Staycation Part 3 - Winchester Mystery House

 When we first moved to California, my mom started talking about taking a trip to go see the Winchester Mystery House. We never made it and then when she moved here, she wasn't in any space for long drives or walking any distance at all. It's far enough away to not be convenient, but not far enough to warrant a "vacation." BUT, it's the perfect daytrip to cap off a staycation! 

All five of us went and it was SUCH a fun day. So fun, in fact, that no one complained about the nearly six hours we ended up spending in the car. The house was super interesting and not cheesy at all, we had a really good lunch there, and there was something for everyone to really enjoy. I'm so fascinated by Sarah Winchester and we all have our theories on what actually drove her to build the bizarre house. I'm sure she was maybe "eccentric" but I also wonder if part of it was because she was making sure that she could keep her staff employed without appearing to be giving them charity. She treated them all so well it would be weird if that didn't motivate her, at least in part. 

Spooky basement where apparently a ghost with a wheelbarrow is regularly seen

Stained glass windows that survived the Great San Francisco Earthquake

Door to nowhere (one of many)

The most gorgeous indoor garden room 

Sarah Winchester's bed. She was 4'10" and everything in the house was built to those dimensions. It made a huge difference in things like doorways and handrails! She also had custom "easy riser" stairs in all of her areas of the house, which were nearly, but not quite, ramps. It was kind of a mind fuck to use them if you weren't careful.