Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of the Winchester Mystery House.
On this page
Farmhouse, mansion and landmark
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1839
Sarah is born
Sarah Winchester is born in New Haven, Connecticut.
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1862
A marriage
She marries William Wirt Winchester.
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1881
Widowed
William Wirt Winchester dies, and Sarah controls a large holding of Winchester Repeating Arms Company shares.
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1886
Llanada Villa
She buys a farmhouse on a 45-acre ranch in the Santa Clara Valley for $12,570.
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1906
The earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake damages the house; its upper floors and most of its chimneys collapse.
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5 September 1922
Sarah Winchester dies
Sarah Winchester dies at Llanada Villa.
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30 June 1923
Open to visitors
The house opens for public tours.
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1974
A listed landmark
The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and registered as California Historical Landmark No. 868.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
- Winchester Mystery House: Timeline
- Wikipedia: Sarah Winchester
- Wikipedia: Winchester Mystery House
- California Office of Historic Preservation: Winchester House (No. 868)
Links lead to the original publishers.