Winchester Mystery House to Allow Overnight Stays

Would you stay all night in the Winchester Mystery House? The 160-room mansion in San Jose, California, was built by Sarah Winchester in some kind of appeasement to the spirits of all the people killed by Winchester guns from the company her husband founded. It’s a big tourist draw, and soon it may be possible to test your nerves by staying all night. According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal:

A special use permit approved March 5 by the San Jose planning department would allow overnight guests at the city landmark, but it doesn't look like the existing bedrooms in the structure are included in the permit. Instead, a staff report singles out certain structures on the site, including the pump house, caretaker's residence, and foreman's quarters as lodging possibilities.

The target market won't be traditional travelers, but rather those who want the full Winchester Mystery House experience.

"It wouldn't be a hotel type of thing," said Kristinae Toomians in the city's planning department. "Some people just have a fascination with it."

In addition, the city approved converting the existing cafe (a humble affair) to a bona fide restaurant open to the public, not just guests at the attraction. Winchester Investments LLC, the owner of the business, was also granted approval to allow the consumption of alcohol across the entire site (except the parking lot). That will presumably boost the attraction's events business.

Since the majority of the Neatorama crew live in California, I suggest that an overnight stay would be a wonderful thing to write about. Don’t you think? -via Boing Boing

(Image credit: Ben Franske)

Many years ago I dreamed that I was there, I even walked the stairways and visited a couple of strange rooms and stairways. I ended up at a window overlooking the front yard and later in that dream I came down a set of stairs that took me to a room that could be seen as a kitchen extension. There was an old lady who send me back up the stairs and told me to be silent by holding her finger on her mouth. What's strange, is the fact that I have never been there before, I never heared of the winchester house before either, not untill much later when I recognized it from a magazine/website many years later. I wrote down the entire dream for future reference. I also have many witnesses, whom I told about the dream, that know I have NEVER been there before. I live in the Netherlands, so it is not around the corner for me.
Has anybody had a similar experience?

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Booze in a huge old house with lots of confusing passages and stairways. No problem there. :D