Winchester Mystery House Reviews

victoria was the absolute greatest tour guide! my friend mimi and i would love to be her real-life friends and drink hot toddies with her and sarah winchester. walking through the house was such a wild experience. cant recommend the tour enough!

Visiting relatives wanted to see this attraction. I did not. But I went along because I'm a good host. :-)

We did the standard tour. I thought it was boring. The tour guide did a memorized monologue which alluded to ghosts and spirits but was not very interesting, informative, or scary. We traipsed through the house without getting a feel for the house itself or for Sarah Winchester and why she built it.

I was disappointed in the whole thing.

When we went (mid-September), they were starting to "decorate" the house and rooms for the Halloween tour. Our guide kept saying things like, "Now, remember, there weren't really coffins in the rooms or buzzards in the gardens."

In the future, if visiting friends or relatives want to do the Winchester Mystery House, they're on their own!

I lived in the area when I was 10 and we just took a trip back and I am now over 50. I remember thinking this place was awesome and was curious how the experience held up. It was great. This is a truly unique experience. It is in no way handicap accessible due to the nature of the house. I’m sure the quality of the tour is influenced as well by the guide, we had a good one. I recommend it if you are in the area and have 1-2 hours you would like to see something completely different.

The reviews don’t lie — this place is cool. My guide was Jim, who did a great job. (He’s also got eagle eyes when it comes to people chewing gum and leaning on stuff lol). I recommend this tour and am glad to check it off my “creepy places” list.
* The Mansion Tour focus was the house’s history and facts, so if you’re going for a ghost tour or for stories that Sarah Winchester was crazy, you might be disappointed.
* Wear comfy walking/standing shoes. My Garmin tracked a full 2 miles with the tour and photographing the grounds for 15 minutes afterward.
* Recommend booking the last tour of the day to avoid being rushed. The tour moves quickly as it is, so having a tour behind you wouldn’t help. (I’m guessing this would be better for parking, too.)
* There is no A/C so the house gets hot. The outside temperature was 77 degrees during my tour and it was very warm inside the house, so I can’t imagine how hot it would be during the summer.
* DO NOT BOOK THE EXPLORE MORE TOUR IF YOU HAVEN’T DONE THE MANSION TOUR. The Explore More Tour description is very misleading — it does NOT include the rooms from the Mansion Tour, so you’ll be shorting yourself.

The tour is expensive. (do not tell anyone but we looked around without paying for the tour, they did get some money from us at the gift shop). I had been here before and the garden was much much smaller than I remembered. I doubt it was reduced and just a case of false memory. The place is the result of misleading a rich person to separate their cash from them. Probably not like the Louvre where you can go many times, but a place you should see once.

Get there early with your tickets you got from the internet because you cannot buy tickets at the Mystery House. Come prepared by doing some research before you get there. There is not much explanation by the house mothers. You can ask questions. Bring cameras for you can take all the pictures you want.

An amazing experience! This house is way more than an old mansion, come give it a look! The tour guides are full of information about the place, and every room is unique in its own special way.

First of all, I'm a paranormal investigator and podcaster so I mean this was like my kind of heaven getting to tour this place, though I did not have any paranormal experiences (I did feel sick in one room and fine after leaving the room, but it was lunch time too so I mean probably not paranormal, also got a very interesting photo but I didn't know that until like days later because I'm a lazy paranormal investigator) however this place was not disappointing. Very interesting just to see the layout in person, the tour guide tried her hardest and I feel like it could have been an amazing tour if I could hear her better.
Winchester House, you should really invest in a microphone and ear bud situation for your tours, yes the spaces are small but with 20 people on a tour and you get stuck in the back and the room can't hold everyone, it's easy to miss what's being said. The Biosphere in Tucson has a sound system such as the one I mentioned, maybe call them and ask them about it.
Overall we all enjoyed the tour, thank you

Jesse was our tour guide. She was very knowledgeable and entertaining. The experience would not have been the same without him.

The house and the tour is very interesting. I was happy that everybody in my family was kept in awe. The 2 tour guide people we had were very knowledgeable and pleasant.

We visited with our 3 kids, ages 6, 9, and 10. We took the Explore More Tour without realizing it was geared toward people who had already experienced the Mansion Tour. However, this wasn’t really a setback because our kids were fascinated with what they saw on this tour.
Figuring out where to meet for this tour was exceptionally confusing, in part because it started 10 minutes late and there was no-one else waiting there, until our guide showed up 10 minutes late.
She was nice and pleasant, said her lunch schedule got messed up and she had just finished lunch.
Her tour did lack the details that I was looking forward to and there were more than a few questions that she didn’t know the answer to.
For the price we paid of about $150, I did expect her to be more knowledgeable.
However, I still recommend the tour and feel that it was worth it for my family to experience. If we had more time or lived closer I would certainly come back and take The Mansion Tour.

