31 Days of Spook – Winchester Mystery House

Today, I’m focusing on the Winchester Mystery House.  Have you heard about this mansion that is located in San Jose, California?  Have you been there?  It’s claimed that some people are there and they have never left.  The Winchester Mystery House is just that – a mystery.  It was the residence of Sarah Winchester.

In 1862, she  married William Winchester – who came from the family that created the famous Winchester guns.  Everything seemed like it was grand and wonderful …for a while.

In 1866, the Winchester’s infant daughter, Annie, passed away from a childhood disease called marasmus.  (Marasmus is a form of severe malnutrition and causes a child to look emaciated.)  Losing her child caused Mrs. Winchester to fall into a deep depression.

In 1881, Mrs. Winchester’s husband, William, passed away from tuberculosis.  Can you imagine watching two of your very close loved ones pass away so early in life?  Mrs. Winchester was beside herself and sought help from a spiritualist.  Through consulting with the spiritualist, Mrs. Winchester believed her family and her fortune were haunted by the ghosts of the people who had fallen victim to the family Winchester rifles.  She was advised that the only way she could appease the ghosts was to move west and build them a house.  Not just a house but to continuous build them a house.

In 1884, Mrs. Winchester moved west to San Jose, California and bought an unfinished farmhouse .  Work began immediately.  Mrs. Winchester  would hold nightly seances to speak with the spirits to help guide her in how the house would be worked on the following date.  In the morning, she would meet with her construction workers and give them the plans.  Did the plans make sense?  You decide.

• There are roughly 160 rooms, including 40 bedrooms;
• 2 ballrooms (one completed and one unfinished);
• 47 fireplaces;
• Over 10,000 panes of glass;
• 17 chimneys (with evidence of two others);
• 2 basements with three elevators.  
• It has gold and silver chandeliers and hand-inlaid parquet floors and trim;
• There are doors and stairways that lead nowhere and a vast array of colors and materials.
• The home’s conveniences were rare at the time of its construction. These included steam and forced-air heating, modern indoor toilets and plumbing, push-button gas lights and Mrs. Winchester’s personal (and only) hot shower from indoor plumbing.
• The number 13 is repeated frequently in the home – whether in stairs, candles, wall hooks, stained glass windows or even 13 holes in the drain covers.  Also every Friday the 13th, the large bell on the property is rung 13 times at 1300 hours in tribute to Winchester.   Mrs. Winchester even signed her will 13 times leaving everything to a niece and personal secretary.

Construction continued every day around the clock until Mrs. Winchester died on September 5, 1922.  Upon her death, all hammering ceased.  When they looked in Mrs. Winchester’s safe they found the things that meant the most to her.  Not money.  Not diamonds.  Not riches.  It was two pieces of hair – one from her husband and one from her daughter.

And until this day, it is said that you can still hear the construction work taking place, that you can see the workers inside and outside of the home.  And, people still say that Mrs. Winchester herself is still in the home.

 

 

31 Days of Spook – Winchester Mystery House

Today, I’m focusing on the Winchester Mystery House.  Have you heard about this mansion that is located in San Jose, California?  Have you been there?  It’s claimed that some people are there and they have never left.  The Winchester Mystery House is just that – a mystery.  It was the residence of Sarah Winchester.

In 1862, she  married William Winchester – who came from the family that created the famous Winchester guns.  Everything seemed like it was grand and wonderful …for a while.

In 1866, the Winchester’s infant daughter, Annie, passed away from a childhood disease called marasmus.  (Marasmus is a form of severe malnutrition and causes a child to look emaciated.)  Losing her child caused Mrs. Winchester to fall into a deep depression.

In 1881, Mrs. Winchester’s husband, William, passed away from tuberculosis.  Can you imagine watching two of your very close loved ones pass away so early in life?  Mrs. Winchester was beside herself and sought help from a spiritualist.  Through consulting with the spiritualist, Mrs. Winchester believed her family and her fortune were haunted by the ghosts of the people who had fallen victim to the family Winchester rifles.  She was advised that the only way she could appease the ghosts was to move west and build them a house.  Not just a house but to continuous build them a house.

