1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Hey everybody, it's me your old pal Josh, And for 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: this week's s Y s K Spooky Selects, I've chosen 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: How the Winchester Mystery House Worked. Uh. It debuted on 4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: Halloween of two thousand thirteen, and um, on the surface, 5 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: it's about some cookie rich woman who believed in ghosts 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: on her and so she made this crazy house that's 7 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: super interesting. But um, if you peel back beneath the 8 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: surface of the story a little more, you find like 9 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: a clear picture of the person um that she was. 10 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: And she was as interesting as her house was. So um, 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: hopefully you'll enjoy this one. Uh. It probably won't scare 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 1: the pants off of you, but it's at the very 13 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: least interesting, So check it out and enjoy. Welcome to 14 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: Stuff you should know from how Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, 15 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: and happy Halloween, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: Go do what you're about to do, Chuckers and Jerry. 17 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,919 Speaker 1: Jerry's saying, uh, well, you put the three of us together, 18 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: me Josh Clark, there, Chuck Bryant and there Jerry. Yeah, 19 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: and you've got stuff. You know. The Halloween edition. We 20 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: got a big old tup of candy corn. Here we 21 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: got have you Have you tried Starburst candy corn? My goodness, 22 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: I don't like candy corn, and I like Star Wars 23 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: candy corn. Now is it Starburster? Is it candy corn? 24 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: It's candy corn with Starburst flavors, but not Starburst texture. 25 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: No candy corn texture. Okay, some mad scientists threw it 26 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: all together. Interesting, Yeah, I'll try it. You got one. 27 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: I have a warm one in my pockets, been in 28 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,919 Speaker 1: there for a few days. Perfect. Here you go, soften 29 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: it up there. Oh that's delicious. Make a chewing Yeah, 30 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: it's straw strawberry and lint. Yeah, it's exactly right. Chuck. Uh. Yeah, 31 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: so we got candy corn. It's a Halloween edition, and 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: we hope you enjoyed our Halloween episode. Our story. It's 33 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: probably my favorite thing of the year that in Christmas episode, 34 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:14,239 Speaker 1: we've gotta get cracking on the Christmas extravaganza. Yeah, work, 35 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: running out of stories, I probably you know, I got 36 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: one up my sleeve. I've got an idea. Yeah. Yeah. 37 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 1: Otherwise we can just make stuff up. Yeah you know. Yeah, 38 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: and then everything worked out okay because it was Christmas 39 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: the end Chuck. Yes, have you ever heard of the 40 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: Winchester Mystery House. I have, indeed, I have to thank God, 41 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: because that'd be a surprise. If I was completely unprepared, 42 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: it would be I would be surprised. I can tell 43 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: you that. Yeah, uh yeah, I've heard of it. I've 44 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: never been there, but I would like to go for 45 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: sure and check it out. I might. I might do 46 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: that next time I'm in the Bay area, I might 47 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: venture towards San Jose to check this thing out. Yes, well, 48 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:57,839 Speaker 1: I've already cleared it with you me that we're going 49 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: next time. We're in the San Francisco area. Right, how 50 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: far aways San Jose from San Francisco, I don't know close? Right? 51 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 1: Do you know the way to San Jose? I do 52 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: not know the way to San Jose. Apparently, Um, but 53 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:12,239 Speaker 1: if I could find my way there, we would find 54 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: the Winchester Mystery House, because apparently it sticks out like 55 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: a sore thumb. I bet um. It was originally in 56 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: some pretty rural area, and over time, the the acreage 57 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: I think a hundred and sixty two acres is what 58 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: the Winchester House grounds eventually covered, has been whittled away 59 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: and now it's just like the suburbs with this enormous 60 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: Victorian mansion situated in the middle of it. Yeah, and 61 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: when we say enormous, we mean enormous. Um supposedly about 62 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: a hundred and sixty rooms. Even though, and I think 63 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: this is part of building up the lore, some say 64 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: they cannot be counted because you will get lost in 65 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: the house and never get an accurate count and never escape. 