Tuesday, November 27, 2007

My Tour Of The Winchester Mansion (November 2007)

Well, I’ve just gotten back from my trip to San Jose California. The trip was for business (FileMaker Train The Trainer For FTS) but I took an extra day before the training to check out the local attractions.

I’ve always been fascinated about the stories regarding the Winchester Mansion. This was probably one of my best times to see it. I took both the standard and the behind the scene tours. For more about the story of the Winchester mansion, you can check out the following links...

http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

A snap from wikipedia...
The Winchester Mystery House is a well-known California mansion that was under construction continuously for 38 years and is reputed to be haunted. It once was the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester, but is now a tourist attraction.


Here is a quick movie I took with a handheld from one of the balconies.

Under Sarah Winchester's guidance, construction on the house continued 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, until her death 38 years later on September 5, 1922.[1] The cost for such constant building has been estimated at about US $5.5 million.[2] If this cost were paid entirely in 1922, it would be equivalent to almost $70 million in 2007 dollars.[3

Here is a link to the wikipedia link that is more or less what they told us on the tour.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mansion

Some items not mentioned in the wikipedia post as much as on the tour is that Mrs. Winchester had a fascination with spider webs, the number 13, upside down pillars and gardens (gardens in which she reportedly believed were part of the secret of everlasting life).

As in the wikipedia post, she was reported to be earning more than $1,000 a day, which was pretty good money back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. All of the staff were paid in case at the end of each day, so that Mrs. Winchester could let someone go off the payroll at a moments notice.


Here is a quick movie I took with a handheld at the front of the mansion.

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