Winchester House
About this property
The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion in San Jose, California, that was once the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester. The house became a tourist attraction nine months after Winchester's death in 1922. The Victorian and Gothic-style mansion is renowned for its size and its architectural curiosities and for the numerous myths and legends surrounding the structure and its former owner. Sarah Winchester was born in 1839 in New Haven, Connecticut. She was called Sallie by people closest to her, after her paternal grandmother. She married William Wirt Winchester in 1862. In 1866, Winchester gave birth to a girl named Annie Pardee Winchester. Diagnosed with marasmus, she did not thrive and lived only a month. Between the fall of 1880 and the spring of 1881, Winchester's mother, father-in-law, and husband died. She was left with a large inheritance from her husband. In 1884, her eldest sister, Mary Converse, died. Around this time, Winchester began developing rheumatoid arthritis. Her doctor suggested that a warmer and drier climate might help improve her health. In 1885, at the age of 46, Winchester moved to California from New Haven, Connecticut. According to Mary Jo Ignoffo in her book Captive of the Labyrinth: Sarah L. Winchester, Heiress to the Rifle Fortune, her doctor's recommendation, her happy memories of traveling to San Francisco with her husband in the 1870s, and advertising about the weather and health benefits of California were possible factors in Winchester's decision to move. Winchester invited her three remaining sisters to follow her to California, which they did. In 1886, Edward "Ned" Rambo, a San Francisco agent for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, took Winchester on a tour of the Santa Clara valley to look for a home. He showed her a 45-acre ranch for sale located near San Jose. Winchester purchased the property (from John Hamm) which included a two-story, eight-room farmhouse. Since the property reminded her of Llanada Alavesa from the Basque area, she named her new home Llanada Villa. In 1890, Winchester's 21-year-old niece, Marion Merriman (called Daisy) came to live with her. Merriman became Winchester's personal secretary, looking after business correspondence and banking. They attended charitable events together and were paying members of Associated Charities and the Red Cross. In 1903, Winchester paid for Merriman's wedding to Frederick Marriott III. That same year, Winchester purchased several homes and properties in Atherton. One of the homes was offered to the newlyweds to live in, which they accepted. Winchester subsequently purchased a home for the couple closer to the train station for Frederick to travel to work from.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Winchester House listed on the National Register?
Winchester House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 6, 1974.
What type of historic resource is Winchester House?
Winchester House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Winchester House?
The period of significance for Winchester House is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Winchester House?
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