66 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: I say that's hokem, hokem, because hey, if you can 67 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: put a man on the moon, you can count the 68 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: rooms in a house. Yeah, and what do you suggest 69 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: using a post it note? Just put a post it 70 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: note up and yeah, you don't even need to write that. 71 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: Just the very presence of a post it note indicates 72 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: you're you've been there before. Then counter all the post 73 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: it notes, Right, you could just you could write the 74 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: numbers on them. Even better, you wouldn't even have to 75 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: count them. You just write one and then keep in 76 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: mind the last number you wrote down the right, the 77 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: next number that comes after that on the next post 78 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: It note. Right, And you know we should do it 79 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: would be funny if we did a little video series 80 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: where you and I are big smart guys tried to 81 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: do this and we kept getting confused I would watch that. 82 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: I would watch that over and over, and then we 83 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,799 Speaker 1: find the lost wine cellar, and everything's kind of peters 84 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: out from there. Alright, So what we're talking about, well, 85 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 1: let's clue those of you who don't know what we're 86 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: talking about in we're talking about the Winchester Mystery House, 87 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,720 Speaker 1: which was, as Chuck said, an enormous mansion of an 88 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: indeterminate number of rooms. I think they estimate a hundred 89 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: and sixty. But even um, the state of California on 90 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: their tourism website says, um, it is an odd dwelling 91 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: with an unknown number of rooms. A tourism website said that, yes, 92 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: because a tourist attraction exactly. They're trying to, you know, 93 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: draw people in with the mystery of the mystery. Yeah. 94 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: And the whole thing was the brainchild and the result 95 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: of a four ft ten inch little uh firecracker. Yeah. 96 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: Nicknamed the Belle of New Haven in her day, named 97 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 1: Sarah Pardi who became Sarah Party Winchester. Yeah, new Haven, Connecticut. 98 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: She's born in eighteen thirty nine, not New Haven, New Jersey. Um. 99 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,600 Speaker 1: And she was very smart, spoke four languages, could play 100 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: the piano like a champ with her elbows. Yeah, she's beloved. Um. 101 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: She married in eighteen sixty two William Winchester of the 102 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: Winchester Repeating Arms Company, because it's a big part of 103 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: the story, it is h they developed what was known 104 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: as the Peter the Repeating Rifle, which is the coolest 105 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: rifle ever. The Lone Ranger head one did he According 106 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,479 Speaker 1: to the Lone Ranger placet that I have, he did. 107 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: I believe that he mainly used the old revolver though, yeah, 108 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: and the um, the cudgel. Yeah, the rifleman famous for 109 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: the Rifleman used the repeater for sure. The Lone Ranger 110 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: did too, okay, Um. But basically it was a revolutionary 111 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: gun that you could fire really quickly. Um. And yeah, 112 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: you can fire once every three seconds, which was pretty 113 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: amazingly fast for a rifle especially. It was the gun 114 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: that won the West, and it was the gun that 115 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 1: helped the Northern troops defeat the Southern troops in the 116 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: Civil War. And when the west depends on your vantage point, 117 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: but yes, it was the The westward expansion took place 118 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: at the barrel of the Winchester Repeating Rifle. M So 119 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: she marries William Winchester, heir to that fortune. Uh. They 120 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,840 Speaker 1: started family in eighteen sixty six and very very tragically 121 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 1: lost their lone daughter, Annie in infancy, and it was 122 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: something that Sarah never recovered from. Basically, No, it was 123 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: a pretty sad thing to see it. Apparently the child 124 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: Um was alive for either twenty eight days or forty 125 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: two days, I guess, depending on who you ask. Um, 126 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: So she made it the term she was born, and 127 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: then she died of a wasting disease called morasthmus, which 128 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: is a disease of malnutrition. So no matter what they 129 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: fed her, she just wasn't taking in the nutrients and 130 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: she died of malnutrition. And at the time morasthmus was 131 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: still mysterious, so it seemed like, what the heck just 132 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: happened to my kid? I'm feeding the kid. Also, here 133 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: I go right along the edge of completely losing my 134 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: sanity forever, and I'll never be quite the same again. 