Friday, April 17, 2015

Stay at the Winchester Mystery House!

If you ever find yourself in San Jose, California one of the sights you absolutely must see is the Winchester Mystery House. The sprawling mansion was built by Winchester rifle heiress Sarah Winchester on the advice of a psychic, who told her that it would keep her safe from vengeful spirits as long as she kept building and never stopped. She started the structure in 1884 and continued adding onto it until she died in 1922.

Now IO9 reports that the owners of the house have secured permits to allow overnight stays and the consumption of alcohol on the premises. So not only can you spend the night, you can also drink. I imagine that once a lot of folks are doing this the number of ghosts sightings will increase substantially, both from the overnight stays and from the drinking. But even if they don't, it still sounds like a fun time.

Oh man oh man. One of the most infamous haunted residences in the world, the Winchester Mystery House, has secured permits that will allow guests to not only stay the night in one of the mansion's 160 rooms, but also consume alcohol anywhere on the premises. Great idea – or greatest idea?

The Winchester Mystery House is the creepiest house in Silicon Valley, and was built by Winchester Gun heiress Sarah Winchester – widow of William Wirt Winchester, son of the first president of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company – over a period of almost forty years. A veritable hive of 160 rooms, the mega mansion is a 6-acre labyrinth of false doors and stairs that lead absolutely nowhere – ad-hoc additions reportedly made by Winchester to confuse the evil spirits of people shot and killed by the firearms of her dead husband's namesake.

The biggest problem I foresee is that if you're drunk, the mansion is one of the last places you would want to get lost. By all accounts it's hard to find your way around the place even when sober, so drunk it would be quite the challenge. I assume some of the more dangerous parts of the house, like doors that open over drop-offs and such, will be off limits to inebriated patrons. Otherwise, I expect their insurance bills will be through the roof.

I know that I plan on checking it out the next time I'm out that way. You should too, even if the drinking is not your thing.

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