Sarah Winchester sits side-saddle in front of her 8-room farmhouse purchased on 45 acres from John Hamm in 1886 for $12,570.00. San Jose-Los Gatos Road, San Jose, CA.
Several years ago, an employee at the mansion found this photo above (the original is sepia tone) among the Winchester archives. This was the farm house after Sarah made some renovations. The structure in the back, a barn or garage, is still there. The house grew to eventually attach to it. Several architectual elements; porch posts, window framing, decorative panels, resemble the mansion today.
At the right of this photograph, it shows a bench with, some will say, a "figure" sitting on the end. Some will argue that this figure is Sarah and the lady on the horse is her niece, Marion "Daisy" Merriman. I don't think so. I believe the image on the bench is a shrub or vine type of plant and Sarah Winchester is sitting on her horse in front of her house.
An early photograph of the house expansion. Construction began soon after moving to San Jose in 1886. This photo is about 1890. Sarah owned 160 acres including the land across the road.
A rear view taken from the orchard.
Before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the mansion rose to 7 stories, the towers high above the tree line. Although the house is large, it's still cramped with narrow corridors and misaligned rooms. The house doesn't have any flow in the living spaces, only a lot of rooms connected to each other. View from the north-east.
An early post card from the 1930s showing the mansion before the earthquake.
On both ends, the front of the mansion has round two-story towers with a conicle or "witch's cap" roof. The north side had the two towers; a brick octagonal castle tower and a huge foundation and pillars for a balcony on the 6th and 7th story observation tower. The house grew to appear top-heavy and lopsided. A devastating architectural mistake as the earthquake caused the towers to be removed along with most of the 5th floor.
Post card showing the rear view, 1940s.
Pre-1906 showing the south-east corner. The sandstone 3-story chimney would fall during the earthquake, leaving a scar on the mansion to this day. The chimney was not rebuilt and the opening boarded up and left unfinished.
Rear view. Pre-1906 showing the 5th floor, and towers making the 6th and 7th floors. Notice the two men on the 4th floor balcony below the tower.
Sarah was very generous with her wealth. She kept building in order to keep the local carpenters and craftsmen employed. She enjoyed being the architect planning and designing each addition or remodel. If Sarah didn't like the results, she was known to remove the entire project and start over. Since there was no overall floorplan to begin with, the mansion has a disjointed flow throughout. Each addition is its own entity with its own look. There isn't much continuity in connecting rooms entered from narrow hallways and endless staircases. The mansion is out of synch from those similar in style and size.
She gave to local charities anonymously and donated funds to the hospital named after her husband in New Haven. She had domestic staff, gardeners, and orchard workers, all paid higher than the going rate. And, were provided two meals per day. The bell tower rang twice each work day. She provided homes on the estate for several employees and their families. Sarah wanted loyalty and longevity from her employees. She enjoyed helping them. Much to the chagrin of the locals, she employed several Japanese workers for the ranch, gardens, and domestics. Some people remained with her for over 20 years.
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