135 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: But I'm gonna come back a little bit. And then 136 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: when I do a few years later, my husband's going 137 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: to die an early death at age forty three. Yeah, 138 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: fifteen years later to be exact. And Um, which, by 139 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: the way, can I take a second here, Sure, so 140 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: money wrote in, and I don't I can't find the email, 141 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: but they wrote in for our dying podcast, we mentioned 142 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: life expectancy and we said that, um, you know, we 143 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: made the assumption that people used to um only lived 144 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: at like age thirty or something like that, because the 145 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: average life expectancy was so low. And this this person 146 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: pointed out that that's not the case. That people typically 147 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: lived to old age like they live now. But the 148 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: infomortality rate was so high that if you took all 149 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: of the infant deaths and all the people who survived 150 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: it and put it together, you had an average life 151 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,319 Speaker 1: expectancy of thirty. Right, So it's not like everyone was 152 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: dying in their forties. They were dying in their ones 153 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:45,560 Speaker 1: and twos exactly. So if you made it out of 154 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: your ones and twos, you would probably live a pretty 155 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: long life. So that was the discrepancy that I never 156 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: understood until the person wrote in. So, whoever wrote in, 157 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:56,959 Speaker 1: thanks for writing that in. You didn't catch you a 158 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: name or anything. I don't know. Uh so where are we? 159 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: She she's lost her daughter, she's lost her husband. She's 160 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: very distraught. UM goes and sees a medium which was 161 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: a big deal at the time. Yeah, in Boston a 162 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: man named Adam Coons, And which was strange that it 163 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: was a male medium. It is because you know ladies, um, 164 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: which is why they're all called lady so and so. 165 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: You know, uh yeah, like you know, oh Madam, yeah, 166 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: or madam or like Lady Charlotte or whatever. Um, Lady 167 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,719 Speaker 1: Charlotte's who I go too. That's why I buzz marketed her. No, 168 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: you don't, do you really know? I con see Lady Adam. Um. 169 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: So anyway, she goes and sees Lady Adam, and he says, 170 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 1: you're gonna be haunted by ghosts for the rest of 171 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: your life because you married into a fortune of killing 172 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: and murdering with that Winchester rifle. Remember haunting you Remember 173 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: I said it was important that she married um Mr 174 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: Winchester right here, William. The Winchester family supposedly had a curse, 175 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: according to Lady Adam, that all of the people who 176 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: had died at the at the um other end of 177 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 1: the Winchester rifle now haunted the family, and they had 178 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: a listed demands that Sarah was going to have to 179 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: put up with or else she would be gotten by 180 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: the spirits too, and that's where the house was born. Basically, Yeah, 181 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: the guy said, these spirits need a house, so you're 182 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:30,680 Speaker 1: gonna have to build a house for him. More and 183 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: more of people are dying from the the rifle that 184 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: your husband's family created every day, so you're gonna have 185 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: to make it a big house. And you can never 186 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: cease construction. If you cease construction, you'll die. And there's 187 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: two different interpretations here, and they're not quite sure how 188 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: Sarah Winchester interpreted it, but whether if she stopped construction 189 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: she would die, or if she kept construction going she 190 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: would live forever eternal life. Because the people who are 191 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:58,560 Speaker 1: into spiritualism, we're into that whole thing a lot too. 192 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:05,439 Speaker 1: But either way, she had her her walking papers, her instructions, um, 193 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: and she decided to take them out west and follow 194 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,839 Speaker 1: her husband, who who she believed was leading her, who 195 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: supposedly told her all this through the medium, and headed 196 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: towards California. Yeah, she visited had a Nissan Menlo Park 197 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: and eventually found a property three miles west of San 198 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 1: Jose and the Santa Clara Valley there and she said, 199 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: you know what, I'm gonna buy this land. I'm gonna 200 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,439 Speaker 1: take this house and I'm going to build on it 201 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: until forever. And um, Lady Adam had a his cousin 202 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: was a contractor. That's not true. That would have been 203 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: great though. Yeah, it's like, so you have to build 204 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: and non stop. Here's my cousin, John Hanson. John Hanson 205 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,680 Speaker 1: was in fact her foreman. Uh, even though Ms Mrs 206 00:11:54,720 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: Winchester was her own architect, so hold on. So Mrs Winchester, um, 207 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 1: who's just really slightly off a rocker now at the 208 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: loss of her child and her husband has instructions that 209 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: she is to move west, start building forever a huge 210 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: house to how's the ghosts of all the people who 211 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 1: have died at the hands of her um husband's company's rifles. 