Secret Panel Opens To Reveal Hidden Stairs
This secret wood panel in the Winchester Mansion opens up to reveal a hidden set of stairs behind. Sara Winchester was the the widow of William Wirt Winchester and heiress to his estate and a 50 percent holding in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company following his death from tuberculosis in 1881.
As the legend goes, she felt her family was cursed from the all those that were killed by the Winchester Rifle her husband had created. She created a house that incorporated odd passages, windows that looked into walls and secret doors to confuse the spirits. It’s more likely these things were just design errors when building a house with 160 rooms.
This particular staircase looks a little tight on space for regular use, but it would have been the coolest thing ever to 7 year old me.
