The Winchester Mystery House: The Building of an American Legend

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Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Arnaldo Teodorani
Producer - Jennifer Da Silva
Executive Producer - Shell Harris
Business inquiries to [e-mail]
Source/Further reading:
Story and description of the house
www.toptenz.net/10-interestin...
mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/0...
winchestermysteryhouse.com/sa...
www.mentalfloss.com/article/5...
Life of Sarah Winchester
www.biography.com/personality...
www.mentalfloss.com/article/5...
Mary Jo Ignoffo’s biography of Sarah
www.mercurynews.com/2010/11/0...
Haunted house?
allthatsinteresting.com/winch...
eu.usatoday.com/story/life/mo...
The WInchester ‘73
homesteadfirearms.com/appraisa...
truewestmagazine.com/rifles-f...
Richard Allen Wagner
thetruthaboutthewinchesterhous...
thetruthaboutsarahwinchester.com/

[@geographicstravel]

Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/geographics for 10% off on your first purchase.

[@izzojoseph2]

Geographics ~ Crew. I’d love to hear your take on Yosemite or Hetch Hetchy or both. I know a bit but wow, Yosemite is an amazing place. Oh and then there’s Lake Tahoe!

[@daviddunlap1741]

I love reading the CC on all your videos, these were particularly funny. Thank you Simon and team!

[@youtubeSuckssNow]

Are there any interviews of the tradesmen she kept on hand?

[@donkimble]

ever thought she might have just liked architecture, and wanted to practice it?

[@ona3779]

The idea of her prolonging the builds to give local builders work is pretty heartwarming...

[@LastHamurai]

When Biographics and Geographics meet it's a beautiful thing.

[@ladykoiwolfe]

Yes, I greatly enjoyed that aspect of this video. And really there was no other way to properly cover this place. Without her, it would just be another home.

[@TheStierstorfer]

Then business blaze kicks the door in with cocaine and hookers and makes it a party.

[@johnbockelie3899]

No story on how the house was built for the ghosts of the victims of the Winchester rifles?.

[@shaitarn1869]

'Sarah kept building as an excuse to keep relatives from visiting.' Yeah, I'm sure we've all got a couple of family members like that...

[@antonievandermeer34]

Go to the Winchester, have a pint and wait for this all to blow over.

[@JustJake77]

Haaaaaaaaa!

[@charles1412]

It’s deactivated

[@fallingpetunias9046]

What about Liz?

[@charles1412]

@@fallingpetunias9046 She's engaged

[@Aconitum_napellus]

@@charles1412 That was quick.

[@delfin7461]

When you look at it from the outside, it just looks like a big Victorian mansion, but once you are inside, it becomes very clausterphobia inducing, even though it's huge. some of the stairways and ceilings are oppressive. Totally recommend going. Oh and there is a Rosecrusian museum very nearby, also a weird and interesting place.

[@wlkingbway]

delfin7461 I went to both on the same day in high school! The planetarium at the Rosicrucian museum was cool.

[@candice_ecidnac]

claustrophobia, not clausterphobia. closs-tro-fo-bee-a

[@delfin7461]

@@candice_ecidnac I was having a brain fart and knew the spelling wasn't right. Thanks. Sadly, teaching English as a second language does weird stuff to your spelling!!! It makes you dumber as your students mistakes start rubbing off on you. Though my guess is that my current students wouldn't even know the word!!

[@Ireneharnack1138]

You’re doing just fine. 😃

[@prepperjonpnw6482]

Gregory Yankey what does that mean?

[@bushmanPMRR]

Simon mentioned briefly in passing the Rosslyn Chapel 15:59 This place is so worthy of a video itself. Building commenced in 1456 and took many years to complete, despite it's relatively small size. The main reason was the sheer volume of intricate carvings within. Virtually every square inch has been carved with symbols both Christian as well as Pagan, depictions from the bible and even a type of corn from America that pre-dates Columbus' supposed discovery. Two aspects that must be mentioned when discussing Rosslyn are that the Holy Grail is alleged by some to be hidden there, as portrayed in the Dan Brown novel The Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks playing the lead role in the film. The other aspect is The Apprentice Pillar. The Master Mason carved his pillar (on the left as you look down the aisle) and apparently had to go away on some other business only to discover on his return the Apprentice mason had done his own 'freestyle' work on a pillar to the right. The apprentice's pillar was such a thing of beauty the Master mason killed the apprentice out of jealousy! This is such an amazing place with so much history and so many stories I honestly think Geographics should do a video on it.

[@Zeldafan36]

Perhaps as a widow she was lonely, and having all those workers kept her company

[@Bloodreign137]

She had been convinced that the spirits from all the people that had died by Winchester rifles would come back to haunt her. The architects took advantage of her and told her she needed to keep building all this stuff to help trap/confuse the ghosts and keep her safe

[@lunaConradTheOneAndOnly]

She actually was super progressive and focused on the welfare of her community. She paid really well and just liked to keep people employef

[@Marlfox70]

@@Bloodreign137 This video literally debunked that lol

[@kimwhitehead9096]

@@Bloodreign137 That’s not true in any way, shape, or form.

[@ciaravalenzuela2467]

@@kimwhitehead9096 I've been there and took the tour and that is what the tour guides tell everyone is the reason that she did it.

[@margaret-marywhite299]

This is actually a very beautiful house. It was incredibly interesting to take the tour. The legend of the building of the house is what brings you in, and the stairways to nowhere and doors that don't lead to anything are interesting. However, all in all, it is just a lovely house built by an eccentric widow.

[@marilynguinnane4663]

I visited the thing way back in the stone ages or, you could say, the 70s. I wasn't as fascinated as most. "Did you enjoy it?" my enthralled boyfriend asked. "Uh-huh," I said, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

[@ThingsiHateLots]

My tour guide was very matter-of-fact about everything - “we’re not really sure why this staircase ends here like this, but we think it’s because Sarah Winchester wanted x room to be extended which then cut off the top of the staircase”. There was no “SHE WAS CRAZY LOOK AT THIS POINTLESS STAIRCASE” narrative at all.

[@Ireneharnack1138]

I used to live down the street from The Winchester Mystery House! Love its wall paper! Also love those easy rise staircases. 😊 They also offer flashlight tours on Halloween. Might I mention that San Jose also has The Rosecrusion Egyptian Museum which is my favorite San Jose Museum. (Talk about cool and awesome museums.)

[@c0t0d0s7]

I worked on Tisch Way, about a block away. I did several tours, but always wanted to do the Halloween one. My employer closed our office before I had the opportunity (but I did get to watch Santana Row burn to the ground during construction from my seventh floor office). I even entertained the idea of becoming a part-time tour guide.

[@adamheintz1386]

This house is INCREDIBLE to go inside of. Going back in April.

[@MasterMalrubius]

It was interesting. Kind of pricey for the whole thing.

[@enriquejimenez4033]

Are you quarantined at the house?!

[@madmonkee6757]

Your English (so-called English) makes me sad. The house is incredible. Entering it is incredible. Going inside of it is incredible. ¡Coño! ¡Aprende a hablar el puto inglés, pendejo!

[@jaimemartinez-el8wc]

@@madmonkee6757 nothing worse than someone with an inferiority complex large enough to try to attain status or pride by critiquing someone else's English How about you stfu bud and let people talk however they want to talk

[@xEternal408x]

@@madmonkee6757 did you walk in on ur bf cheating on you? A bit aggressive there

[@bridgetdavis9752]

What a refreshing new theory - before I thought she was a widow, bent by guilt, but now I think she was a genius, trying to build what she thought was a spiritual Nexus. Well done! 👍

[@reneebarger5194]

I wish to thank you for giving some respect back to poor Sarah with honest facts. I have been to three of her houses and researched her life for years. She was a brilliant women with deep Masonic roots. The ranch provided fresh fruit as well as dehydrated fruit products & she ran it profitably. She had several family members in Santa Clara county and was very close to them, especially her niece. One of her nephews was a governor of California. Fascinating person who built a fascinating house. Oh just a note on the "door to no where", anyone growing up in New England could tell you that is called a coffin door.

