Overview
Revenue
$5 to $10 million (USD) per year
Headquarters
SAN JOSE, California
Category
Consumer Discretionary Services
Open to the public since 1923, the incredibly peculiar Winchester Mystery House has fascinated more than 12 million people around the world who have toured its lonely hallways, dark passages and ornate rooms. The Winchester Mystery House is a gargantuan 160 room Victorian Mansion that was built by Sarah Winchester, heiress of the Winchester Rifle fortune. Haunted by Winchester Rifle victims, Mrs. Winchester built the massive home in San Jose, CA. Come tour the Winchester Mystery House and be intrigued by this truly American tale with its combination of the beautiful and the bizarre! Winchester Mystery House is a historic 160-room Victorian mansion built by Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune. Winchester Mystery House LLC was founded in 1923. The company's line of business includes operating sports, amusement, and recreation services. Build it, and they won't come. That was the advice a soothsayer gave grieving widow Sarah L. Winchester, heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune, in 1884. "They" were the spirits of people killed by Winchester rifles, and "it" was a home where the construction never ceased, the better to confuse and confound the allegedly vengeful spirits. So the widow bought an eight-room farm house near San Jose, California and expanded it for the next 38 years, until her death in 1922. The 1906 earthquake in nearby San Francisco toppled the three upper floors, so Sarah had construction move out, instead of up. Today, the 160-room Winchester Mystery House is a tourist attraction that earns revenues through guided tours.