In 1884, Mrs. Winchester moved west to San Jose, California and bought an unfinished farmhouse .  Work began immediately.  Mrs. Winchester  would hold nightly seances to speak with the spirits to help guide her in how the house would be worked on the following date.  In the morning, she would meet with her construction workers and give them the plans.  Did the plans make sense?  You decide.

• There are roughly 160 rooms, including 40 bedrooms;
• 2 ballrooms (one completed and one unfinished);
• 47 fireplaces;
• Over 10,000 panes of glass;
• 17 chimneys (with evidence of two others);
• 2 basements with three elevators.  
• It has gold and silver chandeliers and hand-inlaid parquet floors and trim;
• There are doors and stairways that lead nowhere and a vast array of colors and materials.
• The home’s conveniences were rare at the time of its construction. These included steam and forced-air heating, modern indoor toilets and plumbing, push-button gas lights and Mrs. Winchester’s personal (and only) hot shower from indoor plumbing.
• The number 13 is repeated frequently in the home – whether in stairs, candles, wall hooks, stained glass windows or even 13 holes in the drain covers.  Also every Friday the 13th, the large bell on the property is rung 13 times at 1300 hours in tribute to Winchester.   Mrs. Winchester even signed her will 13 times leaving everything to a niece and personal secretary.

Construction continued every day around the clock until Mrs. Winchester died on September 5, 1922.  Upon her death, all hammering ceased.  When they looked in Mrs. Winchester’s safe they found the things that meant the most to her.  Not money.  Not diamonds.  Not riches.  It was two pieces of hair – one from her husband and one from her daughter.

And until this day, it is said that you can still hear the construction work taking place, that you can see the workers inside and outside of the home.  And, people still say that Mrs. Winchester herself is still in the home.

 

 

31 Days of Spook – Winchester Mystery House

It’s getting closer my friends – the day that we look forward to once a year – Halloween.

Today, I’m focusing on the Winchester Mystery House.  Have you heard about this mansion that is located in San Jose, California?  Have you been there?  It’s claimed that some people are there and they have never left.

The Winchester Mystery House is just that – a mystery.  It was the residence of Sarah Winchester.

.

In 1862, she  married William Winchester – who came from the family that created the famous Winchester guns.  Everything seemed like it was grand and wonderful …for a while.

In 1866, the Winchester’s infant daughter, Annie, passed away from a childhood disease called marasmus.  (Marasmus is a form of severe malnutrition and causes a child to look emaciated.)  Losing her child caused Mrs. Winchester to fall into a deep depression.

In 1881, Mrs. Winchester’s husband, William, passed away from tuberculosis.  Can you imagine watching two of your very close loved ones pass away so early in life?  Mrs. Winchester was beside herself and sought help from a spiritualist.  Through consulting with the spiritualist, Mrs. Winchester believed her family and her fortune were haunted by the ghosts of the people who had fallen victim to the family Winchester rifles.  She was advised that the only way she could appease the ghosts was to move west and build them a house.  Not just a house but to continuous build them a house.

In 1884, Mrs. Winchester moved west to San Jose, California and bought an unfinished farmhouse .  Work began immediately.  Mrs. Winchester  would hold nightly seances to speak with the spirits to help guide her in how the house would be worked on the following date.  In the morning, she would meet with her construction workers and give them the plans.  Did the plans make sense?  You decide.

• There are roughly 160 rooms, including 40 bedrooms;
• 2 ballrooms (one completed and one unfinished);
• 47 fireplaces;
• Over 10,000 panes of glass;
• 17 chimneys (with evidence of two others);
• 2 basements with three elevators.  
• It has gold and silver chandeliers and hand-inlaid parquet floors and trim;
• There are doors and stairways that lead nowhere and a vast array of colors and materials.
• The home’s conveniences were rare at the time of its construction. These included steam and forced-air heating, modern indoor toilets and plumbing, push-button gas lights and Mrs. Winchester’s personal (and only) hot shower from indoor plumbing.
• The number 13 is repeated frequently in the home – whether in stairs, candles, wall hooks, stained glass windows or even 13 holes in the drain covers.  Also every Friday the 13th, the large bell on the property is rung 13 times at 1300 hours in tribute to Winchester.   Mrs. Winchester even signed her will 13 times leaving everything to a niece and personal secretary.

