Welcome to Wednesday, my thrifty, nifty friends! While the thrifting this week was slim, never let it be said that The Thrift Shop Romantic lets its online buddies go eye-candyless on Treasure Box day.So as Halloween approaches, I thought we would celebrate this spooky season in a way that combines both design and diabolic fun through this History Channel tour of the Winchester Mystery House.
Sarah Winchester, heir to the Winchester rifle fortune, believed she was cursed by the souls of the people the Winchester guns had killed. Her penance? To design and build a home that was never, ever finished.
The result became a startling mix of traditional Victorian decor with architectural madness-- staircases to nowhere, doors that open to nothing, winding hallways and mystery around every corner.
I think you'll enjoy this Weird U.S. video. Kinda makes our homes' own little quirks seem mild by comparison...
I mean, in my area just getting a contractor is difficult enough! :)
12 comments:
Wow! What a cool video! I just watched the whole thing- I now want to take a tour of that house- it's so neat! Thanks for sharing this :)
-Kendall
We live in California and never made time to visit this strange house. Wish we had.
Kendall- You're very welcome! Between the Winchester Mansion and the crazy decorating of the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, I think California would be a fun, kitschy trip!
Life Goes On- Isn't it funny how we sometimes don't get to visit things closest to home?
Bizarre! Gosh all that money just wasted when she could have set up a foundation of some sort in her daughter's memory.
Interesting article Jenn, I had never heard of it previosuly.
I would love to tour the Winchester House. I have seen them investigate it on the TV show Ghost Hunters (I am a huge fan) and the home is so neat and quirky. Maybe someday I'll get the chance to see it up close and personal:)
Jenn, I've been simultaneously horrified by and in love with this house since reading about it in my copy of Weird US. I really would like to pay a visit to the Winchester House and take the tour. The crazy thing is, there are entire components of the house tourists can't have access to, because it's just that dangerous. I love the idea of a door to nowhere. But a door that just leads to a freefall down to the the story below...well that's a tad creepy. Ha ha.
I was so glad to see your post on the WMH! I have been fascinated by this house for for close to two decades, but haven't been able to make the trip yet. It kills me that my parents went this past January, and their only response was that it was "kind of boring." Kind of boring?????? Some people have no imagination.
Ok, that's now on my list of things to do when I get to CA.
Visiting aside, how fun would it be to decorate even a portion of that house!!!!!
Juliana-- Not just money, but energy! Think how much planning and effort went into building things only to have to rebuild them in a new way later?
Lisa- I saw that Ghost Hunters episode, too! In fact, I was chuckling because they seem to have interviewed the same tour guide for the Weird US piece. :)
Jackie- Yeah, I wonder how many near misses there were with that second floor door to nothing! I would not want to do a Wile E. Coyote off that!
LifeabrokenUmbrella- Boring, geez-- that's disappointing! I wonder if their expectations were just for something different?
Melanie- Oh yes, can you imagine how many interesting theme rooms you could do??? (I think I just drooled a bit on my keyboard there...)
Hey Jenn!
Thanks for the video!
I love anything like that and I find it all very interesting. How sad that someone got so involved with protecting herself from the dead that she missed the opportunity to do so much more for the living. Oh well....to each his or should I say her, own.
Lois
Well, I would just like to say I did see this house and it was really cool to see. There were some many neat inventive things that were included with this house besides the weird things that happen when you keep building. It was ashame that this women didn't put her money to better use but the tour was cool to go on. WE got there late when I went with my family and we were the only ones on the tour which was even cooler to have our own personal tour through this wacky house.
Lois- Yeah, it seems like she had a really big self-imposed burden there. But a fascinating tale.
Anonymous- Oh, that is cool you got your own personal tour of the place. It's on my list of places to visit someday. I'm glad you were able to go.
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