The group was 22 people which felt like too many. It was hard to see some of the spaces. Our guide was Mateo, who was nice and clear, but the speed of the tour is quick (not just Mateo, the tour groups are only five minutes apart!). The house itself is cramped and dingy (that’s just how it is!). There are a lot of stairs on the tour, which was alright for us, but an older lady on the tour was struggling. The garden area is pretty small and currently full to the brim with Halloween tat, though you do get a good view of the front. Parking is easy. Santana Row is right there for lunch/coffee. I don’t think this place is a must-see. Read the Wikipedia page to see the controversy about whether the stories they tell about Sarah Winchester are true or (more likely) not.

Interesting place. It was entertaining, but not in an amusing way. To see the whole house and it's basement you need to book VIP package, as we did. They tell you a story that makes you wonder about the Ladies of the House mental illness. The estate is worth seeing, but a tour guides' lousy performances is a biggest deterance. I still would recommend a visit as it is an interesting place but we did left a slightly disappointed.

My sister from out of town wanted to see the Winchester Mystery House- so even though my daughter and I had been before - we went again. It had been awhile so I was entertained. Our tour guide rushed a bit and his script wasn’t has good as previous guides but I had a comparison point.

A woman brought her baby and needed to leave mid-tour which caused the rush. Try to avoid a group with young children. Better yet - don’t bring young children - they won’t enjoy.

It’s a bit pricey these days - $39 each

Overrated for the ticket price. Unless you are a fan of old houses and mansions, there isn't much. There are a few crazy staircases and victorian architecture is a good experience

We took a mansion tour that lasted a little over an hour. The tour guide was very interesting and engaging. The house itself was quite unique, and some of it very lovely. The tour offered a lot of information about Sarah Winchester, and was very sympathetic to what led to her building of the house. Although there were several flights of stairs, it was not a difficult tour to complete physically, and I would love to come back and do a different version of a tour at a later date.

We visited the Winchester Mystery House yesterday after driving over 1,000 miles to see it—and while the home itself is absolutely fascinating and our tour guide was knowledgeable, the experience was far more rushed than we expected.

There is so much to take in—hidden staircases, odd architectural choices, beautiful stained glass, and maze-like hallways—but our guide moved us through the house at a very fast pace, leaving little time to actually explore or absorb what we were seeing.

We weren’t allowed to lag behind or stop to take a longer look at rooms that caught our interest. There were several spots where I just wanted to peek my head in or study the craftsmanship a bit longer, but we were immediately moved on. It felt more like being herded than guided.

For the price of admission and the distance we traveled, we were really hoping for a more immersive and leisurely experience. We enjoyed what we could see, but it was honestly disappointing to feel like we missed so much of what makes the house special.

This place has incredible history and unique charm, but the tours are too tightly timed to truly appreciate it. If you’re a history lover or detail-oriented traveler, this may leave you feeling like you only got a glimpse of something you really wanted to experience in full.

We were passing through San Jose and wondering if there was anything interesting to see/do in the area. We found it! We had seen several TV shows over the years featuring the Winchester Mystery House and it's strange history, but had no idea where it was located at the time. We stumbled upon it and are very glad we had this chance to tour the old mansion. It's fantastic, especially if you care about old history. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to stay for the "basement tour" or we certainly would have. My only complaint is that I would have liked the tour to move just a bit slower so we could enjoy it even more. Well worth the admission price!

Went with teens and I have to say the day tour is well worth it, the Hallow's Eve is for little ones. Would have been much better if they focused on the history and paranormal experiences that have happened in the house. We didn't expect scary like mazes and people jumping out at us, but their storyline regarding these investigators in the house was ridiculous and honestly got boring. The Jack O Lantern maze was for sure tailored to little little ones. Cute, but not for the older group. Thank goodness for axe throwing.

The house was worth the trip but our tour guide ruined the experience with his bad attitude, I would not go back. My son is in a wheelchair and could not go inside, he asked me to go in and take pictures for him. We were told we could and then when we did the tour guide would complained that it was a tour not a photo shoot. He was a jerk and hopefully someone will retrain him to be more kind. I finally called him out and said look, "my disabled son asked me to take pictures for him since he can't go inside and I'm going to take pictures. It didn't shut him up, but at least the others in the tour were more accommodating. The rest of the staff were beyond helpful and kind and the gardens are beautiful. Just be careful to not take too many pictures.

1000 tour started about ten minutes late. No clear instructions on where to go if you already had a ticket. Multiple announcements that the tour was starting but not clear about where exactly and well, it wasn't. Seems like shared information about the house is a bit scattered. Feel like the unique/weird elements were almost ignored or downplayed? Think they were overwhelmed on a very busy Saturday with multiple events but that isn't our fault!

