Winchester Mansion

Update from last post: Asher's service coordinator and speech therapist came by today to fill out his IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan).  This is different from an IEP (Individualized Education Program).  An IFSP is for children less than 3 years old and it's called a family service plan because families are usually the most stable thing in a child's life.  Once the kids get old enough for school, the focus is on the child's individual education.  Asher's first session will be next friday and will continue twice a month until he turns 3.

So that's the newest and most exciting thing going on for us these days!  Something else I've been getting into lately is listening to podcasts.  I was listening to one today about the Winchester Mansion.  This really caught my attention because awhile ago my mom told me about a trip her aunt took her on to the San Fransisco area.  As part of that trip they went to visit that same mansion and my mom told me how amazing it was!  I love hearing stories of my mom's life.  I don't know if she's just seen so much more than me or if she's just lived longer so she's had more time to have experiences, but she just has so many awesome stories!  After hearing her talk about this place, it makes me really want to visit!  It's definitely on my bucket list.

The Winchester Mansion was built by Sarah Winchester.  She married William Winchester, of the Winchester rifle company.  She had a very tragic life that left her somewhat paranoid.  She had one daughter who died a few weeks after she was born from a disease that causes severe malnutrition.  In 1880, her father-in-law died and the following year her husband died from tuberculosis.  After their deaths she inherited $20.5 million and received 50% stock in the Winchester company which made her income about $1,000 a day (equivalent to about $23,000 today).  To say she was rich is a bit of an understatement.  

After her husband's death, she supposedly went to a medium who told her that her husband wanted her to move from Connecticut and go out west where she was to start building a house.  She thought she was cursed and the souls of those who were killed by Winchester rifles were coming after her.  She bought land in the Santa Clara Valley and started building.  And building.  And building.  She started by working with an architect, but eventually got rid of him.  She regularly used Mediums to get direction from the "spirits" about how she should continue building.  She would build all sorts of oddities into the house to try to trick the spirits so they couldn't find her, things like stairs and doors leading nowhere, rooms with windows looking into other rooms, cabinets that are only a few inches deep, sliding wall panels, etc.  She also slept in a different room every night to confuse the spirits.  The house contains roughly 160 rooms, 40 bedrooms, 2 ballrooms (one completed and one unfinished), 47 fireplaces, 10,000 panes of glass, 17 chimneys, 2 basements, and 3 elevators. The house was originally 7 stories high, but an earthquake in the early 1900's caused the top 3 layers to collapse.  

There is so much more to read about and get information on, so I think you should all look it up!  Most of it was conjecture because Sarah never kept any diaries and didn't do any interviews so most of what we know comes from her mediums and construction crews.  Here are a few shots of the house, hopefully one day I'll be able to see it for myself!