Sarah Winchester herself appear, but at night.

But it seems to me that he’s not scary at all, this ghost... He just doesn’t want to part with the creation of his whole life... And I understand him... I sympathize with him... and I even managed to love him, like Sarah herself , her house and the amazing story of her life...........

We know almost nothing about a girl named Sarah Lockwood Purdy, except that she was born in 1840 and at the age of 22 she married William Winchester - the son of “that same” Oliver Winchester, inventor of the “gun that will defeat the West”, owner the American weapons company Winchester Repeating Arms Company and a very rich man.

We don't know how Sarah grew up, whether she had a good relationship with family or husband. Only two photographs of Sarah survive. In one photo there is a young, round-faced and rosy-cheeked girl with dark eyebrows and a hairstyle that was fashionable at that time. It leaves a strange impression. The look seems distant, the lips are compressed, and the tight stand-up collar creates an almost monastic image.

In the year of Sarah's wedding to William, William's father founded the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, a company that quickly and faithfully led him and the Winchester family to untold wealth.

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Probably, the couple tried to have children for a long time, but for some reason they were unable to do so; Sarah and William’s first daughter was born only four years later. The baby did not live even two months - she died from protein deficiency. The couple had no more children. Oliver Winchester died in 1880, and a year later - after 19 years of marriage - Sarah's husband William also died of tuberculosis.

Sarah became the heir to a huge fortune. But, left alone, without children and her husband, with whom she lived most of her life, Sarah was at a loss.

"Until the hammers stop talking, you'll be alive"

Everything related to the future life of Sarah Winchester is surrounded by secrets. According to legend, Sarah sincerely believed that her family was cursed. This idea was given to her (or, perhaps, Mrs. Winchester’s speculations were only confirmed) by the then famous Boston medium Adam Koons. He convinced her that the culprit was the souls of those who were shot with a gun designed by her father-in-law. If they overtake her, the woman will suffer the same fate as her relatives.

“What should I do to avoid this?” - the widow probably asked, to which she received the answer that she needed to please the ghosts. Or hide from them. Or make them admire. In general, many versions have survived to this day: according to some, the ghosts had to be confused, while others recommended resorting to the afterlife sense of beauty.

History has not recorded how much money the Boston medium asked for such valuable advice, but Sarah listened to him. Although more prosaic versions say that the widow was simply looking for a new hobby due to prolonged depression. In addition, she and her husband had already invested in construction. One of the house's caretakers, Janan Boehme, who has been working in the mysterious mansion for almost forty years, suggested that Sarah simply wanted to do something familiar, something that had once brought pleasure to both her and her husband.

In 1884, she went to California with her sister and niece and bought a small farmhouse on 6,500 acres. To improve it, she had to spend $20 million of her inheritance. However, as we have already said, Sarah was very rich and could afford any whim. She received income from her husband's company, which then amounted to a thousand dollars a day. Nowadays, it’s the same as if she received $23 thousand.

Sarah refused the services of an architect and took on the matter herself, hiring carpenters who would work day and night - so that “the hammers would not stop talking.” They worked like this for 38 years, creating an amazing seven-story mansion. However, they say that this is an exaggeration; no one worked on the construction site day and night to please the generous employer.

True or not, but on the site of an old farmhouse, a huge monstrous house with 161 rooms (including 40 bedrooms and 2 ballrooms), 47 fireplaces, two storage rooms and three elevators has grown.

If Sarah really wanted to confuse the spirits who were hunting her, she probably succeeded. Many of the doors in the house did not lead anywhere - as soon as you opened them, you ran into a blank wall. Stairs led to the ceiling, small rooms were built into larger rooms, like a nesting doll. Some balconies face inward rather than outward. Chimneys are interrupted before reaching the ceiling. The door leading into one room is of normal size, but the other is tiny, as if made for Alice to drink from a bottle.

The house is full of allusions and symbols. Some people believe that there are so many “architectural mistakes” in the house because Sarah had a poor understanding of how houses should be built, and therefore made many mistakes in the drawings. But looking at some of the details, it's hard to believe it.

It seems that she was inspired by Alice in Wonderland, no less. For example, in one of the ballrooms, the parquet board changes color depending on the lighting: if the sun hits in a particular way, the dark pieces of the parquet become light, and the light pieces become dark.

One of the windows turns the picture upside down, so it seems as if you are looking at an upside-down world.

The California coast of the USA has an interesting attraction - the Winchester House. The mansion was owned by a very extravagant widow, who was distinguished by her reticence. The ladies' social circle is exclusively workers and servants. Even President Roosevelt, who once asked for an audience, was refused. After the death of the owner, the building turned into an attraction where tourists come from everywhere. Having paid 37 - 47 dollars, curious travelers wander through the rooms, outside in the courtyard, examining the tacky structure, by the standards of architects. The structure is strange, the stories associated with it are full of mysticism.

Sad story

1884 - beginning mysterious story attractions. The unfinished building was acquired by Sarah Winchester - the legend of the house and the life story of the unfortunate woman are closely connected.

Sarah's father is the owner of a thriving company. The daughter grew up wealthy, her parents gave the child a decent education. A twenty-year-old very nice girl who spoke several languages, played the piano, and knew how to carry on small talk, met William Winchester. The surname is well-known: the father of Sarah’s future husband worked as the lieutenant governor of the state of Connecticut and owned a company that produced weapons. Rifles were often called after the industrialist - Winchester. The young couple lived quite happily. The joy did not last long, the worthy couple was visited by terrible grief: their four-year-old daughter Emmy died. After 19 years of marriage, William, who suffered from tuberculosis, died. It was because of a series of tragic events that arose strange story- the secret of the Winchester house.