[@toriladybird511]

This is ONE building if I visited the US would be on my bucket list. This lady was a genius with her many ideas. The stairs for instance..

[@SonjaPierce]

Actually, she has a multi headed shower installed at a time when showers were barely thought of, most people still took baths. I've always had the utmost respect for the lady who was years ahead of her time. That shower is awesome, water came out of 3 sides.

[@PegasusID]

Fascinating site, if quite the tourist attraction. You have to be with a group and cannot roam on your own. Remember a room just for watering plants upstairs.

[@charles1412]

Remember there is a fine line between genius and insanity.

[@martinhanke1670]

@@SonjaPierce that shower was only for her, made for her shortness.

[@SonjaPierce]

@@martinhanke1670 I saw that when I was there. The concept of multiple shower heads amazed me but they were only chest high for me. Still a great idea though, years ahead of her time.

[@DerptyDerptyDUM]

Yessss. Firearms + wealth + extreme paranoia = one of those truly weird gems of Americana. 🇺🇸

[@DC-ru5xz]

Still Deubell now when you add those 3 things you get a political nightmare deadlock

[@milkmaster699]

I really wanna go!

[@merylmontgomery9932]

Sounds like our government

[@mrfugazi6713]

Haha 😂, I like that one ☝️ brother, I’m spiritual myself and have been since childhood, I can let you know now that houses do have residual energy but it doesn’t haunt the place continuously, once in a blue moon you might hear or see something but that’s only if a spiritual person is there, because if you wasn’t a spiritual person you wouldn’t see or hear anything if you lived in the house for a hundred years it’s just to take your money the robbing bastards it’s disgraceful and disrespectful they would exploit the spirit world for financial profits we have places that are exploited over here in Britain also.

[@godlygamer911]

@@mrfugazi6713 ... Don't say "do" as if it's a fact and you're not just a crazy person

[@travist8898]

One of the main reasons I love these channels is Simon's relentless sense of sarcasm.

[@grappleduck57]

Well done! I graduated from San Jose State University, and while my parents were in town from the East coast I took them to the Winchester Mystery House...what a blast. Some more tidbits... 1. Sarah had a state of the art room safe...the contents of that safe...a single locket of hair from her deceased child. 2. It was a massive fruit farm at one time...apricots and peaches making it a very profitable endeavor, but only one original plant material still exists, which is an antique grapefruit tree. 3. The only time the front door was opened for a visiting guest is when US President, Teddy Roosevelt made a surprise visit to the Winchester Estate. The door is said to be nailed shut leaving it in a non-operating status. Also, Sarah treated all of her employees with respect and love, she considered them part of her family and paid them an hourly wage of $10-20 back at the turn of the century, which was unheard of. Most of the city has consumed this large, quirky estate but a small sliver of the once expansive farm/estate still exists...now referred to as the Winchester Mystery House. D

[@SonjaPierce]

I never thought I'd see something I grew up with on Geographics. It's a fantastic place to visit.

[@krystalschofield443]

Same here, I had to watch it. Its a really cool place

[@ExcalibursEdge]

Thank you so much, Simon. I grew up in Sparks Nevada and whenever we went to the drive in movie theater, in between pictures, they would ALWAYS play this ad, "When in San Jose, visit the famous Winchester Mystery House!" with the address and directions. I have visited this house and it's not spooky at all. It is only weird, as you would expect.

[@kraanz]

"Gentlemen, what have you done to my house? There's stairways leading to nothing, there's doors with walls behind them. Have you ever built a house before? What the hell?" -Ah, but you see, Ma'am. Those are not errors nor mistakes. Those are surprise features.

[@princealarming85]

Love this

[@lulutubes12]

Did you make this up or is it from some other source? It made me laugh! Sounds like a Marx brothers or Three Stooges film : )

[@kraanz]

@@lulutubes12 Those couple of sentences? Yes, I made them up.

[@lulutubes12]

@@kraanz Awesome! You're very funny!

[@princessmarlena1359]

Good one!

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:00 - Chapter 1 - A solid metaphor 2:20 - Chapter 2 - Daedalus 6:30 - Chapter 3 - Hades 9:40 - Mid roll ads 11:05 - Chapter 4 - Athena & hephaestus 16:35 - Chapter 5 - Penelope 20:45 - Chapter 6 - Sarah 22:10 - Chapter 7 - American legends

[@sammballii2418]

Man Simon you put in work bro.. I swear one of the most active KZbinrs I've seen ..

[@robertyoung1317]

And I must say that he does one heck of a great job each and every time.

[@stimpy_thecat]

His captors only feed him after every 10 videos he makes, so it's not surprising he's so prolific.

[@mattberg6816]

He has a team he’s just the presenter

[@robertyoung1317]

I love the reasons she had to build this home. And I absolutely love how much work you put into your videos Simon! Absolutely love every video you put out. Keep it up brother.

[@MasterMalrubius]

Robert Young Loved you in Marcus Welby MD.

[@ronniedelahoussayechauvin6717]

@@MasterMalrubius MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE TO ME. All this is MAJOR MARKETING FRAUD & A VERY DANGEROUS ENTERPRISE! STOLEN PROPERTY & NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL INSURANCE POLICY THEFT & I HAVE PROOF!

[@seakelp3508]

I once lived in San Jose, CA, I regret never visiting this house, although I passed by it several times. That is one of three opportunities I missed whilst living there.

[@teamgitusome]

what are the other two

[@Vincent-S]

The house is an amazing thing indeed. I recommend anyone to visit. As well as to go shooting with a Winchester rifle, those are amazing too.

[@kayseacamp]

Interesting that he didn’t mention that this house inspired Steven King’s Rose Red.

[@davidortiz181]

Bravo!! I'm a long time fan of The Winchester Mystery House. Rarely (like almost never) does Sarah Winchester ever get the commentary she deserves. All the myths and legends are wonderful and fun, but the truth often suffers for it. When I first visited the house 48 years ago, the souvenir shop carried the book "Lady of Mystery (Sarah Wiinchester)" by Ralph Rambo, which told both the tall-tails and facts. Thanks so much for being thorough and gracious.

[@PegasusID]

When I toured it I thought Mrs. Winchester just wanted to keep her employees working on the house.

[@jimmyjimjims7483]

I drove from San Diego to San Jose to see this place and it was amazing, this was in like 2005 but still it was the coolest building I've seen next to the Hotel Del Coronado

[@rawrm247]

I was surprised that when I went to visit the Winchester Mystery House, the guide didn't really talk about the fact that the house was said to be haunted or about the local legend saying Sarah built the house to confuse the ghosts. Growing up, I always heard about the local myths surrounding the house. Yet, when I went, I think the closest to paranormal we got was when we were in the "seance room" and that the only ghost said to haunt the house was a man who had died during construction. Apart from that, they mostly talked about the expensive pieces in the house, when certain rooms were built, and the genius parts of the house. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed but still very intrigued!

[@c0t0d0s7]

I just replied to a similar comment above, but it sounds like the tour dialogue has changed since I lived nearby in the early 2000s. At that time, they spoke quite a bit about Sarah, her superstitions, quirky habits, and her reasons for continually modifying the house to keep the spirits at bay.

