Today, Winchester Mystery House announced the lineup of events that will take place Friday, June 30, Saturday, July 1, and Sunday, July 2, 2023, in celebration of the Centennial of the bizarrely beautiful mansion, which officially opened its doors for public tours on June 30, 1923.
“For 100 years, Winchester Mystery House has served as an intriguing inspiration and has attracted millions of guests from around the world,” said Executive Director Walter Magnuson. “We dedicate this Centennial celebration to the hundreds of passionate caretakers who have lovingly tended to Sarah’s home over the years and to John and Mayme Brown, who had the vision and dream of opening the house to the public. I am thrilled and honored to lead this incredible team as we look to the next 100 years of mystery.”
On the morning of Friday, June 30, the City of San Jose officials and San Francisco Bay Area dignitaries will gather for a Proclamation Ceremony naming June 30, 2023, Winchester Mystery House Day in the City of San Jose. A time capsule featuring a current collection of Winchester Mystery House souvenirs and memorabilia will be filled and then entombed within the house. An exceptional live performance by Symphony San Jose will take place in the Front Garden of the house, featuring a string quartet performing music from The Roaring Twenties. Guests will also get a First Look at the unveiled Centennial Exhibit that explores the Winchester Mystery House’s effect on pop culture and features original marketing materials, photos, and never-before-seen artifacts curated by the state’s historian. Vintage photo opportunities inspired by 1923 will be available throughout the property.
The number 13 was significant to Sarah Winchester and appears throughout the house in window designs, chandeliers, and more. On Friday, June 30, Winchester Mystery House will remain open for 13 hours of tours, starting at 11 a.m. and running through midnight.
On Friday, June 30 (7 p.m. & 9 p.m.) and Saturday, July 1 (7 p.m. & 9 p.m.), master magician and acclaimed apparitionist Aiden Sinclair (‘America’s Got Talent,’ ‘Penn & Teller Fool Us’) returns to Winchester Mystery House with Aiden Sinclair’s Possessions; an interactive evening focused on the things that haunt us. Tickets will be available starting on Friday, June 2, at winchestermysteryhouse.com.
On Sunday, July 2, Winchester Mystery House will host a Centennial Brunch at the Greenhouse and Greenhouse Patio. Guests will be treated to a menu of sweet and savory items, bottomless mimosas, and live music. Afterward, guests can explore the Winchester Mystery House on the 65-minute Mansion tour.
The Centennial celebration will continue throughout 2023 with the return of Winchester Mystery House’s much-anticipated Halloween haunt and brand-new experiences for the holiday season.
For the past 100 years, the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, has stood as a testament to the ingenuity, singular vision, and lore that surrounds its namesake, Sarah Pardee Winchester (heiress to the Winchester Repeating Arms fortune). Known initially as Llanada Villa, it is today an architectural wonder, a time capsule of a bygone era, and one of America’s most celebrated haunted mansions. TheEstatee is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a California Historic State Landmark, a San Jose City Landmark, and is one of the leading attractions in the Bay Area. Since tours began in 1923, more than 13 million people worldwide have toured the lonely hallways, dark passages, and ornate rooms of the Winchester Mystery House. It has intrigued visitors, scholars, and media from throughout the United States, and around the globe, with its combination of the beautiful and the bizarre, its story of heartbreak, tenacity, and invention, and its legends of the paranormal.
For tickets and additional information, visit winchestermysteryhouse.com.
Photo courtesy of Winchester Mystery House