Curse of the Winchesters

The widow, who had lost interest in life, wanted to find an answer to why fate was cruel, turned to a medium. The widow wanted to hear the advice of the spirits. A resourceful psychic (history has preserved his name, his name was Adam Kuhn), told the poor woman how to live further, what was the reason for her unhappiness. The whole point is that the souls of those killed by the weapons that her husband’s father produced were trying to take revenge. Both the son and his family were cursed. To be saved, Sarah had to build a house where angry souls could not find her and destroy her. At the same time, the ghosts who wished her well should have felt comfortable there.

Unfinished construction

The widow went to the West Coast, where she purchased an unfinished farm near the city of San Jose, where the Winchester home is currently located. The farm was originally purchased with 162 acres of land, and the widow subsequently expanded her holdings, continually building and remodeling the house inside and out. Construction lasted 38 years, because the medium told his client: while the construction work was underway, the widow would live. They say he promised her immortality, provided that the construction never ended.

Since the purchase, California's coastal farms have been inextricably linked. The woman resolutely got to work. Considering that her husband's father made a huge fortune selling weapons, his son was also very successful and rich. Accordingly, the widow turned out to be wealthy, having a daily income of $1,000, despite the fact that she inherited $20 million. There was enough money to implement architectural ideas and interior design solutions.

Mysticism and ghosts

22 carpenters worked to implement the owner’s plans (they say that Sarah did all the projects herself). The men took turns working without breaks: day and night, without vacations or weekends. The house built for the sake of ghosts turned out to be unsafe for the living. The curse of the Winchester house haunted the workers who worked on the construction of the strange structure. Some carpenters claimed to have seen ghosts. Michael Fletcher, a plasterer, told a local newspaper reporter that he saw a translucent figure walking up the stairs. A former ship's carpenter, J. Hegley, met there the spirit of a boatswain he knew, who had been killed earlier.

There were rumors among the workers that rooms in the house appeared and disappeared. The owner made the plans for the interior with her own hands, without the help of architects. The arrangement of living rooms and bedrooms defied any logic. Often the doors did not lead to a corridor or an adjoining room. Behind a closed door there could be a blank wall, a window, or just a courtyard, where you could fall if you stepped over the threshold without looking at your feet.

Oddities at home

The history of construction and the legend of the Winchester house may have ended after 1906. The house had 6 or 8 floors (different sources give conflicting information), an incredible layout, which is why the servants had absolutely no idea which bedroom the mistress chose each night. Therefore, when an earthquake occurred in the early morning of April 18 and several floors collapsed, they searched for the widow Winchester walled up in one of the bedrooms for a long time.

The upper floors collapsed, but the house remained four stories high. Many rooms were boarded up completely, and new ones were built in one place or another, causing the interior to turn into a labyrinth. If we add that many of the stairs just rested on the wall (see the photo inside the Winchester house), and some doors ended in a dead end, we can confidently say: Sarah achieved her goal. The house turned into a labyrinth for ghosts, and living creatures often wandered around it. It is no coincidence that the guides who conduct excursions inside immediately ask tourists to stick to each other and count their charges twice: once at the entrance, and once at the exit from the mansion.

People say that ghosts still live in the house. The ghosts of the Winchester house are still inside. One guide said that when he was about to leave to work in another institution, he loudly thanked the hostess and said goodbye to her, standing in one of the living rooms. He claimed that after saying goodbye, he felt a breath of wind and a light kiss on his cheek.

End of construction

The widow Winchester died in 1922 at the age of 85, according to other sources - 82 (all because exact year her birth has not been established). After communicating with the spirits in a seance, she went to sleep in one of the bedrooms and did not wake up. Doctors diagnosed cardiac arrest. Construction also stopped, and now it became possible to count the number of rooms in the building.

Sarah Winchester's house, after 38 years of continuous construction, now contains 160 rooms, 9 kitchens, 13 (mystery number) bathrooms, 40 staircases, 47 fireplaces, 450 doorways, 10,000 windows and only 2 mirrors. There should be no mirrors where spirits live. Many doors are secret; when the widow was alive, she could appear unexpectedly anywhere in the house. Why did the servants think she could walk through walls? The stairs are also strange: not all of them lead from floor to floor: some rest against the wall, for some reason one of them goes down 4 steps in order to then go up. Often flights of stairs consist of 13 steps.

Walled up riches

The Winchester House in America, California is now a landmark, a film has been made about it, tourists come here. Many of them report poor health indoors. But this can be explained by suspiciousness, and not by otherworldly influences. You can look not only at the features internal layout, but also the space outside the house, planted with numerous species of trees and herbaceous plants. Even during Sarah’s lifetime, 8 to 10 gardeners looked after the garden, and neighboring children were allowed to frolic on the lawns. The widow, although she did not receive guests in the house, welcomed the children, held receptions in the park in the courtyard, and was involved in charity work.

The Winchester family home still holds mysteries. Rumor has it that there is a cache of gold there, which no one has found yet. The widow left a will, which was in the safe. Besides him, there were only locks of her daughter's hair and nothing else - no money. It is possible that the widow’s entire fortune was spent on construction, which was carried out around the clock for 38 years (I wonder if it was interrupted during the earthquake?). Someone estimated that Winchester, the haunted house, was worth $70 million. Impressive construction estimate!