The Winchester Mansion is a sprawling California Mansion. It was owned by Sarah Winchester. Legend has it that the house was built after a seance, where Sarah was told by spirits that she must never stop building her home, in order to be protected from spirits who were killed by Winchester rifles. Seances were very popular during the Victorian period, as people started to develop an interest in supernatural phenomena. The construction of the mansion went on for 38 years, until Winchester's death. Sarah was allegedly guided by the instruction of spirits whom she made contact with, during the construction of her house, which lead to the eccentric design, which is described as a maze. The home is now world famous for it's mysterious design
Read all about this amazing historical home here:
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/index.cfm
Discussion:
1.Why do you think the Victorians were so interested in the supernatural? Parlor games concerning seances and contact with the dead became extremely popular in this time period.
2. Would you want to visit the Winchester mansion? I would!
Happy Haunting,
Frankie
P.S.- It's not too late to enter our photo contest! Hope to see your entries.
Welcome to the club for all things paranormal! Here you will find a weekly discussion for us AG girls not aloud to join "other" clubs. Feel free to look around, send me your thoughts, and anything that pertains to our interests.
Ohhhhh .. we love the Winchester mansion and the stories about it .. it has been one of Mama's greatest things like the Titanic .. the internet has opened up so much information but I would love to go back in time and get to know Sarah and see what it was really all about .. it must have been hard to live with all that fear and evil around her .. she had a sad life.
ReplyDeleteKelsyee
I think for Victorians the supernatural was still pretty taboo, so their obsession sort of drew from that and probably because everything was so rigid then that folks wanted to be different. I would totally visit the mansion! I want to explore it and get lost! I wonder what is is like to be directed by a ghost?
ReplyDeleteEmily
Brenna- I would love to see the Winchester Mansion. It sounds so cool with all the weird passages and stairways and doors that don't go anywhere. Poor lady, she must have been so frightened to stop building! What a cool story...
ReplyDeleteJess- Yeah, I'd like to see it too. I saw a show on it, I think it must have been on the History Channel or something, but it showed some of the features of this crazy house. I'm not sure why the Victorians were so fascinated in the supernatural. Women were just starting to break out of being stuck in the house, and they were learning all kinds of stuff. They were super fascinated with nature too..
I saw a show about the mansion too. I think I would like to explore it. I feel sorry for Sarah too.I think it's interesting about how superstitious she was, and how she used her superstitions in the design of the house.
ReplyDeleteThis brings up another question: Can a person be haunted without ghosts? We will never know if Sarah was really haunted by spirits, but I'd say she was definitely haunted by her fears.