[@thatguy-pl8py]

I remember my dad telling me about this house when I was a younger. I've wondered about it until I saw this thumbnail. Thank you Biographics for answering my decade and a half old wonderment

[@yvettejones5323]

My husband and I went to the Winchester House several years ago and it was amazing! There was a $1,000 stained glass window that Mrs. Winchester bought and had installed the house that was supposed to omit this beautiful rainbow of colors and light into the hallway...they installed it on the wrong wall 🤦😆 I had always wondered why they didn't move the window but the tour guide said that it wasn't because Mrs. Winchester wasn't that focus on functionality in the house. She might have just been afraid of the window breaking lol Also, in the tour, they show you where the original farmhouse ended because Mrs. Winchester built around the entire farmhouse. If you look at it now, it's weird, whimsical, delightful in some ways, beautiful and amazing. The wing of the house that has the master bedroom was shut after the 1908 earthquake and you can see the crack in the wall from the shock that stretches the entire length of the room and runs deep into the wall. It's was amazing.

[@Xambonii]

I genuinely enjoy most every video on this channel, but this is defiantly the best yet! Incredible work!

[@branon6565]

I'm born and raised here in San Jose, Calif, and when I was a kid in the early to mid 80's, there used to be "Individual Night Tours" in that house where we'd get a flashlight, and be turned loose by ourselves in the house to go just about anywhere save for the Great Room and Basement (if memory serves me correct)....those tours were stopped after some idiot kid fell to his death I believe...there were hardly any areas that were roped off, I distinctly recall walking on the glass "skylight" that's in the floor, walking up staircases to doors that opened into brick walls, and there were a couple of Dumbwaiters that we got caught trying to climb into....side note: a huge portion of this house fell during the 1906 earthquake, so it was literally almost twice the size before 1906 than it is today...

[@siv9939]

You should do videos about the House on the Rock and Falling Waters, two other incredible houses.

[@cryogeneric]

Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area. There is one point on the tour where you can step out onto a balcony and look across the expanse of the mansion and it, literally, looks like something out of Dr. Seuss book. All and all, it's cool, but don't get your expectations too high and buy into the haunted aspect. Just enjoy it for the bizarre architecture. You'll never see anything else like it (that I can think of).

[@mariecarie1]

I love this episode! I really love all the allegories to Greek mythology as well. It tied really well to the theme of the legend surrounding the house - a very nice touch that elevated the material. It turned this into more than just restating facts and into an engaging story. To Simon and whoever wrote the script, well done!!

[@donbrunodelamancha1927]

Master Simon, aside from University, I've lived in San José, CA for most of my life. Century 21 & 22 used to ajoin it. They had the biggest theaters in the Silicon Valley. I've seen over a hundred movies at these theaters, many Opening Showings. Across the my Tabaconnist until it was completely leveled in its shopping center. I had been there 100"s of times. An upscale mixed use shopping center, townhouses, hotel, clubs, bars, resturants and various high end vendors. I have been there 100's of times. I never once even conssidered going into the Winchester Mystery House. But it is built in such so disarming and disorienting for a single purpose, so the ghosts of all those killed by Winchester 1873 rifle. So the ghosts could never find their way to her. The séances were quit the creepy, but the Society event, or so I hear‼️‼️‼️ The Rosecrucian Museum facility is also in San José. It is about 2 miles away. Great Egyptian tomb and museum. A beautiful Planetarium and a great deal of Rosicrucian ONLY buildings and rooms. None the less, the connections are much tighter than this author let's on. She did end up living in Atherton, a VERY Exclusive town, even today. In fact Atherton remains the highest median price Holmes in California at just over $7.4 million. She was almost squished in her home, nearly nothing happened in Atherton. Atherton, like most of the Silicon Valley has significant and deep, resilient bedrock. Where as San Francisco is 1/3 landfill, into the bay, built on top very rolling hills. Had you had the means and 2 stories of your home nearly fell on you, you might move to Atherton as well. Crazy‼️‼️ Much L♥️VE to You and the Whole of Team Biographics‼️‼️♥️♥️♥️✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼💯💯💯🧠🧠🧠👨🏻‍🎓👨🏻‍🎓👨🏻‍🎓📚📚📚🏘🏘🏘👁👁👁🥃🥃🥃

[@racafritz]

There is a stunning stain glass window that I believe was made by Tiffany’s. The sad part is where it’s placed never sees sunlight because that side of the house is always in shade.

