![]() It is said that Sarah paid her employees well above minimum wages. Between 41-43 people worked and lived on the property. However, a couple were used for her large staff. She loved to garden therefore, it seems reasonable that she would have 2 conservatories: One to the North and the other to the South. Sarah had the financial ability to indulge in extravagances. ![]() Therefore, some of the strange or odd building features are built for a woman of her size. An interesting fact: Sarah stood 4 feet 10 inches tall. The Winchester Mystery House documentary does a decent job guiding virtual tourists around the property. ![]() Sarah worked every day hiring contractors, employees, and gardeners to fashion one of the largest and most mysterious homes in America. The young widow, presumably age 41, purchased an 8-room farmhouse that sat on 161 acres in California. Sarah sought to live near Pardee family members, choosing to move to California. Her daily income was $1,000, which would be roughly $26,000 per day. Sarah inherited $20 million dollars in cash, plus 3,000 shares in the business. Within a year after Oliver’s death, William died from TB at the age of 44. Sarah’s father-in-law Oliver died, leaving William to handle the entire business. The couple would not have any more children. Forty days later, on July 25, Annie succumbed from marasmus. Four years into marriage, the couple welcomed Annie Pardee Winchester into the world on June 15, 1866. On 1862, she married William Wirt Winchester (1837-1881), the only son of Oliver Winchester, owner of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Back East, Sarah was known as the “Belle of New Haven” and was a desirable-and wealthy-woman in New Haven, Connecticut. Sarah Lockwood Pardee Winchester (1840-1922) was a wealthy woman known for continually renovating her home in San Jose, California. The video is entertaining with lots of historical perspective and facts woven into the story. Hauntings and spirit sightings aside, the fabled home is definitely worth the price of admission (between $20-$49, for daily tours).The Winchester Mystery House (WMH) is presently closed for tours while we isolate for COVID-19 however, you can watch a 41-minute tour of the property. Well, turns out Mallon owned Pacific American Decorative Company. After researching, Wolf landed on the answer that glassworker John Mallon was the mastermind behind the windows. ![]() Recently, architectural historian Jim Wolf dug into the mystery of who created the impeccable stained glass windows in the house. This discovery confirmed something that many historians had a hunch about. According to the Times Union, workers were removing parts of the wall when they noticed something peculiar: a beautifully preserved envelope tucked inside from 100 years ago from the Pacific American Decorative Company. In September, 2019, one of the many mysteries of the house was solved during restoration work on one of the (many) dining rooms of the house. ![]() While the sprawling mansion has a reputation for being haunted, almost from its inception, it took 96 years from the date of Sarah's death to bring the story of Winchester and her infamous house-albeit a highly fictionalized version-to the big screen with last year’s supernatural thriller, Winchester, starring Helen Mirren as the home-building heiress. ![]()
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