Allita has an early class on Fridays, so Mom and I spent most of the morning relaxing and puttering around doing this and that at the campsite.  Around 1pm, we left for San Jose, about a half hour north, to visit the Winchester Mystery House, once the residence of Sarah Pardee Winchester, widow of William Winchester and sole beneficiary of the Winchester (the rifle company) family fortune.  You might remember the horror flick with Helen Mirren titled Winchester.  Well, according to our tour guide, all evidence available indicates that she was a very smart, kind and generous, well-educated, financially savvy woman and not some delirious, rich whacko with a deep superstitious, evil streak.  In fact, she spoke a number of languages and could play a variety of musical instruments.  She has been recognized for her philanthropy – in one case, donating over a million dollars to the William Winchester Hospital that eventually became part of the Yale School of Medicine.  Sadly, what makes Sarah Winchester so famous is not goodness and charity – but her home, Llanada Villa, now a tourist attraction, which she believed would help drive away the evil spirits plaguing her.

Something to know – at that time in our history (early 1900s), it was quite common to believe in spirits and seek the guidance of a medium.  All kinds of wealthy, intelligent, talented and famous Americans were known to have participated in seances, had readings of palms, cards, or orbs, sought guidance from those who supposedly spoke to the spirits, and wholeheartedly believed in the supernatural.  Remember, this was also around the same time as “leach mania” – when people believed leaches could cure you of diseases by consuming your blood.  Don’t even get me started on carpetbaggers. There was science, and there was science.

Anyway, Sarah had a rough early start to her adult life.  She lost one of her sisters when she was young.  She married her childhood neighbor and good friend, William.  Together, they had a baby girl, Annie, who died from marasmus before she was one month old.  Three years later, Sarah’s father died.  Then, over a one year period in 1880, she lost her mother, her father-in-law, and literally two months later, her beloved husband.  Finally, in 1884, Sarah’s oldest sister, Mary, died from cancer.  The end result of all this terrible loss and perpetual grief was, she took guidance from a medium who told her to leave the east coast and move to the west coast and buy a house.  Supposedly, she was to never stop adding rooms to that house as the sound of constant construction (hammering, sawing, etc.) would keep the evil spirits at bay.  Thus, the story of the Winchester Mystery House.

Here are the basic facts we learned:  

Sarah bought the house in 1886 for $12,570, and started construction immediately and constantly (off and on) until 1922.  The house was located on a 40-acre fruit ranch, which she continued farming until her death.  At it’s peak, the property was a total of 140 acres.

The original farmhouse was 8-rooms and is now 24,000 square feet with 160 rooms, 47 staircases, 13 bathrooms, and something like 2,000 doors.  The last time the house was bought and sold was in 1923 for 5 million dollars, which is 71 million dollars today. 

The windows in the house are believed to be made by Tiffany and Company. Also, the house is believed to contain the largest private collection of stained glass in the U.S.  

The house is a construction marvel. There are doors that open into nothing (often a vast nothingness that would lead to a considerable drop from one floor to the next or even the ground!), cabinets doors that open to expose bricks or the hallway behind them, staircases that lead to ceilings, windows that only provide a view of a wall, and a variety of other interesting, architectural mysteries. 

All-in-all, it took us about 2 hours to tour the house and grounds and we were absolutely delighted with the experience.  

Saturday morning early, we left our luxury resort and drove back into the city to visit the San Jose Flea Market, which claims to be the biggest in the state of California!  You know I have that eBay business, right?  So, I wanted to stop here and see if there was anything that I might find useful for my store.  Another reason I wanted to stop at this Flea Market is simply nostalgic. Don’t get me wrong, I have never been here before now, but as a kid, we would frequently drive into the big city of Raleigh to the state fairgrounds where, on weekends, the largest flea market I had ever seen would appear.  Tents, tables, shelves, boxes, and even truck beds full of wares would spread out all over the grounds – even inside the permanent fair buildings!  On Saturday mornings, we would wander among musicians, craftsmen, collectors, artists, entertainers, and vendors of all kinds watching people haggle over bits and bobs, sample sweets, admire and enjoy all of the sounds and smells of the market.  I used to imagine how this might have appeared in medieval times, where instead of the truck rally, there might have been a joust or archery competition.  I love these types of venues and anyone who has followed our travels over the years knows that we rarely miss an opportunity to visit a market wherever we go.  San Jose is no exception.

Saturday afternoon, we traveled north leaving San Jose behind us and headed towards San Francisco.  Actually, staying near San Francisco was our original plan, but we have all visited San Fran in the past and Allita has a school friend who lives in Oakland, so instead, we were invited to stay overnight with them so the girls could have some together time.  I won’t say much more about that except that it was an incredible experience and we all enjoyed it very much.  They are delightful people.