212 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 1: That's where we're at right now. Before we're going to 213 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: further let's um, let's do a message break. Okay before 214 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: we left, UM, I sort of hinted that she was 215 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: her own architect, and she was. Not only did you 216 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: hint it, you said it. Not only was she her 217 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: own architect, but see she supposedly got instructions on building 218 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 1: through seances, right, and she had an architect at first, 219 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:58,200 Speaker 1: but she fired him later on, apparently, I think, because 220 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: he wouldn't listen to her. Oh, and she was like, look, 221 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:03,840 Speaker 1: I'm getting instructions from the other side. Pal are you 222 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: getting instructions from the inside. No, Well, then we go 223 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,679 Speaker 1: my way. So she had a seance room and UM, 224 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: here's how she would conduct her seance. Would try and 225 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: trick the ghosts into not following her and disrupting the 226 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: seance um. So she would set out for the seance room. Um, 227 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:26,680 Speaker 1: she would traverse basically a labyrinth of rooms and hallways 228 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: like she would push a button and a panel would 229 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 1: fly up. She would step quickly into their shut the door. 230 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 1: She would open a window to that place, climb out 231 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 1: onto like a flight of outdoor steps that took her 232 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: down a story, come back inside like through a window. 233 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: And she was basically trying to to lose these spirits 234 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: that she felt like we're tailing her until she could 235 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: finally get into her comforting seance room where she would 236 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: receive instruction on what to build next. And then when 237 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 1: she got into a seance room, which was the Blue room. 238 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:00,319 Speaker 1: It was at the center of the house and I 239 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: think the second floor. Um, she would get instructions I 240 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:07,560 Speaker 1: think from her husband, supposedly, and then also a spirit 241 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: caretaker named Clyde, and she would get the instructions. At 242 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: twelve there would be a bell rung that's when the 243 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: spirits arrived at to another bell would ring, signaling their exit. 244 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: And she would do this every night, and then in 245 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:24,560 Speaker 1: the morning she would go meet the foreman Hanson, John Hanson, 246 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: and say, here's what you guys do today, and he 247 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: would go, all right, but we should say that all 248 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: through the night, including at midnight at two and the 249 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: time when she was sleeping after the seance and before 250 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: she met Hanson, there was construction going on. Yeah, and um, 251 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: like it was twenty four hours a day, sixty five 252 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: days a year, including Sundays, including holidays. There was always 253 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: somebody doing construction on that house. Yeah. She she apparently 254 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: like as long as she could hear those hammers nailing nails, 255 00:14:55,000 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: then she felt at ease. Um. She would uh sign 256 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: rooms that would be built on top of other rooms. 257 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: She would build rooms apparently to get to those hundred 258 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: and sixty rooms. They estimate they may have built five 259 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: or six hundred over the span of those years, right, 260 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: because if there was something that got in the way, 261 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,320 Speaker 1: she would either build around it have it torn down. 262 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: Sometimes there was even um it was even less explicable 263 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: why a room would get torn down, but she would 264 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: just order it torn down, even though say they've been 265 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: working on it a month up to that point. Yeah. 266 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: And the whole trick to all this is to pay well. Um, 267 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: if you weren't paying well, then you probably would have 268 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: had dudes walking off the job being like, you're crazy lady, 269 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: I'm out of here. Right. She paid double the day, right, yeah, 270 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: which is three bucks three yeah. And so the construction 271 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,760 Speaker 1: dudes were happy to keep working on this what they 