[@Cameron5043]

I saw those panes when I was there! I nearly lost my mind!

[@Dr.RichardBanks]

JESUS CHRIST SIMON the last paragraph of this is earth shattering. THANK YOU script writers (mostly danny) and as always, I'll keep watching 😉

[@thejudgmentalcat]

A lot more information than I knew. I would have loved to meet her. And "esoteric knowledge" is so Lovecraftian!

[@catherinetrites1929]

Genuinely excellent writing. This is really enjoyable, I appreciate the depth of research and thought that went into this episode, and the channel as a whole! Thank you for this content!

[@LtColShingSides]

I enjoy all of Simon's channels but I most look forward to this one every week.

[@ronalddavies1091]

That was the best video/ info on the Winchester house I've every seen or read about. Good job. 👍✌️

[@skyden24195]

Visited this house as a kid in the 80's, been fascinated by it ever since. I've always read any literature I've ever chanced upon, or watched any documentary, (Biographics...nice, I dig the Greek mythology metaphors). As to the supernatural/spirituality aspect of the house, I'd observe that there is more evidence to suggest that there is something spectacular there that is not of the living/physical world we pretend to know. How or why it is there is irrelevant. It's there.

[@BHuang92]

Builders: How do you want your mansion to be like? Sarah: *Yes*

[@lmf0114]

The Winchester House is unforgettable! It is definitely a for sure visit when you come to California!

[@sarielle85]

I think it totally makes sense that one of the reasons for the strange layout of the house was to provide work for the carpenters in that region. From the pictures I have seen I never thought that the house looked creepy or frightening in any way - rather a little weird, but very playful. When we got a Lego house as children, didn't we all not build it according to plan first, but then tried to build something as weird as possible with the same bricks? At least I did.... and that's what the house reminds me of. Sarah had no children of her own and wasn't close with her family, but no one is an island. I think she might have had some friends in the free masons guild, that were like family to her. After all in the beginning the free masons were just a community of various craftsmen, who would, if they were working on a project, recommend someone from their union if their sepcific craftsmanship was needed to procure steady employment for everyone. But not only might the house have helped carpenters to a steady income, it might also have been a work of art, a passion project, or simply a lot of fun for the people working on it. Assuming the workers were her acquaintances, I can imagine them sitting together in the evening with some glasses of wine and one of them saying "you know what, I've always had that crazy idea, I've always wanted to build/make [insert whatever oddity is present in that house]" and she just said "Okay, do it, you can start tomorrow, I'll pay you xx an hour, take your time..."

[@dr.lyleevans6915]

Around 11:43, I believe Simon meant to say “Rosacrusian”, not “ Rosacurianism”. He made this error more than once, so it wasn’t verbal mistake. Edit: Carbine is said with a short “i”, not a long “i” (said kar-been, not kar-bine). It is basically a rifle with a shorter barrel.

[@Recon3Y3z]

Thank you, Well done as always! The pictures can't do the place justice.

[@wlkingbway]

This was so cool! I’ve loved the legend of Sarah Winchester and her house since I was a kid. This video was such a refreshing and enlightening perspective on her life and the mystery of her house!

[@jasonwojtkiewicz4340]

Simon, you've impressed me again! I haven't even watched this yet, but it is one of my sub-favorite subjects of interest, being in the general area of paranormality! Always enthused when I see you and your crew have made another video that piques my interest! Phenomenal!

[@tomharris9570]

Always wanted to visit this place! Outstanding work as always, Geographics crew!

[@MsAngrybutterfly]

I've been more times than I can remember, and I still learned new stuff from this video. I saw it on TV when I was little and when I moved to the Bay Area I had to go, and I have been back several times. I tend to get the holiday blues and my friends take me there at Christmas to cheer me up, I've also been on my birthday. I never seem to tire of it.

[@dubfunk1886]

Closed Caption between 8:36 - 8:58, HAHAHAHA!

