February 28, 2020 - Big Basin & More Winchester House
We were up early to make the most of the day. Big Basin Redwood State Park is right outside San Jose, but once we left the expressway, it was slow going. Lots of hills and narrow roads. The area was beautiful though. The park is a bit higher up in altitude and the air was chilly. We paid our interest fee and got our list of trails that are workable with wonky knees. I love that so many parks have ADA qualifying trails. It usually means I have at least one trail I can do without pain. And at BBRSP, they built their ADA trail through the oldest and larges trees. SSSSSOOOOO BEAUTIFUL! We hiked throughout the morning and took a bazillion photos. It was off season so the gift shop /café wasn't open, but luckily their seating area was outside so we had a nice place to eat lunch.
We headed back to San Jose and made it in good time. We were able to walk a little more of the property while waiting for our tour to start. This time we got hardhats before entering the home. There were lots of jokes about it being a 'stunt' to make other people curious about the Extra tour. About 20 minutes into the tour, we entered a higher floor with short ceilings. The tour guide insisted we all make sure our hats were on because this is the area that is dangerous. The low ceilinsgs and fire sprinkler system was under 6 feet. Within 2 minutes of the warning, I watched the guy in front of me nail his head into a sprinker fixture. I was very glad we had the hardhats.
The Extra tour took you through other parts of the house and told more stories. Honestly, the house is so big that you could probably put together a dozen tours and never see the same thing twice. On this tour, you got to see early elevators (the house has two). One that was used mostly for transporting coal and other supplies to the higher floors. The second was installed when Sarah Winchesters rheumatoid arthritis made the stairs more difficult. We got to go into the turret. We got to go into her bedroom and her "séance room" and go through the secret entrance that connected the two (Gina think it wasn't used for séances but to meet her secret lover). We got to see some really interesting things).
Final thoughts on Sarah Winchester: I think all the 'crazy' stuff is made up by the people that originally purchased it and opened it to the public. They provided tours and the better the stories the more people would come. Much of the "myth" doesn't make any sense when you look at her history, education and relationship she had with her servants. Things that support this are:
1. She was extremely intelligent and well educated. She was a child prodigy, fluent in 5 languages, and educated at Yale.
2. She LOVED architecture. She received architectural magazines from Europe and acted as architect for each change to the house.
3. Most of her work was cutting edge and structurally sound.
4. Her employees (from her laundress to the project manager for construction) were very loyal. She provided them good salaries and usually housing. Her head of construction followed her from the east coast.
5. There isn't much actual evidence to support her obsession with spiritualism. She may have dabbled, but even that is questionable.
6. Most of the 'weirdnesses' of the house are easily explained. Its big and has a lot of rooms. That is a fact. Nearly everything else is just part of unfinish construction or earthquake related.
7. Many of her "spiritual themes" throughout the house are actually related to Freemasons, of which she is associated. She was raised in a home heavy into Freemason philosophy.
8. Rumor has her house construction going on 24/7, but according to her biographer, she often took breaks from the construction.
We headed back to San Jose and made it in good time. We were able to walk a little more of the property while waiting for our tour to start. This time we got hardhats before entering the home. There were lots of jokes about it being a 'stunt' to make other people curious about the Extra tour. About 20 minutes into the tour, we entered a higher floor with short ceilings. The tour guide insisted we all make sure our hats were on because this is the area that is dangerous. The low ceilinsgs and fire sprinkler system was under 6 feet. Within 2 minutes of the warning, I watched the guy in front of me nail his head into a sprinker fixture. I was very glad we had the hardhats.
The Extra tour took you through other parts of the house and told more stories. Honestly, the house is so big that you could probably put together a dozen tours and never see the same thing twice. On this tour, you got to see early elevators (the house has two). One that was used mostly for transporting coal and other supplies to the higher floors. The second was installed when Sarah Winchesters rheumatoid arthritis made the stairs more difficult. We got to go into the turret. We got to go into her bedroom and her "séance room" and go through the secret entrance that connected the two (Gina think it wasn't used for séances but to meet her secret lover). We got to see some really interesting things).
Final thoughts on Sarah Winchester: I think all the 'crazy' stuff is made up by the people that originally purchased it and opened it to the public. They provided tours and the better the stories the more people would come. Much of the "myth" doesn't make any sense when you look at her history, education and relationship she had with her servants. Things that support this are:
1. She was extremely intelligent and well educated. She was a child prodigy, fluent in 5 languages, and educated at Yale.
2. She LOVED architecture. She received architectural magazines from Europe and acted as architect for each change to the house.
3. Most of her work was cutting edge and structurally sound.
4. Her employees (from her laundress to the project manager for construction) were very loyal. She provided them good salaries and usually housing. Her head of construction followed her from the east coast.
5. There isn't much actual evidence to support her obsession with spiritualism. She may have dabbled, but even that is questionable.
6. Most of the 'weirdnesses' of the house are easily explained. Its big and has a lot of rooms. That is a fact. Nearly everything else is just part of unfinish construction or earthquake related.
7. Many of her "spiritual themes" throughout the house are actually related to Freemasons, of which she is associated. She was raised in a home heavy into Freemason philosophy.
8. Rumor has her house construction going on 24/7, but according to her biographer, she often took breaks from the construction.
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