272 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: thought was this crazy old lady's plans um and they 273 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,400 Speaker 1: probably frustrating, but that you know, they were getting rich 274 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: or not rich, but they were doubling their money, right, 275 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: And I think over time to Chuck like, I get 276 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: the impression and that the people who worked for her, 277 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: both the construction workers who you know, I mean like 278 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: there would be once they came, they didn't leave unless 279 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: they were fired because the money was so good. Um. 280 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: So when you work for some crazy old lady for twelve, fifteen, 281 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: twenty years or whatever, like you're gonna start to develop 282 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: a sense of loyalty. And they She was very much 283 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: protected from the outside world by these people because her 284 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: neighbors thought she was a total wacko, maybe a little 285 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 1: evil who knows what's going on. She was very she 286 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: lived in seclusion. She always wore black, she always wore 287 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: a veil. Yeah. She Uh. One of the first things 288 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: she did was had built a private had a private 289 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: planet around the entire house. But she was also very 290 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,440 Speaker 1: kind of children, especially orphans, would have them over for 291 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 1: ice cream. So it's not like she was some awful, 292 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 1: mean old person. She was just mysterious and liked her 293 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: privacy mainly. Yeah, and apparently once she moved into town, 294 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: um a lot of the local charities started getting anonymous 295 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,320 Speaker 1: donations that they never got before she and she of 296 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: course she didn't need all the glory, but she was 297 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: still very charitable woman. Yeah, she had a bunch of money. Um. 298 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 1: The reason she was able to pay double was um 299 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: a big inheritance obviously about twenty million bucks and a 300 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 1: lot of stock in the Winchester Company, and um it 301 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,679 Speaker 1: afforded her. They guessed about a thousand dollars a day 302 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:28,920 Speaker 1: to spend on construction, which is like twenty grand now 303 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: seven and change a day. Day. And this is the 304 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: money mostly prior to the era of the income tax, 305 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: So like that was all hers um I and she 306 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 1: ended up spending I think five point five million on 307 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: the house in nineteen two dollars. That's a lot of dough, 308 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: it really is. But she didn't have anything else to 309 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: do with it except give it away to orphans. That's true. 310 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:57,439 Speaker 1: So um, all of this construction led to some very 311 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: strange design decisions. And we should say this is probably 312 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,400 Speaker 1: a pretty good point to say, Mrs Winchester didn't leave 313 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:08,360 Speaker 1: any diaries, any journals, she was never interviewed. Uh. All 314 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: we can say for sure is that she went to 315 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: a medium in Boston, received these instructions that she had 316 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,360 Speaker 1: to build the house to appease the spirits, and that's 317 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: what she did. Uh. Everything else is kind of conjecture, 318 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: like her motivations. Beyond that, the details of her motivations 319 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 1: and what she thought and believed, um is conjectures. We 320 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,439 Speaker 1: should probably say that, UM. And there's a lot of 321 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: room for misunderstanding. Like the staircases that she built had 322 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,040 Speaker 1: lots of steps and they were like two inches high. Well, 323 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: the reason that she did that was because she had 324 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,439 Speaker 1: very bad arthritis, and those are the only types of 325 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: stairs that she could um climb, but they would also 326 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: double back all of a sudden, or go around in 327 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:51,960 Speaker 1: crazy circles of A lot of people say that she 328 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 1: thought that you could kind of screw with the spirits 329 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:56,719 Speaker 1: and throw them off your trail, I guess on your 330 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,720 Speaker 1: way to the science room. Um, by having ars constructor 331 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: like that. At any rate, there's a lot of weird 332 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: design elements in this huge mansion. Yeah, the switchback stairs, 333 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: Um were seven flights that rose only nine ft forty 334 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: four steps total. She had stairs that would go down 335 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: leading two stairs that went up stairs that would go 336 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:23,399 Speaker 1: into a ceiling. Chimneys that would stop short of the ceiling. Uh, 337 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: you know, hidden doorways, covered up stairwells. It was just 338 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: sort of a big, beautiful mess of design. There was 339 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,160 Speaker 1: a there were doors that led from the inside out 340 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: to the outside, but it would just be a sheer 341 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: drop if you stepped out the door like that last 342 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: step as a doozy right. Um. There was an inside 343 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,959 Speaker 1: door in the sands room, a closet door that opened 344 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:49,920 Speaker 1: up onto the kitchen sink another story below. Um, there 345 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,879 Speaker 1: was a corridor behind a cabinet that went along the 346 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: backside of thirty rooms. It's just all sorts of neat stuff. 