Winchester Mystery House- San Jose CA- awesome adventure!

The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, is a place I have wanted to visit since I first heard about it.  Because I love anything with ghosts and weird histories, it seemed perfect as a destination for me.  Because it took many many decades to see this cool attraction is a mystery to me as well😼.  But thanks to a silent auction at the Fresno Deaf Conference, we won our tickets and off we went!

The Winchester Mystery House (https://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/) and (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House) has such an interesting history!  In a nut shell: Sarah Winchester, widow of William Winchester, maker of Winchester fire arms, as well as other things, believed, from discussions with the dead during seance episodes, that she could not stop building in the house.  She turned an 8 room farm house into a 160 room mansion, with doors that open into walls, stair case to nowhere, windows into other rooms.  The 1906 San Francisco earthquake damaged much of the house.  The top 3 floors were eventually removed, leaving the current 4 stories.

The House has different tour options- we took both the mansion tour and the attic/basement tour (explore more tour) which required a hard hat.  Sarah Winchester was 4 foot 10 inches, so the hallways required us to bend down a bit.

Sarah Winchester was very generous with her staff and the artisans that built and decorated the home.  Our guides, Abe for the mansion and Victor for the attic/basement tour, were totally excellent!  Each said the staff were paid $3.00 per day, at a time when the average salary was $1.50 per day.

As to the haunting, both tour guides talked about what people reported they saw, felt, and heard, even pointing out that some of the tour guides will stand at the doorway of some rooms while visitors go in.  We did not, sadly, have an other-worldly experience👻.

The tour includes the firearm museum (very cool!), a museum of the other items manufactured by Winchester (we did not have time to see this☹), and the gardens, which are quite small but beautifully planted.

Interestingly, after Sarah's death, a private party purchased the home for a few hundred thousand dollars.  The home is still owned by that private enterprise, although it is a historic landmark and State Historic sight.  It is not owned by the state as Hearst Castle, and does not receive public funds for repairs.


Exterior views of the house.  Sadly, it is so large that a comprehensive view was not possible.  But each photo just does not do justice to the whole!

decorating for Halloween!

Views of the house and grounds from balconies inside the house:

Front of the house 

The bell tower, about middle of the home, was rung daily at noon
to notify the staff to come for lunch

front door

The mansion tour!!!

(bad photo, I know)- our guide Abe showing a door that opens to a wall

Stairway to nowhere!

Unfinished rooms were everywhere, filled with items ready for installation, such as
radiators, windows, etc.

Doors added to hallways

Stairs to windows

ceilings turned into windows

7-11 stair case: 7 stairs down 11 stairs up- get you to the room across

Windows added to ceilings

Tiffany window- the most expensive window in the house 

13 hooks!  The number 13 shows up often in the house

Awesome windows throughout the house!

roofs were removed and more floors were added above

Signs of damage from the earthquake!

Plaster walls broke, wallpaper torn

The Attic and Basement!  (i didn't realize I took so few photos)

hard hats required

the attic- uninstalled decorative items, and items saved from the earthquake

the boiler!  Steam heated the home

ash from coal burning

elevator shaft- 3 elevators in the house

The house has amazingly beautiful windows and carpentry

The Ballroom- the largest room in the house.  The "oil dereks" are the beginnings of the Halloween decorations.

Ceiling panels

The Ballroom light, from Germany, had 12 lights.  A 13th light was added

The furnishings in the home are not original, but the foundation purchased furnishings true to the period.

The grounds have a museum to the rifle industry:

Commemorative rifles with Buffalo Bill commemorative coins

Final thoughts!  Like Hearst Castle, the Winchester Mystery House is a "must see" site in 
California!  It is entertaining, interesting, and historically significant.  Spending a good part of the day here was just fantastic!!!!  For the Halloween period, the House conducts candlelight tours!  There were signs of beginning the decorating for this holiday everywhere- definitely not finished!

cofin😇

Forestiere Underground Gardens- Fresno, CA

My home here in Fresno has many many activities to keep people active!  The growth of wineries here in Fresno and Madera, and proximity to Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks are just a few examples of Fresno becoming a destination.  After living here for 13 years, we finally visited the Forestiere Underground Gardens (http://www.undergroundgardens.com/) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forestiere_Underground_Gardens).  Not sure what to expect, but knowing it was one of the last activities we had not visited, and a little bit of boredom on a very hot Saturday, Cody and I went.  Not sure what to expect, we figured "how boring can it be?" LOL!

Turns out to be one of the more very interesting places here!  Over 40 years, Baldasare Forestiere, a Sicilian immigrant, dug an underground home to help escape our summer heat.  Fresno soil, although very rich for agriculture, has a layer of hardpan about 2 feet down.  Hardpan is very hard, very dry soil several feet thick that must be broken up for the planting of trees.  When Forestiere started in the 1920's, the technology to break up the hardpan did not exist, other than by hand.  Working in irrigation for local farmers, in his off hours he began digging.  He dug for 40 years, first a humble underground home, then expanding with ever more rooms.  He had a vision of a resort, but due to his death, this did not pan out.

Being Italian, arches were everywhere for doors and corridors.  As a Catholic,  recurring theme of 3's (holy trinity) and 7's (6 days of creation and 1 day of rest) are throughout.

At his death, his 80 acres was divided between his brothers, as he was not married and had not children.  His brother Guiseppe chose the 10 acres that included this home, and built on it.  Guiseppe's children pursued National Historic Monument status so it would continue, and continue to hold it as a private.  The oldest is now 90 and continues to work on the property, watering each of the plants.

The Underground Gardens is by guided tour only.  Adults are $17, seniors (60 and older) $15, children are $8.  Our tour guide, Lauren, was so enthusiastic about the property, very knowledgeable, and brought everything to life for us!

Sadly, I did not get a good picture of Forestiere😢.  
He really was an amazing man!

Of note, photos are allowed, but only for personal use.

Guiseppe's son Ric- He has the same birthday (not year, though:-)) as me!

the entry was

Cody and I in the ballroom.  The ceiling was built in Italy, taken apart,
and reassembled here in Fresno.

Cody and I in the corridors.

His well for a water source.  The well was dug 30 feet down for all the water he needed.
Today, you must dig down 230 feet to reach water.

Cody with the well in the background

Throughout the complex are courtyards with skylights.  Trees and other plants grow in raised planters and
receive sun from the skylight.

Cody and I in the main courtyard

the walls and ceilings use old metals- reebar, barbed wire, and metal strips as reinforcement

Forestiere was 5 foot 6, so we all had to crouch down.  See the arches!

Many of the skylights have various types of covers

Courtyard off his living area

refrigerator

stove

table

fireplace- provided heat in winter

Winter bedroom!  No windows

Summer bedroom with a large window to the courtyard

bathing tub.  He used a gray water system

This was very interesting.  This is a tiny window that looks out on the entry
so he could see who was at the door!

In later years, he built this entry for cars!

Forestiere was a farmer at heart- this fruit tree is grafted with 7 different fruits!
The tree is so large, he built a walkway around this courtyard so he could reach the fruit.

Our guide Lauren!  So enthusiastic!

Forestiere's original tools