I highly recommend visiting the Winchester Mystery House1 Everyone should visit at least one time. You will never see anything else quite like it. There are stairways that lead to nowhere , rooms and rooms in this huge nystery house which is filled with the haunted kind of feeling.

I've been to the Winchester Mystery House many times before, buut never on Halloween. This is the one night of the year that all her 'good' spirits fill the air.

On Halloween there is a flashlight tour, and it's truely awesome. I was there this year and plan to be there every year. Yes, the place is that good.

We were disappointed with the Walk with Spirits Tour, and wish we had done the general mansion tour instead. We never saw the staircase to nowhere that was featured on ghost hunters. The “seance” was corny, and our guide was rushing through her spiel. We didn’t have time to do more, so we left feeling we missed a lot of what we had come to see.

Very interesting place to visit. Was pretty quick tour - done within the hour. But interesting to hear the details and see the different rooms.

My husband and I visited this landmark. The staff are friendly and helpful. The tour is wonderful. Tour guides are very knowledgeable. Gift store is nice. Grounds are immaculate. Take the time to do both tours. House is beautiful. Yes there were times I felt spirits.

Garden "Self Tour". We arrived with our guests from out-of-town, three of which wanted to tour the mansion and my husband, myself and our 100 y/o relative in a wheelchair electing to go through the garden while we waited for them. Both my husband and I have seen the mansion 3 times, so this seemed like a great solution. We paid a whopping $18.95 per person ($56.85!) for what could only be described as a tour of a few roses, morning glories and BOX WOOD! Lots and lots of box wood. There were two fountains that worked. This garden was a huge DISAPPOINTMENT. Perhaps the tour should have been $3.00. I'm not sure it was even worth that. The Winchester Mystery House grounds could be really beautiful. I am not sure what is keeping the company from moving ahead with that. Yes, most folks want to see the mansion, but we had special circumstances and feel completely ripped off by the WMH. We do not recommend the garden self-tour at all. Go to Filoli or just walk around your own neighborhood.

This is something my husband has been wanting to do and never got a chance so I decided to surprise him one weekend. Our tour guide Sarah was great; very personable, sweet and knowledgeable. She appeared to truly enjoy her job. We did see some other guides walking around who looked bored or annoyed with the repetition of a tour but Sarah seemed excited and that was great! One thing that was a little frustrating was that tours are spaced out 5 minutes apart, I recommend changing that. On several occasions tours caught up to us and we caught up to others and the guides were talking to each specific group but it became a little too much hearing multiple tour guides. Also, on two separate occasions groups of 3 people were added to our tour (so an extra 6 people); with the limited space I wish that didn’t happen. Our original group was fine and we all fit in rooms appropriately, adding more people was too much and too crowded and I have no idea why that happened. Overall it is a good tour but in my opinion it is a one time thing, I don’t see us coming back simply because it would be the same tour all over again, no new information or rooms to view.

We did the Halloween event, Unhinged. Way over priced. Not scary in the least. Our two teens had bets on who would scream the most. Winner was the one who screamed the least. Neither screamed even once. However, they told me they hasps a good time. I didn’t ask if they were being polite.

However, I did get a feel for the strangeness of the house, but wish I’d done the regular tour at lower prices to see more of the house.

Kaitlyn was difficult to understand. She spoke too quickly and needs to slow down. Could have enjoyed it more had I been able to understand guide better. Others felt the same way.

I took the Mansion and extended tour. The mansion tour was fascinating to learn about Sarah and her past. Going up the wonky staircases, seeing the doors and stair cases leading to no where. Sarah’s bedroom was so pretty. Sad to find out she passed away in that room. My tour guide was hilarious and so full of knowledge.

The extended tour was the cherry on top! First of all I’m a solo traveler and when they called for my time I was the only one that went up to get my ticket scanned. I ended up getting a private tour! My favorite part of the extended tour was the witches hat which is the cone shape room at the very top floor. Also the basement was pretty cool too. There is an elevator they said that probably dates back to 1880s. Crazy!

Definitely recommend this awesome tour! It’s not so scary in the day time. If I did this tour at night I’d probably feel creeped out. My second tour guide said he saw a lady in black so watch out for her. He also said the highest floor gets the most activity for ghosts since it was the service rooms. She had tons of staff up there.

We added the Winchester House to our road trip at our daughters request. We hadn't heard of it before but after doing some research and watching the film we were very excited and it didn't disappoint!

The house is incredible and the story is so fascinating! We were taken around by a lady called Arizona who was just amazing! Her knowledge was incredible but you could also tell she had a huge passion for what she does! She was patient with all of us and answered all our questions. Some of the rooms were very chilling, especially the room Sarah died in!

After our guided tour we were able to walk the grounds at our own pace which was fab!

I would definitely recommend the Winchester even if you are not aware of the history, you will get all the history you need on the tour.

Gene our narrator was awesome...such an extraordinary and beautiful house and property. Interesting background story.

We went on both the standard tour and the see more tour. I highly recommend the additional tour if you're interested in seeing as many rooms as possible.

The guides for both tours were very knowledgeable and passionate. The standard tour group was very large, but our guide would have to continue the tour without being able to wait for everyone to hear the information due to there being another group right behind us. I'm sure we missed information, which is why I was so grateful our additional tour only had a dozen people.

The house is beautifully haunting with a rich history. 4/5 stars because of our group size, easily 5/5 on the see more tour. Advise others not to go during Halloween time because they set up a haunted maze experience at night that slightly changes the experience during the day. Unless you're interested in attending the nighttime offering, of course.

It is not entertaining if you are interested in learning facts about the life of Sarah Winchester. On the guided tour, they will tell you stories to sell the idea that she believed in ghosts and was afraid of them. She didn't.

Wow, this place will trip you out. It was a great little tour. The tour guides give a great tour with a little humor. The gift shop at the front has some great Winchester made items, some great history .The cost of the tour was $49 per person with a $3 fee. Well worth it. Plenty of parking and close to the freeway. They have some very nice shops outside of the house. Go during October as they will be decorated for Halloween and the gift shop will have some great seasonal gifts. Take lots and lots of photos inside the house and see what you might get, I have a photo of my wife with a very strange light spot on her face while standing in a dark hallway. Hmmm.

While there is a great deal of walking, it's easy to get around. Learning about the past, walking through parts of the home damaged by the 1906 earthquake was amazing. The main tour is a little more than an hour. The extended tour has opened up areas that haven't been seen since the quake.

Back in the early 50’s when is was 10or 11years old, I got to see it. In those days the grounds were not all perfectly landscaped like it is and has been for a long time. It had tall dried grass. The tour guide pointed out a gazebo that was built upside down on purpose. Had to put down June 2021 cuz it doesn’t show all the way back, when I saw it.

My husband & I took a trip up to San Jose to visit this really cool house. We took the Mansion Tour & a flashlight tour. Both were really cool and so interesting. There is so much history in this house.

This was a neat tour and the guide did a great job. It is a guided tour inside but while you wait for your tour you can explore the grounds. Please be aware to buy your tickets directly from the Winchester house website. We bought ours from Tiqets and they gave the wrong information on arrival and times of the tour. Winchester House no longer uses them as a vendor ( because of this issue) but they were kind enough to honor our tickets. Also to note is your tour guide can accept tips. They don’t advertise this but it is a nice gesture and our guide was very appreciative of it.(cash tips make up a large portion of tour guide income in the US).

We planned a trip and this was one of the very first places we came to visit while in Cali. I love anything that has to do with the paranormal. This place was amazing and I got some very wonderful and beautiful pics. Definitely worth the money and loved the gift shop I wanted to buy sooooo much.

We experienced the "Mansion" and the "Explore More" tours and both were excellent. Both tours afforded the opportunity to view rooms that were previously not available to the general public. Our tour guides were extremely personable and knowledgeable. Luna, who conducted the Mansion excursion, and Therese, who guided us through the Explore More tour couldn't have been more accommodating. both were extremely patient and thorough in answering questions and each expressed a wonderful sense of humor. It is a fascinating and unique experience and definitely worth seeing. Both tours run approximately one hour. I would suggest visiting on a weekday when its less crowded. That way you and your guide won't feel as rushed to keep the line moving, especially when it came to answering additional questions and taking a few more photos. All in all, it was a great time.

I bought the “All hollows’Eve deluxe ticket” and the whole experience felt like it was more for kids, it was a joke. If this is your first time visiting the mansion I strongly advice you buy regular tickets because otherwise you won’t be able to see anything, not a single wall or any of the furniture 😔. House is super interesting, worth taking a regular tour or during day time.

My Mom and I had the delightful opportunity to take a tour of the Sarah Winchester estate. We took a quick peek at the grounds, which originally were much larger, but has since been sold to business developers over time for office complexes and the like. The remaining grounds are well kept and true to original purpose. The tour of the house itself was informative and personal. We had our own guide show us through the many twists and turns of the house while providing a detailed history of Sarah and the larger Winchester family. If you like architecture, personal histories, and the supernatural, this is a must visit for you! I would definitely recommend making a trip if in the Bay Area.

I was hesitant to take this tour because it was a bit pricey, but I found a groupon and saved a significant amount, although I spent that on a professional photo and in their great gift shop. The tour itself was well worth it. My teenage daughter and her friend went on it with me, and they enjoyed it as much as I did. I found it intriguing and a bit spooky but not very scary. The grounds are also a must see. They are beautiful. We visited in February, and they were lovely.

I was in San Jose for business and had a free day, so I came to the Winchester Mystery House. It was a very enjoyable way to spend a Wednesday morning. I did the main tour only which is just over an hour. Our guide Jim was excellent. We saw many rooms of this crazy, twisted house accompanied by details of why it is the way it is along with lots of info about Sara Winchester. If you plan on visiting Monday-Thursday, you can buy an adult ticket on Groupon for $27, which will save you $12. After the main tour, you have the option to do the extended tour for $15 which takes you to previously closed off rooms, but doing the one was enough for me. You can walk around the exterior and gardens at no charge for as long as you want. Note that there are a LOT of stairs on the tour. I recommend going on a weekday when you can use a Groupon and will have little or no wait for a tour. Bring a sweater. Even on a warm day it's chilly inside the house.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the Winchester house and learning about its history. Jessie, our tour guide, did a fantastic job of describing the past that included sound effects, video, and many many stories. It’s well worth the money and you may be able to find a coupon on Groupon. The house is a maze and a marvel - like going back in time. The gardens are well worth the time to stroll through.

Great for out-of-towners to see; always a place for my out-of-town folks to bring to and they always enjoy the tour

Our guide Arizona, was great! The place has amazing architecture and stories! Many design elements that would be prefect for a modern house. The tour was great! Would love to go back again.

The spirit of Sarah Winchester may not be real, but the rigid and unaccommodating spirit of management is for sure real and present. This is not a review of the house, because we were denied entry as we missed our reserved tour time.

My family went to San Jose with the express purpose of visiting the house. With great excitement, we booked our tour for 1pm. Driving in we knew we would be running a bit late so my wife call to inform them of the situation. Upon arrival at about 130pm, we were redirected to a few stations for checking in (wasting what we would later find out to be very precious time). Finally we were informed that we had missed our tour and because other tours were fully booked, we had to wait until after 3pm to take the next tour. Due to our flight schedule, we were unable to do it. So we asked several associates if any accommodations could be made, including doing stand-by for the tours in the meantime in case there were no-shows; we were even willing to break up our family into two groups of 2. But we were informed definitively that it was not an option, because they would try to "catch-up" the late arrivals to the tour in progress, which seemed inconsistent with their seeming goal of controlling the start time and flow of the tours.

We understand that it was a busy Sunday and there would be capacity limitation for tours. Also, we indeed did not arrive before the start of the tour. But the complete lack of flexibility (for a tourist attraction) was both disappointing and appalling. We pleaded with them that we were from out of town but they stood firm on their unwavering principles. We heard the inside was great, but all we took away was disappointment. If you are late to your doctor's appointment by 30 minutes, she/he can probably see you after a bit of a wait. But if you missed your designated tour time here, well, good luck to you

The history, the detail, the amazing quality of work, the grounds, the feel of a mysterious oasis in the city. Did both the mansion tour and the Walk with Spirits tour. Some overlap but generally visiting. Different areas of the house. Amazing antique furniture and a genuine feel for this national treasure level landmark. I expect we will come back. A neat feature is seeing some rooms that were abandoned after the 1906 earthquake. Tour guides are fun and entertaining. Highly recommend.

Entertaining tour. There's a great deal of supposition over Mrs. Winchester's motivations and intentions with the house but the architecture is interesting and the gardens are pleasant. My kids (preteens and teens) enjoyed it too.
A bonus? Just across the street is a huge, attractive shopping district with many food choices, some of which are almost reasonable for a tourist area.

I've wanted to visit this house for a long time and I guess I was expecting more weird twists and turns and maybe even some haunted stories. What we got was a unique old house that was built by an eccentric millionaire which was still pretty cool! Our tour guide Melanie was amazing and full of fun stories and information but it was a bit crowded. I can see why they ask you to wear a mask on the tour. There is no way to social distance inside the house. About masks.....I really didn't appreciate being barked at to wear one while I was OUTSIDE. The website clearly states we do not need to wear one outdoors. If you want people to wear them everywhere on the grounds you should adjust your website accordingly. Other than that little hiccup we had a great time. The cost for a regular house tour is around $40 or so and you can pay more for an explore more tour which we did not. Parking is free and they do take a souvenir photo of you for purchase in the gift shop. Its worth a stop just don't forget your mask or you might get barked at as well....

The Winchester House tour was very enjoyable. I wasn’t sure what to expect based on the reviews. Our tour guide was Cora. She gave a great tour. She included a lot of history and pointed out many strange features. The shooting gallery was unique as well with many more moving objects than expected.

