Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California

Check your goose bumps at the door when you take a tour of the mystifying and architecturally brilliant Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, arguably the strangest house in America. With 160 rooms and stairways that lead nowhere, the residence is a quirky mansion made all the more amazing by the wealthy, superstitious Sarah Winchester who designed and built it.

As heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune, Sarah could afford to comply when a medium directed her to move West (from her native Connecticut) and build a mansion to end a perceived Winchester family curse. She promptly moved to what was then called “Valley of the Heart’s Delight” - Santa Clara Valley, California, and, in 1884, began overseeing the construction of a mansion for herself and the good spirits she believed lived with and protected her.

Mrs. Winchester proved herself a genius as the sole architect and designer of the architectural marvel, but she was also deeply superstitious and believed that that if she ever stopped building, evil spirits would somehow prevail. Fortunately, she never had to find out. Construction stopped 38 years later on September 5, 1922 - the day Mrs. Winchester died.

You’ll learn so much more on a tour of this fascinating and one-of-a-kind American home, only a few miles from the Best Western Brookside Inn. Ask our friendly staff for more information on the Winchester Mystery House and feel free to take a look at their Web site in our Business Center at http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com.