You Can Virtually Tour the Winchester Mystery House For Free While It’s Closed Due to COVID-19

Like many other places around the country, the Winchester Mystery House is closed now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of physical tours, the house is offering a 40-minute video tour of the property for anyone that’s interested.

The house’s website says that it is offering free video access until April 7th, the day the Bay Area’s current “shelter in place” order is set to expire. For those that still want to visit, the house is also offering a ticket voucher that can be used anytime in the future, with no blackout dates or restrictions, so it can continue to pay its employees while its doors are closed.

The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion located in San Jose, California. Constructed in 1884, the property is said to be haunted by the ghosts of people killed with Winchester rifles, which were the creation of its original owner’s widow Sarah Winchester.

The house was under construction constantly from 1884 to 1922, some say without interruption 24 hours a day, until Sarah Winchester’s death in September of 1922. As you might imagine, the house has a rather unusual construction.

Before the 1906 earthquake, it was 7 stories high, but now it is only four. There are 1616 rooms, including 40 bedrooms, 2 ballrooms, 47 fireplaces, two basements, and three elevators and is made out of a variety of materials, some more unusual than others.

It’s definitely a peculiar thing to look at, especially in person, but if you’re looking for a way to kill a bit of time while you’re at home it can be a fun and odd piece of history to look at.