![]() ![]() The Winchester Mystery House is a prominent example of this style, known as the Queen Anne Revival Style, featuring the picturesque, embellished and irregular features characteristic of the style, such as towers, patterned colored glass windows, and ornamental carving and textures. The movement was created in response to the rigidity of classical Victorian art and architecture, and invited art and design focused on aesthetical expression, rather than functionality. ![]() In 1884, when construction first started, the Aesthetic movement was at its peak. The Winchester Mystery House before the 1906 Earthquake with seven stories ©2021 The Winchester Mystery House ©2021 The Winchester Mystery House An Eclectic mix of Elements | Winchester Mystery House Architectural Style The number 13 and spider webs are recurring motifs in the design – rooms had 13 windows, ceilings had 13 panels, and so on. Today, the mansion has grown from its original eight-room farmhouse to a sprawling 161 room mansion containing a bizarre collection of architectural features, such as staircases that lead to walls and ceilings, doors that open out into nothing, and even a room designed specifically for seances. At one point, the house is said to have had about 500 rooms, and to have been seven stories high, though after the 1906 earthquake Sarah restricted her building to four stories. Sarah did not use any architects, preferring to add rooms, staircases, and other architectural features haphazardly, with no fixed masterplan. Despite this, the house was constantly being added to and removed for over 38 years. Though the prevailing story is that construction on the Winchester Mystery House occurred uninterrupted from 1884 to 1922, when Sarah passed away, in reality, there were periodic breaks for both the workers and Sarah. The original two-storied Farmhouse that Sarah Winchester bought ©2021 The Winchester Mystery House The History of the House Sarah was convinced that the only way to protect herself was to build a house for herself and her spirits, and that if “the hammers ever ceased”, she would die. The story goes that after Sarah lost her daughter to marasmus, and then her husband to tuberculosis, she consulted a medium, who told her that her family was being haunted by all the people who had been victims of the Winchester rifles. The history of the house is deeply tied to its owner, Sarah Winchester, whose husband William Winchester was the heir to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The Pergola in the gardens of the Winchester House_©2021 The Winchester Mystery House The Tragic Tale of Sarah Winchester | Winchester Mystery House The house has been designated as a California historic landmark and serves as a popular tourist attraction, enough that it has featured in books, movies, plays and even serves as the inspiration for a ride at Disneyland. The Queen Anne style mansion features an eclectic collection of architectural elements that create what is essentially a Victorian maze within the externally unassuming house. Situated in San Jose, California, the Llanada Villa is famously referred to as the Winchester Mystery house due to its owner, Sarah Winchester, and the intriguing circumstances that led to the creation of the house as it is seen today. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |