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I recently spent a week
in Mountain View, California and had a chance to do some sightseeing.
Click on the map below to take a gander at some of the beautiful
portions of the Bay Area I was able to visit.

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Skyline Blvd. is a beautiful stretch
along a mountain ridge separating the south Bay Area from the
ocean. My hopes were to find a great vantage point to watch
the sunset, but the view along the Blvd. was mostly obscured
by tall trees. I discovered the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve
and ran 2 miles to the top of Borel Hill with just a few minutes
to spare. What an awesome sight!
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This mansion, located
in San José, California, was home to Mrs. Sara Winchester,
heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune. Mrs. Winchester became
emotionally distraught after the deaths of her husband and
only child. She turned to the advice of a psychic, who told
her that the deaths were caused by spirits of those killed
by Winchester rifles and that if she did not please the spirits,
she would be next. In 1884, she fled her home in Connecticut
and purchased an unfinished, 8-room farmhouse on a 161-acre
estate.
For the next 38 years, carpenters worked around the clock,
building and rebuilding what would turn into a 160-room mansion
that some have called the most bizarre and strangest house
in the world. The house was furnished with only the most extravagant
items at a cost of $5,500,000, an extravagant amount at the
time. It included such innovations as carbide gas lights fed
by the estate's own gas manufacturing plant, inside cranks
used to open and close outside window shutters, and window
drip pans and zinc subfloors in the conservatory to capture
water runoff from the plants.
On her way to sleep, Mrs. Winchester would stride through
the chaotic house, dashing from room to room in an attempt
to lose any evil spirits following her. She refused to sleep
in the same room two nights in a row to further thwart any
evil sprits.
What's so strange about the house? Here's a short list of
some of its mysteries and oddities:
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It is thought that Mrs. Winchester believed
the continuous construction of the house would please and
provide a home for the spirits of those killed by the Winchester
rifles.
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The number 13 occurs throughout the house
and the surrounding gardens. Many think the use of the number
was related to Mrs. WInchester's superstitions concerning
the spirits thought to be in the house.
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One staircase ends at the ceiling, another
descends 7 steps and then rises 11
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The "switchback staircase" has
seven flights, rising about nine feet and includes 44 steps
only 2" in height
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The front half of the house, including the
Grand Ballroom, was sealed off after the 1906 earthquake
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The beautiful $3,000 stained glass front
doors were never used
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The "door to nowhere" on the second
floor opens to the outside with a sheer drop to the ground
below
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The smallest cabinet in the house is only
half an inch deep
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Harry Houdini toured the house at midnight
in 1924 in an attempt to communicate with the spirits
- The house contains: 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows,
40 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 17 chimneys, 13 bathrooms, 6
kitchens, and rises 4 stories (there were originally 7 stories
before the 1906 San Francisco Bay Area earthquake destroyed
the top 3)
The house is open for tours
daily and is a "must see" for anyone visiting the
San Francisco Bay Area. Please visit winchestermysteryhouse.com
for additional information, including maps and tour schedule.
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