1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:09,879 Speaker 1: Lauren vog obam here. Most of us want to get 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: home construction over as soon as possible. We worry about 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: the expense and complain about the inconvenience. But for Sarah Winchester, 5 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: construction was a way of life. For thirty eight years, 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: she had construction going twenty four hours a day at 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: her home in San Jose, California. This was no ordinary 8 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: construction job. Though the house is an odd ball labyrinth 9 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: of rooms that at one point reached seven stories. It's 10 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,199 Speaker 1: filled with weird things like stairs and doors that go nowhere, 11 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: not to mention the ghosts, Sarah Winchester didn't start out 12 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: looking for this kind of project. Born Sarah Party in 13 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty nine, she was one of the social stars 14 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: of New Haven, Connecticut. Although she only stood four feet 15 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,240 Speaker 1: ten inches, she was known for her beauty and sparkling personality. 16 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty two, Sarah married William Winchester, who was 17 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: the heir of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The company 18 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: had developed the Repeating rifle, a gun that was easy 19 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: to reload and fired rapidly at a rate of one 20 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: shot every three seconds. The gun was used by Northern 21 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 1: troops in the Civil War, and it was also known 22 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,199 Speaker 1: as the Gun that Won the West. The young couple 23 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: started a family in eighteen sixty six, but their daughter 24 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: Annie died in infancy and mister Winchester died of tuberculosis 25 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: fifteen years later. Distraught over these losses, Missus Winchester visited 26 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,400 Speaker 1: a medium for spiritual guidance. The medium told her that 27 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: the Winchester family had been struck by a terrible curse 28 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: and was haunted by the ghosts of all those killed 29 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: by the Winchester rifle. Their spirits were seeking vengeance, and 30 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: the only way to appease them was to build a 31 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 1: house for them. But the ghosts had another request that 32 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,759 Speaker 1: the house never be completed. Never stopped building, the medium 33 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 1: told Missus Winchester, or you will die. We can't know 34 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: exactly how she interpreted this advice. She might have thought 35 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: the spirits would get her if she stopped, or she 36 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: might have seen the continuous construction as a path to 37 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: eternal life. Missus Winchester headed west to build a home 38 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: for herself and her ghosts. She bought a sick room 39 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: farmhouse on a hundred and sixty two acres in California 40 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: and set to work. She served as her own architect, 41 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: but it's possible that some ghosts had a hand in 42 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,079 Speaker 1: designing the house as well. Every night, Missus Winchester would 43 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: retreat to her seance room and receive instruction from the 44 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,519 Speaker 1: spirits on the progress of her house. The next morning 45 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: should present her construction workers with hand drawn sketches of 46 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: what was to be done. Sometimes it seemed she didn't 47 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: care what she built as long as she could hear 48 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: the hammers of her crew. The crew might spend a 49 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 1: month constructing a room, only to be ordered to destroy 50 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: it the next month. Because Missus Winchester paid well, no 51 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: one disputed her instructions. Missus Winchester had inherited twenty million 52 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: dollars and just less than half of the Winchester Repeating 53 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: Arms Company stock. That left Missus Winchester with a daily 54 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: income of about a thousand dollars to spend on her house. 55 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: That's equal to about twenty five thousand dollars a day 56 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:51,359 Speaker 1: in today's money. But what if those doors and stairs 57 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: to nowhere? Doors may open onto walls, or, in the 58 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: case of a second story, door to the outside resulting 59 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: in a big fall for anyone who might try to 60 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: exit that way. A closet door on the second floor 61 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: seance room opens onto a first floor sink several feet below, 62 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: and the stairs to nowhere are pretty much what they 63 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: sound like. Stairs go up until they reach the ceiling, 64 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: and then they just stop. These might have a simple explanation. 