The design of the house was a result of many additions added on over the whole time Sarah Winchester lived in it resulting in strange features such as stairways that went no where and exterior windows on inside walls. An interesting part of the tour was about 1906 earthquake damage to the house, after which time, no one lived in that part of the house.

More actors. Also the actors did not really try to scare anyone. They were mediocre. Also, VIP is not worth it.

Fun if campy tour of fascinating property. The story of Sarah Winchester is so interesting it makes for a good overall experience. Can be in and out in under two hours after walking around on your own before and after. April definitely a good time to go and we were lucky with the weather. Gardens outside are beautiful. Check it out!

The Winchester Mystery House is truly a wonder. The house itself is magnificent and mysteriously magical in a way, but the true beauty of my visit consisted of the staff! Our tour guide was engaging and fluent in the history of Sarah and the home, and after my tour I was stopped by a staff member in the gardens who took time out of their schedule to tell me the little things that may go unnoticed, such as the car wash and the original staircase in the museum. As I waited for an Uber, the security guard gave me a heartfelt history of the home from her perspective and it really struck me that Sarah’s legacy lives on…People truly love working at the home and even if you believe it is not haunted by her spirit, the spirit of hospitality and care lives on.

We went for the unhinged evening, brilliant haunted house and midway games, those employees we interacted with were amazing, courteous people.
Had to then come back the next day to do the regular tour, really enjoyed both experiences, our guide was very knowledgeable and kept everyone interested.

I'd recommend this place to anyone.

We had a lot of fun exploring this mansion with a flashlight. Because of covid rules it is all a one way trail through the house but that's not necessarily a bad thing so you don't bump into people by mistake. We watched the movie Winchester the night before. So glad we did. It gave the tour an added level of intrigue. Definitely would recommend a visit here to anyone in the area. I would like to tour in daylight someday if I get back out here.

This is not a must-see attraction but is worth it if you feel like doing it. I arrived at sunrise and on my way back to my vehicle security harassed me by accusing me of spending the night and threatened to give me a ticket. I won't come back or recommend it

We were in the vicinity of the Winchester Mystery House (WMH) and we had time between two appointments to do something interesting. It was also President's Day and most museums and public builsings were closed. Off we went to the WMH grounds to see the gardens and the product Museum, which you may enjoy without paying any admission. Both locations are off of the Guest Shop where you pick up a map of the facility which shows the stopping points in the garden. The garden is set up to show you how Mrs. Winchester and her staff lived and utilized the grounds. It is not elaborate, but there are some really nice flowers, interesting information, and wonderful views of the intricacies of the archetecture of the building. There are many photo opportunities. It had been a long time since we had been on a tour of the WMH and we plan to come back, because we had heard previously that there are new part of the house that are open to the tours.

I wasn’t sure what to expect based on the mixed reviews but was pleasantly surprised. We did the Main House Tour and the Walk with Spirits Tour (based on a review here). I would recommend the Main House Tour; it was fun to work our way around the house, see the Victorian era style, and hear the history. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. The Walk with Spirits Tour was ok if you’re into that sort of stuff, but it was a little hokey and didn’t provide that much more info about the House. You do get to see several areas you wouldn’t otherwise. We had some eats from the cafe between tours, and they were good. All in all a cool experience and fun day.

I was a tour guide as a teen at the WMH and it is truly a marvel. The story behind it is true and very interesting. The gift shop literally carry’s everything you could ever think of.

This is a truly unique house with a fascinating history. Everyone at some point has heard of it and familiar with the story but to actually see it is another experience all together. We had the last tour of the day which made for a nicer and more quiet experience. Our tour guide had a great speaking voice, a bit Disney Haunted Mansion-esque but that's allright. He was very knowledgeable and answered any questions. The tour keeps at a good pace and allows plenty of time for photos. The grounds are gorgeous, the house is quirky and awkward inside, and the rooms are elegantly appointed. Very close by is Santana Row which has some great restaurants.

Compliments to Sandy in the visitor's office for rebooking us on a later tour due to traffic issues. She really made this tour work for us.

Great experience thanks to an amazing guide who gave interesting pieces of information. Amazing house (crazy, sometimes) inside and out. Worth visitng more than once.

Very cool and interesting house. The host was very friendly and nice (can’t remember her name!) My kids enjoyed the house and the history and the mom too :)

This place is amazing, we did the regular house tour and behind the scenes as well as Unhinged in the same afternoon/evening on our trip to SFO. Recommend all the tours since they are only an hour or so each. We had a blast, very interesting, unlike anything else you can do in the bay area. Highly recommended.

Heard at about this place and had to stop. The whole family loved it (2 teenagers). The craziness, the nonsense of it, the history and the preservation.

