microbry ([info]microbry) wrote,
@ 2007-09-21 16:42:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Cool blog
http://mysteryhouse.blogspot.com/ 

I used to be a tour guide for the Winchester Mystery House back around the time of the Loma Prieta earthquake (I had just clocked out and was across the street in the parking lot when the quake hit, and saw the "towers" and trees of the house sway and buckle in opposing directions as the wave hit, as well as all the cars in the lot bounce--it felt like surfing a huge wave...twice, since there was a big aftershock).   This blogger has some great photos and anecdotes that bring back a lot of nice memories, and his photos, if you go back through his archive,  show a LOT of areas of the house that aren't open to the public due to safety reasons and such.  I was pleased to hear though that they opened another section to the tour that I didn't get to see during my year and a half there (mostly one of the basement floors).   He hasn't updated in a couple of years, unfortunately, which is a shame as I'd love to swap stories and I have some photos buried somewhere at my parent's place of some other interesting parts of the house that I'd enjoy sharing if I can find them again.   I also once did a composite photo for fun that matched the upper three stories of the house that were lost in the 1906 earthquake with a more close-to-current view of the house at the same angle.  I wonder if I can find that again...

(Post a new comment)


(Anonymous)
2007-09-24 03:41 pm UTC (link)
So, as a Skeptic and a past employee of the estate, would you care to comment on the supernatural qualities popularly attributed to the Mystery House?

- AcroRay

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]microbry
2007-09-24 09:13 pm UTC (link)
Well, there's a lot I could say on that. I hadn't really defined myself as a skeptic yet when I started working there, but it definitely infused my attitude, and in turn yielded some interesting results. The main things I'd mention are:

1) Working in a place like that allows you to firsthand experience the types of natural phenomenae that could be interpreted by more imaginitive types as ghosts, such as the sounds that come from an old giant structure settling as it contracts and expands from the temperature changes of the day, the drastic changes in temperature and dramatic flow of air, "memory" of footsteps on stairs and floorboards that creak belatedly as they shift back into place after being walked on, creating the illusion of someone walking after you, and vibrations from other floors causing subtle movements on things attached to the ceiling and walls.

2) Most of the stories about the place are exagerations that came from contemporary gossip that was played up by earlier tours and marketing to enhance the tour trade. There are a lot of contradictions between the myths about Sarah Winchester and the actual record, not to mention many flat-out lies or errors. On top of this, there are for the most part very obvious reasons behind most of the architectural "anomalies" in the house (which that blogger explained some of), not to mention one or two that I suspect were added after her death for show (or perhaps out of whimsy?).

The main things to keep in mind about the place:

The 1906 earthquake did serious damage to the house, particularly the front, which forced her to postpone or discontinue construction there and instead it was patched over with a facade to keep the place looking nice.

Much of the later structure of the house was revised due to her severe arthritis, so many stairways were replaced with "easy riser" steps to allow her access (and later supplemented with elevators), and as she lived on the second floor of the house (downstairs was for entertaining and for the kitchens and laundry, the third floor was for servants quarters, and fourth floor was just an observation deck and conservatory--as were probably the additional 3 floors that the quake destroyed), the floor space was maximized, often at the expense of the original layout.

She had no architect, and did, in fact, build onto the place (originally a farmhouse, water tower, and barn, that all got "eaten" by the rambling victorian mansion) haphazardly as a hobby and something to spend her incredible fortune on. She might have been modeling it after her late husband's original mansion, which had a similar profile from what I could find on it. It's doubtful that the story about doing it for the souls of those killed by Winchester rifles has any truth, but it is probably true that she was a spiritualist (as was popular in her day) and that many spiritualism-inspired motifs exist in the mansion, such as a recurring motif of the number 13 (though this is exagerated by the tour script, there are two artifacts that do prove this to be the case) and spiderweb patterns (most notably the most expensive window in the house, an interior one backlit by a skylight, has 13 crystals in a spiderweb), as well a crescent moon-shaped hedge in the central courtyard, and this probably helped along local folklore (I actually imagine almost that she might have enjoyed encouraging the gossip).

She definitely was not the recluse that most stories make her out to be, although she probably was embarrased about the state of repair of the place after the quake as well as shaken (pardon the expression) by how close it came to taking her life. She also spent time away from her "hobby house" at a smaller mansion further up the penninsula as well as a houseboat.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…