[@otakuribo]

The title cards and Greek mythical parallels give this video a suitably surreal vibe 👍

[@todddougherty9492]

I’m so happily surprised you covered such a small and novel location!!!! Bravo Geographics!!!👏👏👏👏👏

[@timcollum8695]

It's world famous. I live in Iowa and I've known about it all my life.

[@victorcabanelas]

A really interesting place to visit! Loved the titles. Keep up the great work!

[@otowngirl12]

Love this channel so much! All of your videos are excellent 👌 keep doing what you're doing!

[@anemiab.8165]

i forgot to say that I loved this Geo. Brilliant.

[@jamesselko6877]

Crazy thing about this place, the basement, the house is not on secured on the foundation. It survived 2 major earthquakes. When a earthquake occurs, the house sways. They give tours in the basement. It's a great place.😁😁

[@brendakrieger7000]

Thanks for sharing this. I'm endlessly fascinated by architecture

[@RexClair]

I visited this place a few years ago. The tour took us through the seance room and that room felt absolutely unsettling.

[@erictheroman5813]

I adore this channel, thankyou for all the interesting stuff :)

[@rhov-anion]

I visited the Winchester 15 years ago. I took nearly 100 photos, loving the quirky architecture and amazing stained glass windows. There was one photo that was blurry with overly bright lighting, considering all the other photos had no lighting issues. Now, I taught photography in the late 90s, so taking a blurry, bad lighting picture like that is unusual for me. Also, it was the only photo of that particular room, considering every other room on the tour had many photos of the glass and woodworking details. I realized, I had only taken one picture of the séance room, since frankly it was not that interesting. Maybe the spirits were upset that I found their room a bit boring, haha!

[@mylesanderson1445]

I've been to this place. It's truly breathtaking!

[@debbieclark7031]

I appreciate your honesty about every story you tell.

[@deathmetal6546]

These videos are great! Keep it up!

[@rickkaylor8554]

I lived in San Jose for many years and visited the mansion. It didn't seem creepy to me. For one, the mansion is in the middle of a large city and now seems terribly out of place. Next door is a movie theater and shopping malls. It used to be all orchards and the area of San Jose is called Prunedale. Well worth the visit if you are in the San Jose area.

[@flare213mutt]

Lived in San Jose for a couple of years, and my dentist's office was on the same street! Very interesting place to visit.

[@jonrmartin]

I like how many of the house's "mysterious" elements have very practical explanations.

[@jediknight131]

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend" -The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

[@BirchTree66]

I love these kinds of mysteries, but I love it even more when you pick them apart!

[@mm44jesus]

I went here on vacation and it was awesome! The room where the ghosts ate dinner with her were eerie feeling. I love that the horse stables are connected to the house!

[@lesslisilverman]

Excellent vid, Mr Simon.

[@sirsmartypants7086]

OMG if you only dig into this poor woman's life you would find out she's not so creepy. Another mind blown moment video thanks Simon. The hours of research you have to do I'm impressed each and every time

[@drmattconrad77]

This episode was really well written. Cheers!

[@aliceg18]

FINALLY!! Our beloved Llnada Via has been given the respect it deserves, as well as Sarah herself. Thank You.

[@sophuzzy]

I grew up just a few blocks from there. It wasn't the glorious painted lady portrayed in this video. There was still a part of a tower laying in the yard that had fallen off during an earthquake. Back then the property was surrounded by orchards, not an interstate and movie theaters. I'm glad the house is being better taken care of than it was in the 60's.

[@LuckyBaldwin777]

The craftsmanship is impressive. I'll bet she did keep adding on to the house to keep those guys employed.

[@joemorris8556]

My aunt lived in San José when I was a kid. They took us to the Winchester house on one of our visits. Every time we visited after that, we begged our parents to take us back. I remember them saying she fired a worker because he couldn’t grow an upside down peach tree.