65 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 1: The stairs were likely part of the original house that 66 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,079 Speaker 1: Missus Winchester bought, and when she started adding on to 67 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: the home, she covered up the stairs, whether it was 68 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: accidentally or on purpose. Missus Winchester usually covered up her 69 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: mistakes by just continuing to build around them. Because she 70 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: had no master plan for the house, her architectural ideas 71 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,799 Speaker 1: didn't always work out since she had no deadline for completion, 72 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: should either tear down the mistake or cover it up 73 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: with something else. But the new stairs she built also 74 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: zigzag back and forth, going around and around in circles, 75 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: and most are only two inches about five centimeters tall. 76 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: Some people think that these touches were designed to confuse 77 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: the evil spirits that were haunting Missus Winchester. The height 78 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: of the stairs served a very specific purpose though she 79 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: had very bad arthritis, and these small stairs allowed her 80 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: to get around. However, Missus Winchester might have deliberately installed 81 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: some of the other weird touches, believing that ghosts would 82 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: get lost on stairs that went nowhere or accidentally step 83 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: out of door that went outside. If this sounds strange 84 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: to you today, you're not alone. Even at the time 85 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: that Missus Winchester was building the house, she was regarded 86 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: with suspicion. Some thought her an eccentric with too much 87 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: money on her hands, and her home took on the 88 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: nickname Mystery House not long after her death. Because Missus 89 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: Winchester left no diary or other communication, we honestly have 90 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:26,919 Speaker 1: no idea what might have been going on in her mind. 91 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: What we do have is her house, which is still 92 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: open to tourists. Missus Winchester died in her sleep in 93 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: nine two, and the house was sold to a group 94 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: of investors who wanted to create a tourist attraction. To 95 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: this day, it's hard to know exactly how many rooms 96 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 1: are in the house because people keep getting lost when 97 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: they try to count, but it's estimated that about a 98 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty rooms are in the home. It had 99 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: reached seven stories by nineteen o six, but the top 100 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,160 Speaker 1: three floors collapsed after the nineteen o six San Francisco earthquake. 101 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: Some other famous numbers associated with the house include its 102 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: forty seven fireplaces, seventeen chimneys, two basements, six kitchens, ten 103 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: thousand window panes, and four hundred and sixty seven doorways. 104 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: Despite these impressive numbers, there are only two mirrors. Missus 105 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,039 Speaker 1: Winchester thought the ghosts were afraid of their own reflection. 106 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: Missus Winchester also had an obsession with the number thirteen. 107 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: Many things installed in the home feature thirteen of something a, 108 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: thirteen window panes, thirteen wall panels, thirteen sections of flooring, 109 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: thirteen stairs in each staircase, their thirteen bathrooms, sinks that 110 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: have thirteen drain holes, and the sands room has thirteen 111 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: coat hooks. And beyond the stairs and windows to nowhere, 112 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: there are other architectural oddities all over the house. Stair 113 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 1: posts were installed upside down, and chimneys that served no 114 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: purpose are all over the house. Their cabinets there are 115 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: less than an inch deep that's about two and a 116 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:49,919 Speaker 1: half centimeters. Missus Winchester ordered a beautiful and outlantishly expensive 117 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 1: Tiffany glass window, but after she installed it, a wooden 118 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,160 Speaker 1: wall was built behind it so that sunlight could never 119 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: shine through the panes. Mrs Winchester was convinced that she 120 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: lived with spirits, But are they still there today? Does 121 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: the spirit of Mrs Winchester herself walk the halls? Some 122 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: psychics say yes, that upon visiting the house they sent 123 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: spirits wandering. Tour guides and visitors report mysterious footsteps, banging doors, 124 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: and weird moving lights. Some see door knobs moved by 125 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: themselves and feel cold spots. It may be something you'll 126 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:22,559 Speaker 1: have to determine for yourself. The Winchester Mystery House offers 127 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: daily tours, and for those who want to be particularly spooked, 128 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: flashlight tours are offered on Halloween and all fridays that 129 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 1: fall on the thirteenth of the month. Today's episode was 130 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: written by Molly Edmonds and produced by Tyler Clang. For 131 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 1: more on this and lots of other winding topics, visit 132 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:55,160 Speaker 1: our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.