New attractions also have been added, including axe-throwing at the stables and a shooting gallery called “Sarah’s Attic.” Sarah Winchester’s reputation also has undergone rehabilitation in the past 10 to 15 years. Work on the house still continues today, from general maintenance to the restoration of a dining room in early 2020. Kittle, who died in 1997, oversaw a huge renovation of the mansion, including the addition of period furniture and its surrounding gardens. The publicity machine really revved up with the hiring of Keith Kittle, a former employee at Disneyland and San Jose’s Frontier Village, as general manager in 1973. “It was clear that people just wanted to see this incredible home and see it with their own eyes and hopefully walk away with a better understanding of why she built it,” Magnuson said.Īfter the deaths of John Brown in 1945 and Mayme Brown in 1951, their daughters Edna and Mildred took over. Very quickly, the house became the headliner. A May 1923 article by Ruth Amet in the Mercury Herald conveyed her sense of dread about touring the interior of the empty house and probably whetted the public’s appetite. Even though it was falling apart and stripped of furnishings, the house proved more interesting than any act at Winchester Park. The Jopening featured a jazz orchestra, a big band and vaudeville acts a July 4 celebration included a 54-foot high seaplane that provided a “delightful series of safe thrills,” a newspaper article reported.īut the public had different ideas. Their intent was to create an amusement park with one of John Brown’s “backety-back railways” - an early wooden rollercoaster - as its centerpiece. Just months after Sarah Winchester died in 1922, John and Mayme Brown secured a 10-year lease on the property at what is now Stevens Creek and Winchester boulevards. Interestingly, but maybe not surprisingly, more people visit from Southern California (13.6%) than San Jose (10.7%). About 20% of the Winchester Mystery House’s annual visitors come from the Bay Area outside of Santa Clara County, and more than a quarter come from outside the state. Tickets and more details are available at The Winchester Mystery House doesn’t share attendance figures, but it’s likely seen millions of visitors over the years (including Harry Houdini in 1924). A new exhibit, “100 Years of History and Mystery,” also will be unveiled. There will be 13 hours of tours Friday, followed by weekend performances by the magician Aiden Sinclair and a Centennial Brunch on Sunday morning that is open to the public. San Jose city officials plan to declare today “Winchester Mystery House Day” at a ceremony featuring the entombment of a time capsule filled with current memorabilia and a performance by Symphony San Jose musicians in the front garden. “It’s a little different for us celebrating this milestone, because typically we’re celebrating Sarah Winchester and we’re telling the stories and legends and lore associated with her, but for the centennial we’re really celebrating Winchester Mystery House, the historic home and attraction.” “We’re just so honored that 100 years on, this story still resonates,” said Walter Magnuson, executive director of the Winchester Mystery House since 2015. But what everyone really wanted to do was walk through Sarah Winchester’s house on the grounds, a sprawling Victorian mansion that many in San Jose had heard about but had never seen up close.Īs the Winchester Mystery House celebrates its centennial, San Jose’s most enduring and famous landmark continues to draw the curious not only from the Bay Area but from around the world. When Winchester Park opened to the public 100 years ago today, it promised dancing and bands on acres of pastoral land that were meant to become an amusement park. It was never supposed to be about the house.
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