So glad we stopped...you must too.

I don’t recommend this attraction. The house is weird and most of it is “refurbished” not original. The tour groups are large so you cannot hear the guide because most of the rooms are small or you are walking through a hallway. Our group was rushed since another group was behind us. Our guide was not very knowledgeable and she repeated herself a lot. There was no explanation of why or how the house was expanded the way it was. They seem to rely heavily on the occult and existence of ghosts as an attraction, when in reality this is a house built by a very wealthy widow who was clearly disturbed.

I went in the night tour of the house and was not impressed. Essentially all you are going is walking about the grounds and they have signs for you to read. There was moments where you could look in the house. I would recommend saving your money and wait for the house to do inside tours.

Our tour was amazing! JT (or TJ?) was spectacular! He was very informative and had a great sense of humor! Would highly recommend!

Yesterday my wife and I visited the Winchester Mystery House and had a mostly lovely day despite the rain. The home was lovely and as you can imagine in repair a bit. Mckenzie our tour guide was great and extremely knowledgeable about the home and the legendary Ms. Winchester. We were gobsmacked by all of the business construction either already built up to the property or in the process. A huge apartment complex overshadows the property with the building literally several feet away from the mansion. Of course you won't see any of this in the "well placed photos" taken by the owners (Winchester Investments LLC). This mansion once stood upon 160 acres of land which has been sold by greed seekers. What I'm sure was an amazing property is now surrounded and overshadowed by busy traffic, banks and apartment complexes. It's so discusting they couldn't even provide a bit more space for this heirloom. We expected some amazing gardens but those were non-existent. I'd still suggest visiting the home soon before this greedy corporation finds a way to minimize this mansion further.

The place, while interesting, isn't cheap. Its just like going into any old, old house where the previous owner kept changing her mind each day/week what she wanted to do next.

We were unsure about this, knowing it's such a tourist thing, but we were really happy we went! Our teenagers found it interesting and the tour guide, Jesse, was a perfect blend of funny and informative. He knew the answer to every question we had.

My only downside was the tour size was a bit too big for the spaces we were in. If you do this tour, stay close to the guide so you don't miss anything---we had a few points where we were stuck in a hallway while he spoke.

We really enjoyed the visit, the house was definitely a strange place. We have wanted to go for many years and it worked out this year.

Very easy find, in fact we imagined driving a little further out into some countryside somewhere but it was literally right off the highway in the middle of the city. I think that was stranger the house. I think whatever city planners were in charge of allowing city to grow so close around should be ashamed. It definitely took away from the mystery and ambience of the house.

Other than that the house was very cool to see. The tour was laid out well, and although we couldn't go in a couple of rooms because of the COVID situation we were still very happy to be there. I like that the workers there were in preiod clothing and they seemed to really enjoy being there and talking about the house.

The Winchester Mystery House is an Architectural marvel. The home is amazing and the history and folklore adds to the amazement of this home. The tours are thrilling and engaging.

The whole experience was amazing. Worth the money. I will definitely visit again if I am in the area. Make sure to use restroom before the tour.

The Winchester Mystery House is a great place to visit when you are in San Jose. You need to take a guided tour, and in the tour, you learn all about the history of the house and its occupants. It's fun whether you go with friends or family - or even by yourself!

My favorite part of the visit was escaping into the past, a more genteel and elegant and SLOWER time; and being part of the world of Sarah Winchester for a day. It's like climbing into a time tunnel from which one never wants to leave! The house is a marvel in so many ways. The woodwork is stunning, the exquisite stained glass windows are featured in numerous rooms, the Victorian gingerbread &/or wall coverings are different in each and every room. Just the architectural details are worth an in depth visit, even if the story behind the mansion had not been so intriguing. Sarah Winchester turned out to be much less quirky than I had assumed. She ran a full-fledged fruit and nut tree ranch, and kept a close eye on her entire estate, every aspect of it. She was a busy and intelligent woman, who has gained my respect. Also earning my respect were the many guides in the mansion, each one of them very knowledgeable and friendly, and passionate about their fascinating subject. I especially thank Jett and Victor for all of their information. This mansion is a Jewel of the Bay Area, and thank God it has been preserved for all of us to marvel at and enjoy!

Interesting mansion and tour guide was extremely informed and fun. Only complaint is that if you want to see the entire open parts of the mansion you have to pay the entrance fee twice. There are 2 parts of the mansion open for viewing but each costs a fee.

This was a very interesting tour. It is a self guided tour, but there are plenty of workers there that are very knowledgeable about the history of the house. Tons of photo opportunities. Absolutely worth the stop.