Construction continued every day around the clock until Mrs. Winchester died on September 5, 1922.  Upon her death, all hammering ceased.  When they looked in Mrs. Winchester’s safe they found the things that meant the most to her.  Not money.  Not diamonds.  Not riches.  It was two pieces of hair – one from her husband and one from her daughter.

And until this day, it is said that you can still hear the construction work taking place, that you can see the workers inside and outside of the home.  And, people still say that Mrs. Winchester herself is still in the home.

 

 

OMP – The Sunshine Award – SQUEAL!

There is *nothing* like starting your day off with receiving an award from a friend!  This Friday the 13th is staring off fabulous for this little oinker.  My tail is wagging so fast – mommy says that she can almost see me taking off from the speed of the wag – snorts – silly mommy.

This morning my friends (Basil, Buddy, Noah and Nacho) at http://hutchagoodlife.wordpress.com granted me the Sunshine Award.  What a delightful award on this cold-fixing-to-rain-kind-of Friday.  It’s really funny that they thought of another song when posting their award – “Ain’t no sunshine when she gone…”  My first thoughts are:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away

This is how *I* feel about all of my friends here in blogville.  I love you all more than you know!

The rules of the Sunshine Award are:

1) Use the logo above in the post.  √
2) Link to whoever nominated you.  √
3) Write ten pieces of information about yourself.  √
4) Nominate ten fellow bloggers “who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogsphere.”  √
5) Leave a comment on the nominees’ blogs to tell them of the award.  √

Ten Facts About *ME* 🙂 

1. My favorite movie to watch is Charlotte’s Web.  I will watch it intently.  In fact, I made mommy watch it with me this week.  She cried like there was no tomorrow.  I snuggled her at the same time.
2. I have chores at the Hotel Thompson.  Can you believe the humans have cheap labor?  I help my daddy drag my dirty things to the laundry room on wash day.  And I help mommy put all of my toys in my toy chest in my bedroom.
3. I have a king sized Egyptian cotton sheet that is all mine. 🙂 I drag it around the house, play with it and sleep with it.  It’s kind of like my security blanket.  I “borrowed” it from mommy one day.  She saw how much I loved it and told me I could have it.  Isn’t she the best!
4. The worst thing that I do? – snorts.  I step on my mom/dad’s feet with my hooves.  I really don’t do it on purpose.  But man, do they make some neat moves dancing around when I accidentally do it.
5. I watch a lot of paranormal shows with my mommy.  Secretly I think I would be a great ghost pig investigator in search of the unknown.  Really, I just need my shot!
6. I type about 25 hpm (hooves per minute).  My time is increasing every month!
7. There is only one food that I don’t much care for.  I’ll eat it but it’s not my favorite.  In fact, the first time I had it, I do believe one ear went in one direction and the other ear went in the opposite direction.  What was the food?  Kumquats – sweet/sour combined.
8. My nana once pigsat me while mom/dad went out of town for THREE days.  When they came back home, I had ate so much at nana’s that I couldn’t even squeak!
9. At night, mom has to put my remote control for my television in my bedroom up on my book shelf.  If not, I will find it, turn on the television in the middle of the night and watch it.
10. I love bananas.  Once, mommy was holding one and wasn’t thinking about me being in the room.  I tried to climb up her bare legs to get to the banana.  Oops – I left some treadmarks on her long legs too.  But on the other hoof, I got the banana 🙂

My ten nominees (no particular order):

http://easyweimaraner.wordpress.com/

http://fromthedeskofmardrag.wordpress.com/

http://peacelovenwhiskers.com/

http://angelswhisper2011.wordpress.com/

http://callmejagi.wordpress.com/

http://beachtreasuresandtreasurebeaches.com/

http://juliannevictoria.com/

http://myfavouritepastime.com/

http://harringtonspetfood.wordpress.com/

http://machomojave.wordpress.com/