347 00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: There's the very famous stairs that lead to nowhere. Yeah. Uh, 348 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: there were cabinets or only like two inches deep. Um, 349 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: there was a grand ballroom, and you know, it wasn't 350 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: all just wacky stuff. It was like really gorgeous design 351 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 1: in places. Um. The grand ballroom was built without nails, 352 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: which was a feat of engineering in itself and was gorgeous, 353 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 1: but never used because of an earthquake that was pretty 354 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,920 Speaker 1: significant in her life. In nineteen o six, there was 355 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: an earthquake that Um. She was known for sleeping in 356 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,199 Speaker 1: different rooms every night so she wouldn't be found out 357 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: by the ghosts, and she was actually trapped in the 358 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: Daisy room and not found for a little while by 359 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,160 Speaker 1: her employees because they didn't know where she was after 360 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: this earthquake cabin right. Not only did the ghosts not 361 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: know where she was sleeping, her servants didn't either, So 362 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: she was in there for a few hours and it 363 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: f freaked her out, I'm sure, because despite the fact 364 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 1: that it had like totally killed a lot of people 365 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,360 Speaker 1: in ravaged San Francisco and burned it down, she took 366 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:56,400 Speaker 1: it as a sign that the ghosts were mad at her. 367 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: Um that they were afraid that construction was nearing an end, 368 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 1: and so to appease them, she boarded up a lot 369 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,640 Speaker 1: of the damaged um interior so that it could never 370 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: be repaired and then therefore the house could never be finished. Um. 371 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 1: We should also say that by this time the house 372 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,640 Speaker 1: had reached seven stories, and the earthquake was so bad 373 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,399 Speaker 1: it knocked off the top three I believe. Yeah, she 374 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: ended up sealing the front thirty rooms of the home. Uh, 375 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: including the front entrance to the home. These like grand 376 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,200 Speaker 1: front doors that they had just put in. Apparently only 377 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: three people the two guys that put in the door 378 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: and her were the only people to walk through them 379 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,719 Speaker 1: before she sealed them off forever. Um. Well, she had 380 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: a beautiful tiffany stained glass window installed and then built 381 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: a wall behind it so no light can shine through it. Yeah, 382 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: you can only see it from the outside. I'm sure 383 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:53,880 Speaker 1: it looks kind of dull. And then after the earthquake earthquake, 384 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: which I said freaked her out, Supposedly she went and 385 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 1: lived on a houseboat in San Francisco Bay for six years. 386 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 1: But that was nice. And then when she came back 387 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:06,879 Speaker 1: there was it was different like before, there wasn't necessarily 388 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,400 Speaker 1: much of a plan and so like if she ran 389 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: into trouble architecturally she just teared the thing down or 390 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,360 Speaker 1: build around the problem. This was like a different kind 391 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: of frenetic pace and it was just like build whatever wherever. 392 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,199 Speaker 1: Um after the earthquake really got to her, just like 393 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: crazy person building. Yeah, alright, chuckers, before we go any further, 394 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: how about another message break? Okay, so back to it, Um, 395 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: here's some numbers for you. Forty seven fireplaces, seventeen chimneys, uh, 396 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: two basements, six kitchens, ten thousand window panes, and four 397 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty seven doorways, and only two mirrors in 398 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: the whole house because of course, ghosts are rate of 399 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:03,840 Speaker 1: their own reflection, and apparently the staff would sneak hand 400 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: mirrors so they can occasionally see what they look like 401 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:09,359 Speaker 1: after getting out of the shower. But she didn't want 402 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: to have anything to do with the mirrors though. Yeah. 403 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:15,440 Speaker 1: She Um also