The aforementioned new experience, the Explore More Tour, which is only available in tandem with the basic Mansion Tour for people over the age of 9, opens up areas of the house that have either always been off limits or which have been closed for decades, like the front porch, the fanciest north turret bathroom, the aviary, the north wing above the ballroom, the elevators, balconies, her personal hideaway, a vertigo-inducing cross bridge, a boiler room, the registration hall, the Crystal Bedroom, and various unfinished spaces where work stopped when Winchester passed away. The new owner started offering tours the following year, and since then, more than 12 million people have wandered through the dark corridors, elegant rooms, and unfinished quarters. The price tag for her structural penance was more than $5 million, then an astronomical sum, but after her death in 1922, it was valued at a mere $5,000 and sold at auction for $135,531.50. At one point, the house, built without any blueprints, was seven stories tall and featured the latest and greatest technology, including first residential electric elevator on the West Coast. This is why construction never ceased, with a brief exception after the catastrophic 1906 San Francisco earthquake, for 38 years. Perhaps the strangest thing about the Winchester Mystery House is why the widow built it this way. (Oh, and yeah, Winchester created a room just for convening with spirits.) It's known for its abnormal architecture, like stairways to nowhere, a window in the floor of the south conservatory, a room without a ceiling or floor, doors that open into walls, a cupboard with a half inch of storage space, the recurring spider web motif, and curious instances of the number 13, like the baker's dozen of hooks on the walls in the séance room. It sits across a very busy street from San Jose high-end retail and dining destination Santana Row. The 24,000-square-foot American Queen Anne Revival mansion is one of the most peculiar and sprawling estates in the world with its nine kitchens, 52 skylights, 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, and 10,000 windows. And thanks to the recent introduction of the first all-new tour in two decades, which welcomes guests into rooms never before open to the public, including the eerily named Witch's Cap, and an upcoming paranormal period piece starring Helen Mirren as homeowner Sarah Winchester that shot on location, there has never been a better time to look for ghosts at the Winchester Mystery House. ![]() 'Tis the season for haunted houses, creepy characters, and spooky stories - and one former residence of the rich and famous in San Jose, CA, has long offered quirky and spine-tingling tales to those who dare visit the Winchester Mystery House.
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