Looking at the mansion after the earthquake, with all the damage of collapsed floors and chimneys, all the rubble of broken glass and bricks, it has been reported Mrs. Winchester remarked,
"The house looks like it was built by a crazy person".
Sarah considered razing the mansion. But the thought of the massive cleanup, starting over, was too daunting. By this time Sarah was 67 years old. Sarah decided to have the damaged floors removed, all the debris hauled away. The mansion was patched up to be structurally sound, although not rebuilt to revive the home to its former glory.
The interior was already haphazard enough with narrow hallways, and misaligned rooms. The earthquake exacerbated this maze of rooms and after the repairs left the mansion with architectural oddities (doors that open to a 2-floor drop, stairs that lead to the ceiling, cabinets that open to a wall). All of this was earthquake damage repair, nothing pertaining to spiritualism and trying to confuse the alleged nocturnal visitors.
The sandstone chimney collapsed to the ground floor during the earthquake. The observation tower cupola can be seen tilted to one side as the two support beams collapsed. This 6th and 7th floor tower was built and rebuilt several times, experiencing difficulties for one reason or another during its construction.
The windows, eyebrow dormers, and finials are in the museum on the property along with other architectural elements. The damage was carefully removed in order to be used later.
Above: Unfortunately, there is no response in writing from Sarah among the Lieb papers. The damage to the mansion was too extensive to describe in a letter. Sarah was distraught over the damage. All of her work was partly gone, her interest in the home waning. She considered selling the property, going so far as to begin escrow. But she kept it, probably for the domestic staff and ranch workers to remain employed. Sarah's primary home was in Atherton.
No comments:
Post a Comment