supposedly would fire staff who saw her 404 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: without her veil on. Apparently her butler, Um and her 405 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: niece were the only people who could see her without 406 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:23,640 Speaker 1: a vail and if you saw her without a vail, 407 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:28,119 Speaker 1: no hard feelings, but you're cute. So we've talked a 408 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:30,360 Speaker 1: lot about the fact that she worked as her own 409 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,360 Speaker 1: designer and made all these weird, terrible choices that made 410 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: no sense. But we also mentioned earlier on she was 411 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,879 Speaker 1: a very smart lady. So she actually learned over the 412 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:44,800 Speaker 1: years more about design and architecture and got better at 413 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 1: it um and developed a skill. And she actually had 414 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: some innovations in her home that were brand new at 415 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: the time. UM. For instance, they say she was the 416 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:59,360 Speaker 1: first person to use wool for insulation. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Uh, 417 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: they had carved I had gas lights in the house 418 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: that had their own gas manufacturing plant for the estate, 419 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: which is brand new. And she had electric push buttons 420 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: installed to turn the lights on and off. She had 421 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: an inside crank to open and clothes outside window shutters. 422 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: First person to do that that eventually became the norm. Uh. 423 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: What else she had she I guess it was sort 424 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,440 Speaker 1: of green at the time. She had drip pans under 425 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: the windows and a zinc sub floor in the north 426 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:33,120 Speaker 1: conservatory so when you watered plants, the runoff from those 427 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: plants would be captured by drain pipes for the garden 428 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,120 Speaker 1: below it. It's pretty cool. And she had something called 429 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: the Annunciator, which is a servant call system allowed her 430 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: to summon servants from anywhere in the house and it 431 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: would drop a little card to show the servant which 432 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: room she was in at the time. That's pretty awesome. 433 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: So it wasn't just crazy weird steps that lead to nowhere. 434 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: There were actually some innovations at the time, and it 435 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,080 Speaker 1: was it's a gorgeous Victorian like when you look at it, 436 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: really really beautiful house. Yeah, and apparently the construction by 437 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: the time she died took up six acres six acres 438 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: of the house, not just the the grounds, because the 439 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:15,199 Speaker 1: grounds are like a hundred and sixty acres um. And 440 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: when she she dies, finally it's a And apparently the 441 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 1: legend has it that she died at a time when 442 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:27,119 Speaker 1: construction stopped. The workman took a break or something to 443 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:31,239 Speaker 1: play cards and never started back up again because they 444 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 1: discovered that she died in her bed sleeping ino and um. 445 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: Right afterwards, she left everything to basically her nieces and nephews, 446 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: and one of her nieces I think the only one 447 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:46,879 Speaker 1: who was allowed to see without a veil, came in 448 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 1: and was like, let's just auction this stuff off, and um, 449 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,399 Speaker 1: it took six weeks supposedly to get everything out of 450 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 1: the house because there was that much stuff and it 451 00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:59,679 Speaker 1: was that difficult to find your way out and you 452 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: really got into the interior. Yeah, and some really valuable 453 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:04,880 Speaker 1: things too that were locked away in storage that were 454 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:09,200 Speaker 1: never even uh used, like you know, furniture and furnishings, 455 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,400 Speaker 1: just sitting and wait. Basically, didn't you say that there's 456 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 1: a wine seller that's lost. Yeah, I think they can't 457 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: find the wine seller to this day, which also sounds 458 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: a little like lower to me. It does. Why can't 459 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 1: you find the wine seller? I don't know, it's lost. Uh. 460 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,920 Speaker 1: It is a popular tourist attraction today and um, still 461 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:36,119 Speaker 1: being renovated and maintained. Apparently it's continually being painted. The 462 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: exterior is all year long. They finished painting it and 463 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: they start once again, because it takes sixty five days 464 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,160 Speaker 1: to complete the job, I would imagine. So, and it's 465 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 1: been a tourist attraction almost since she died. Like the 466 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,359 Speaker 1: house was sold to a group of investors who wanted 467 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,199 Speaker 1: to start it as a tourist attraction UM for a 468 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,359 