Editor’s note: Every day in October, former Mystery House blogger Stephen will post an excerpt from his in-progress guide to the Winchester Mystery House.

The tour begins here, in the Carriage Entry. In addition to the rules of the house (no smoking, no food, no running, etc.), your guide will also tell you a little about the house and its history. You’ll also have a chance to size up your guide here. Is she lively? Does her tour patter flow smoothly? If not, you’re probably in for a long, boring slog of a tour. Your Mystery House experience is almost entirely dependent on your guide, but have no fear- even if the guide is a poor one, you’ll still have my charming commentary. and there are two oddities (one that is hidden and will go unmentioned by the guide.) There’s also a large photograph of Sarah Winchester in her carriage. The photograph was taken in the gardens, just outside the doors opposite the the tour entrance.

There’s a small legend about this photo, told to me by several different guides. According to them, Mrs. Winchester never allowed herself to be photographed after the death or her husband, but one of the farmhands fell in love with her, and hid in the bushes just outside of the carriage entrance to capture her on film.

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Even discarding the romantic angle, I don’t find much that’s convincing in this story. To my eye, the photograph looks too posed for me to believe that she was unaware of the photographer.
What was the occasion of the photograph then? I believe the photo was taken prior to 1909, when Mrs. Winchester purchased an automobile, and prior to the 1906 earthquake. Who could have convinced Mrs. Winchester to sit for the photograph? It seems unlikely that one of her employees would have approached her and requested that she pose. It think it most likely that her niece Marion, who lived on the estate, instigated the portrait, planning to send the image to family that remained back east in Connecticut.

I like the photograph a lot. She seems happy to me, even mischievous. Without it, she would be so much more abstract.

As for the rest of the room, I mentioned that there were two oddities. The tour script points out the door that opens to the wall, and it’s a fun way to start the tour. Right away, everyone gets a look at the strangeness they paid to see. Another sign of a good tour guide can be seen here. A good guide will open the door casually, and not make a big deal out of it, after all, there’s plenty more where that came from.

The other oddity in the room is hidden. When the guides introduce Mrs. Winchester, they mention that she stood 4′10″ tall. To illustrate, they point to a very short closet door that also measures 4′10″ (according to the script), implying that it was cut to match Mrs. Winchester. Maybe it was, but it was also cut to fit the staircase that runs above it, a staircase so steep that its known as ‘The Vertical Staircase.’

The Vertical Staircase is no longer on the tour route, and probably hasn’t been for decades. It’s not even on the special tour of locked off rooms given to employees after they’ve been at the House for thirteen months.
I got a chance to see the staircase one afternoon, when I volunteered to rescue a pigeon that had trapped himself in a skylight. I remember that it looked to have a 70 degree pitch (the angle of the stairs), but standing at the top it was hard to tell. I suspect the stairs were meant for workers needing roof access, as I doubt Mrs. Winchester could have climbed them even in her best health.

As the guide finishes this room, he’ll ask you to follow him around to the next room. In most cases, I recommend sticking close to the guide, particularly if he’s a good guide. You’ll get more chances to ask questions, and generally get a little extra learning, but as you leave the carriage way feel free to hang back a bit. This will let the crowd thin out a little as you reach the next stop… THE STAIRS TO THE CEILING!