The Winchester Mystery House
I worked at the Winchester Mystery House from 2006 - 2007ish, and depending on your stance there have either been so many improvements to the Mansion, or too many tourist aspects have been added. The Mansion is a tourist attraction, and depending on management it has changed for the good and sometimes not so good. Here are my tips and thoughts from both working there, to visiting during a candlelight tour around 2017. Please note that I am writing this in 2021, and we are still in the middle of the pandemic. Please check their website for all updates.
What to expect when visiting (when the Mansion is open)
Before your tour
You will enter the gift shop straight from the ticket booth and from there to go to your tours, pass through and you will enter the Courtyard where you can locate the bathrooms, as well as some new attractions!
The Firearms Museum is available to walk through, as well as some arcade-like games to pass the time with.
I would absolutely recommend using the restroom before your tour and not being tempted into drinking a ton before your tour as there are no restroom breaks once you are inside the Mansion. (Please note I am not telling you to dehydrate yourself, but understand your body)
While there is a bar, please be responsible you will be removed if you are belligerent and it is absolutely a walk-of-shame. I would recommend enjoying a drink (or two) after your tour.
I do believe the Garden is still available to the public to walk through, if so, I highly recommend it. They do a wonderful job at keeping up the garden and the plants that Sarah loved.
Take note of the various statues that sit in front of the house, and while there are no longer 13 Palm trees (thanks to a TexMex chain that planted virus-ridden palm trees across the street) they are still beautiful to see.
You can also see one of the trick doors, the door that leads to the outside, you will know what I am talking about when you see it
I believe now you can walk up to the front door! When I was working there we did not allow guests on the front porch.
On the tour
If you need translated materials, or and assistance please let your guide know IMMEDIATELY, once on the tour there are only a few spots where a guide can call down to the office for assistance, and if you struggle to understand them it would be such a waste
That being said if there is an emergency, your guide has been trained to safely get you to help.
I have spent countless hours inside the house with groups, alone, you name it, and experienced nothing. My friend, on the other hand, experienced everything from kind, to malicious spirits. If you are not sensitive I would not expect to feel or experience anything, as the spirits who reside in the Mansion like those who can notice them and tend to leave the rest of us alone.
That being said, for my friends who get to have fun experiencing things. The third floor is the most active. My friend who is sensitive had a spirit jump around her near the staircase that takes you from the top floor to the basement. (There is a room off to the right that employees use to sneak around groups to clean, they may startle you, but are not ghosts :) )
Please be aware there is no central heating or cooling in the Mansion. If you run hot or cold, please keep in mind that the house will also be either very hot or very cold. Wear appropriate attire, and if you suffer from heat-sensitivity, visit the Mansion in the fall.
COUNT EVERYTHING, Sarah was meticulous about the number 13, daisies, and spider webs.
Look around! This sounds so silly but if you stare at your tour guide, you will miss a lot of little details Sarah placed around the mansion, but please do not touch unless prompted to by your guide
You will notice when you go into one of the rooms with the crystal wallpaper almost all of the sparkle is gone due to guests touching it. Looking back at photographs before tours you can absolutely see how beautiful it was, and it is such a bummer.
Tip your tour guide! They are paid minimum wage and deal with a lot of interesting people throughout the day.
After your tour
Absolutely walk through the garden again, look at things your guide pointed out while on your tour!
Enjoy a nice cocktail either from the Courtyard bar or the Gift shop bar.
You can visit Santa Row with a simple walk across the street and grab a nice dinner and/or dessert.
As I am writing this, the house itself is closed for tours but you can tour the garden for 19.99 + 3.00 fee
Once the Mansion opens back up, please note that ticket prices are not cheap. To maintain the Mansion, rent, and pay employees; it’s a pricey but so worth it visit.
