Winchester Mystery House, part 3: Private Living areas

[dragoness_e]

This installment I show off my pictures of the bedrooms and similar private living areas. Next installment, we get to the working parts of the estate: kitchen, storerooms, laundry, boiler room, that sort of thing.



Mrs. Winchester had a roofed-over pass-through where her coach could be drawn up out of the rain and she could go straight into the house. She also had a door just her size next to the regular door. Mrs. Winchester, it should be noted, was 4' + change tall, which explains several oddities of the house.

Mrs. Winchester's Door


Not far from that area is the famous staircase that goes nowhere.

Stairway to Nowhere


I believe this is one of the guest bedrooms.

Guest Bedroom


Someone's Study


The next several photos are of Mrs. Winchester's final bedroom, the one moved into after the Daisy Bedroom was damaged by the 1906 earthquake, and the one she died in. I don't have pictures of the Daisy Bedroom (so-called because of the daisies in the stained glass windows) because my camera was running out of battery and it was unfurnished and in part of the house that was under renovation at the time of Mrs. Winchester's death. i.e., it was dull to look at.

Mrs. Winchester's Bedroom, 1/4


Mrs. Winchester's Bedroom, 2/4


A very nice bureau in Mrs. Winchester's Bedroom, 3/4


More of Mrs. Winchester's Bedroom, 4/4


Note the piano. There are several around the house; Sarah Winchester was said to play quite well.

There's a part of the house known as the 'Hall of Fires', because it is lined with something like seven fireplaces or heating vents. Mrs. Winchester got cold in the winter, and would have all the fireplaces going.

This little study is off the Hall of Fires, as I recall.

Fireplace in the Study


When walking from place to place, you pass some of the architectural oddities the house is known for...
Window in the floor


One of the nicest stained glass windows in the house was unfortunately placed: first, it's on the north side of the house where it doesn't get much sun, then a section of house was built in front of it, so no light gets in.

Stained glass


In a house this large, there was of course a staff of servants, and quarters for the servants.

Head Housekeeper's office


Servant's sitting room


Servant's dining area, 1/2


Servant's dining area, 2/2


Another parlor/sitting room/sun room/etc


Going from area to area, we passed a great many balconies and breezeways looking over the rest of the house. The house has many irregular roofs; it's quite a jumble. You can build a house like this, too, if you have a vast fortune to play with and refuse to listen to advice from trained architects.

View from the fourth floor


Looking down on the garden behind Mrs. Winchester's bedroom


Random roofage


There's a wing of the house going off thataway...


Many of the stairs in the house are very shallow steps that switch back and forth (the famous spiral stairs), or parallel a regular-sized set of stairs like this set. The explanation for that actually makes sense: Mrs. Winchester was very arthritic later in life, and couldn't lift her feet more than a few inches. She had the stairs replaced with 'Easy-riser' treads so she could still get around her house and keep an eye on things.

Shallow stairs


I have no idea why I took this picture


Next time: the back rooms, or such as I got before the camera batteries died.

Comments

[ruthannereid.livejournal.com]

These are sooooo terrific!! Thanks for posting!