[@samhouston1979]

“One need not be a chamber to be haunted” that’s deep...I have to remember that one

[@eetadakimasu]

Love the video, love your humor!

[@nomimalone7520]

Simon, your narration is always top notch. I love this series.

[@randybentley2633]

You know given the connotations I'm surprised that Supernatural never did anything about this place.

[@ladykoiwolfe]

They did mention it once and even briefly wondered if they were related.

[@charlations]

Didn't they go to a labyrinth-like mansion with the corpse of the wife buried in the center of it???? I always thought it might have been based off the Winchester Mansion without mentioning it by name??? . .. ... .... (Spoilers) They originally thought the wife was abused by the husband and had finally killed and hunted the house after her death or something??? But it turned out they were a loving couple and the husband buried her in the center to protect her??? I don't really remember, I saw it ages ago, but it was before season 4, since I never watched past the first episode of that season...

[@randybentley2633]

@@charlations dang it now I'm going to have to go and find this episode to watch again because this is ringing no bells but then again we're talking about 15 years' worth of seasons hehe.

[@izzojoseph2]

I’ve heard all the silly rumors about why She built the way she did but given how smart she was, and the dearth of ghosts throughout ~ even the ghost hunters can’t find them (at least the ‘authentic’ hunters) ~ the idea that this is a tribute to Mason’s makes a great deal of sense. Well done Simon and crew. Used to live near there. Amazing place.

[@TheCMLion]

I grew up in San Jose, where we referred to it as "The Winchester Mystery Hoax." One of the Koch brothers built a complete western town on his property in Colorado. Look at Michael Jackson's Neverland (then again, don't). If you get enough money and can afford to spend it on anything you come up with, you're gonna do some crazy stuff. The mother of one of my parents' friends used to go to her house when she was a little girl. She said she was very nice. Adults wanted something from her and she didn't trust them. She would have these girls over for tea and piano recitals. I imagine she was a very lonely old lady.

[@ferociousgumby]

19:33 you are right about encrustations of mythology and misinterpretation. I have seen any number of videos on this topic which refer to these two Shakespeare quotes as "gibberish" which only made sense to Sarah W.

[@MsAngrybutterfly]

That's what they tell you on the tour! That's probably where the other videos sourced it.

[@MultiPetercool]

Are used to live in Silicon Valley. I’ve been there at least a half dozen times with girlfriends, parents, cousins and my wife and children. It is a “must see”if you come to the San Francisco Bay Area.

[@wadeguidry6675]

Very awesome episode! Bucket list for sure.

[@kevinbrady6075]

Simon,lived in San Jose and did the tour.Very strange,...put it on you bucket list lad!

[@lizzdoe2821]

Such a great video!!!

[@charlescomly1]

My wife and I took the tour a couple of years ago,very cool place to see in california.

[@momsnoteatingbugs1919]

Grew up and lived most of my life in the Bay Area and drove by it every day on my work for 10 years.. been there many times. If you’re ever in the area, it’s a must see.

[@TheMrCougarful]

I live near the mansion. It is a beautiful structure and a celebration of the carpenters arts, and everything mentioned about it in this video rings true. Madam Winchester was a remarkable woman, and would have been remarkable in any age.

[@rtist9281]

My family has visited this place many times, and it always fascinating.

[@stephaniemnapier]

My new favourite thing whilst watching a Simon Whistler video... Turn on the captions! I am pretty certain your team just upload your uncut script and it's fascinating to see what you paraphrase and which bits don't make the cut of the final edit! (Around 8:35!) Amazing content! Thank you for making my lunch break a little more interesting!

[@MrPrussianjester]

missed opportunity to segue squarespace as: "while the Winchester house may be a mystery; website building doesnt have to be"

[@pvthitch]

"The sound of the hammers must never stop." I first heard of the Winchester House in DC Comics; Swamp Thing #45 by Alan Moore.

[@CB-fn3me]

The ultimate example of what we in Swedish call 'Kråkslott' = 'Crow Castle' in reference to how that family of birds build their nests.