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty five thousand dollars. That's that is crazy, 469 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,919 Speaker 1: even though she dropped five point five million into it. 470 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: UM And again like, if you're interested in this, you 471 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: can go check out the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. UM. 472 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,439 Speaker 1: They have a website. I just imagine you type in 473 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,880 Speaker 1: Winchester Mystery House, but also look up UM something called 474 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 1: Mrs Winchester's House. It's a documentary from nine kp i 475 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,120 Speaker 1: X I think is a San Francisco television station. It's 476 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:27,400 Speaker 1: narrated by Lilian Guess. It's just a half hour long, 477 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: but it's really spooky and black and white and just interesting. 478 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: It's a neat one, very cool. Yeah, check that out. 479 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: All right, so we're going, okay, let's go before that though, chuck. UM. 480 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 1: If everybody wants to read this article, you can type 481 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:42,760 Speaker 1: in Winchester Mystery House in the search bar at how 482 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com and we'll bring this up. And 483 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:47,359 Speaker 1: I said search bar, So that means it's time for 484 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:51,760 Speaker 1: a listener mail. Yeah, I'm gonna call this a sexuality. 485 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,440 Speaker 1: Uh callback I just listened to your A sexual podcast. Guys, 486 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,160 Speaker 1: found it very interesting. One thing really caught my attention. 487 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: You said a sexual rules were classified, there's a separate 488 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:06,120 Speaker 1: group outside the range of homosexual to heterosexual. I think 489 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,440 Speaker 1: it could be different. So Paul is proposing an idea here, 490 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:12,320 Speaker 1: instead of the range being in number line with a 491 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,639 Speaker 1: subgroup that doesn't fit, it should be more like a 492 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:19,160 Speaker 1: coordinate plane. Not all people are equally sexual. I'm sure 493 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,280 Speaker 1: you know people who don't really think about sex often, 494 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: and then people who it dominates a large portion of 495 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,200 Speaker 1: their lives. That made me think that it could be 496 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,399 Speaker 1: a coordinate plane with homo and hetero on the left 497 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: and right, and a sexual too extremely sexual. I want 498 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: to say nymphomaniacal even but I feel like nymphomania is 499 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: more complicated than a born sexuality, or at least we 500 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: don't know enough about it to say whether it is. Yeah, 501 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: so what is describing as like a plus sign? Yeah, 502 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: so sexual orientation on left and right, and then the 503 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: intensity of your sexuality going up and down exactly, so 504 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: you can have like, uh, high homosexuality, low heterosexuality, and 505 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: so on exactly. It's a good idea. I've actually seen 506 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: that elsewhere, to coordinate plane. It just makes sense. He 507 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: says that way, all the people could be accurately plotted 508 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,800 Speaker 1: it to some degree, at least, not saying it would 509 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: count for everything perfectly, but I think it would clarified 510 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 1: a bit more. Anyways, I'd love to know your thoughts 511 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: on that idea you just got him. Yeah, has it 512 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: been done before or have you read about that? I 513 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 1: have not. I do not know. I saw in a 514 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: paper somewhere somebody proposing that similar thing that it's um, 515 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:33,840 Speaker 1: who was it the the sex study year Kinsey Kinsey? 516 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: Yeah that he yeah, he um. They really kind of 517 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: missed a really obvious aspect of intensity rather than just orientation. 518 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 1: It's just stuckt orientation. Dummy. It's a good idea. I agree. 519 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:52,160 Speaker 1: So Paul of Uniontown p a. Uh, we we think 520 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: it's a swell idea. Get to work on it. Yeah, 521 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: go Paul. Maybe you can call it the Paul Paul's 522 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:04,400 Speaker 1: sexual plane. Paul's a one sexual plane and a girl. Yeah. 523 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,720 Speaker 1: Uh that's good. Thank you, Paul, Thank you for that. 524 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: And if you like, Paul has some great thoughts ideas 525 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:18,480 Speaker 1: on things that we've talked about, more expansive ideas. Um, 526 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 1: we want to hear them because we like that kind 527 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 1: of stuff. You can tweet to us at s y 528 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: s K podcast. You can join us on Facebook, dot 529 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:28,280 Speaker 1: com slash Stuff you Should Know, and Hey guys, come 530 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,520 Speaker 1: hang out with us at our website. Stuff you Should 531 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: Have dot com for more on this and thousands of 532 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: other topics. Does it, How stuff works dot com