Inside one of the most mysterious mansions in California, which is said to be haunted by the eccentric heiress who built it and features staircases and doors that lead to nowhere
Madeiros said the most popular apparition is a former employee at the estate. The folks at Winchester Mystery House call him the Wheelbarrow Ghost.Madeiros said he's seen pushing a wheelbarrow oftentimes in the basement and sometimes in the ballroom tending to a fireplace.
They currently don't have any record of his name.Madeiros said Winchester was extraordinarily kind and generous to her employees, so the reported Wheelbarrow Ghost is likely not lingering for any malicious reason.Boehme said she's "never had the privilege" of seeing an apparition in the house, but she's heard things she can't explain, like loud footsteps in parts of the house where it's impossible for someone to be.She also said similar instances have happened to the property's maintenance manager, who Boehme said is "not a fanciful man," but still has experienced strange and unexplained noises.Boehme said every once in a while, a tour guide or a visitor claims to see a small, cloudy apparition of a figure in dark colors. Winchester was reputed to don black garments in her later years, so there are reports that perhaps the mansion's mistress herself still lingers.Katie Canales/Business Insider But spirits or not, Boehme said there is nothing malevolent about the energy in the house, with even psychics visiting and concluding that there's a nice aura about the place.And at the end of the day, while the most highly publicized theory behind the home is based in the supernatural, there are some holes in that theory.Boehme said there's no documentation that Winchester ever suffered from the guilt those killed by a Winchester rifle.There's also no concrete evidence that she ever visited a medium that pointed her west, Boehme said.What is a possibility is that Winchester simply wanted to start a new life, Boehme said."There was a lot of personal tragedy, and I think at that point in time, California was just this mythical, magical place," Boehme said.Winchester had lost a handful of family members all in the same period, and advertising for the West Coast at the time made it seem like paradise, with the temperate climate and fertile land, Boehme said.At the age of 43, she was able to become the mistress of her own home for the first time in her life, Boehme said.And instead of being motivated by fear of the ghosts that met their demise at the end of a Winchester firearm, Boehme said Winchester referred to the mansion as a kind of "hobby house" in one of her letters.Her father was in woodworking, and she may have enjoyed keeping herself busy by building out and toying with a construction project, Boehme said.Boehme said Winchester was a sharp and intelligent businesswoman, and so she was able to take on such an endeavor, quite successfully too.So Boehme said that's just as plausible a theory as the more ghoulish tale that's more commonly spun, though all the home's eccentricities can sometimes be difficult to explain."Some of those do make me scratch my head," Boehme said.Katie Canales/Business Insider But the years spent remodeling could easily explain them, Boehme said, like the staircase that leads to nowhere.Boehme said it, at one point, actually did lead upstairs, but Winchester decided to put a hallway right above it — so she had a floor built that just covered up the staircase.Another explanation could be that she found it amusing. "I also think maybe she had a sense of humor," Boehme said.But at the end of the day, no one knows for sure."We don’t have documentation, but what everyone has always loved is the legends and the lore," Boehme said.Winchester’s reported Wiccan tendencies weren't out of the norm, but there is also no documentation of her practicing, Boehme said."She may have tried to contact her loved ones," Boehme said. "I wouldn't have blamed her if she did."Katie Canales/Business Insider Boehme said Winchester also didn't suffer from any kind of existential crisis either. She likely wasn't motivated by a desire to avoid death at the hands of angry spirits. Boehme said contrary to popular belief, work on the home did pause occasionally."She knew she was going to die just like everybody else," Boehme said.But the truth died with the mansion's mistress until someday something is discovered that could help shed light on the true story behind the estate, Boehme said."There is always going to be a certain amount of mystery attached to this mystery house," Boehme said.
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