Loved out time spent at the Winchester Mystery House. Highly recommend for those traveling to or through San Francisco. Thoroughly enjoyed our mansion tour, led by Theresa. It was very informative and delightfully interesting. The mansion is a-MAZing. One could get lost easily! The mansion tour included 110 of the 160 rooms and is an hour long. See doors and stairs that lead to nowhere, crazy architecture and many "before their time" features. We also took the "Walk with the Spirits" tour lead by Sadia. It took us into rooms not included in the mansion tour and gave a great perspective on Sarah Winchester and her spiritualism or was it craziness? Sadia was fun and full of energy. You can tell she loves what she does. With the 1.5 hour "Walk with the Spirits" tour, you get to experience a séance as it might have been depicted in the early 1900s. You also go down to the basement where paranormal events have been experienced. I saw a shadow figure but was not sure if it was real or a person walking outside that reflected through an unexplained/unidentified light source. Was it real or not? Take the tour to see if you experience anything. There is a discount if you do both tours and there are also discounts for military, veterans, and seniors. The house is not ADA accessible, but they do have a video tour for those with special needs. Walk the beautiful gardens! There is a café open only on the weekends and a large gift shop. Restrooms are located just outside the gift shop area. There are other things you can do too; Axe throwing, carnival type shooting game; and a Houdini experience. Enjoy!

This is somewhere we had always wanted to visit and we have finally got there! It did not disappoint and more than exceeded our high exceptions of the visit. From arrival to leaving we completely enjoyed the experience. The tour guides were great and very engaging, they were pleased to see overseas visitors returning too. The house itself is beautiful. We spent a good five hours there and could have stayed longer. Fantastic, we would go back in a heart beat. We took over 500 photos!

what a weird and wonderful place this is.

the tour guides are really passionate about their jobs which is really cool to see.

the only things I would like to see improved are
1) to space out the tours a bit - I constantly was hearing the tour in front of us and the tour behind us - very distracting.

2) the story of her life is a bit haphazard and hard to follow - there has to be a way to weave the tour and her story into something a bit more cohesive.

Fun to see but overpriced for the experience u get. Its not spooky at all. Information u get during the tour is basic.

stop the lies, the stairway to nowhere, was one to a lookout or observation tower and the trap doors are only doors that went to other rooms that burned down. If they told the whole truth, you would not be happy to spend $40 each to see a run down house.

Having a wonderful holiday in California our wonderful friends took us to the Winchester House in San Jose. The house and history was great but the true highlight was our guide Abe. His intelligent delivery of facts with his Dr Strangelove mystique was both informative and pants wetting. No matter what time you book check first to have Abe as your guide. He is worth the price of admission alone. 5 stars.

This was one of our favourite parts of our California trip - the kids also loved it. The tours was great and the house was really interesting - Josh, our guide was fantastic - knowledgable and enthusiastic. I would recommend this to anyone in San Francisco or San Jose area. It’s well worth a visit. So interesting and different.

Very fun self guided tour. Creepy and exciting both. Loverly antiques. Great place to take out of town guests. Fantastic garden and fun gift shop.

Amazing place! I took pictures and caught some very unusual things. Smokey figures and orbs of light that weren't visible in the room are in a couple of my pictures. The staff is highly knowledgeable and are happy to share their stories of their experiences there. I can't wait to go back for the extended tour that includes the third floor and the basement. I would have stayed longer if my legs and back would have permitted.

Loved it. We did the Halloween experience. Will definitely return to see the house during the day. The light show on the facade of the house was great.

Very unique house with so many mystery door. Beautiful house. Many photo spot you can find here. It's cold inside so bring your jacket

The tour was very well done. The docent was very knowledgeable and made the entire tour interesting. The house itself is also interesting with the stairways that go nowhere and the doors that open to nothing, etc. But even without all that - just the historical look at the house is worth the visit. We came here the weekend after Thanksgiving and they also had a little holiday gift market in the yard, which was rather nice. They have a special program around Halloween as well.

The Winchester House in itself is worth seeing and then when you can add a little spookier side by doing the Unhinged version, it's even more fun and well worth a visit. We took all three tours (House, Explore More, and Unhinged). Our tour guides/characters on all three tours were fun, charismatic and informative. The absolute only complaint is the heat in the house. There is no AC at all so be aware of that and try and take some kind of hand fan or paper fan as you tour because you can become overheated rather quickly. If you love walking through haunted houses during Halloween, you will love the Unhinged tour. We had the you know what scared out of us several times! So much fun with many a laughs and thrills at every turn! The house alone is indescribable and unbelievable unless you see it. I would highly recommend giving yourself a great escape of the unbelievable.

We went on the standard tour which was 110 rooms and took about 70 minutes. It was very interesting both as to the structure (very odd in many ways) and the furnishings. Our guide was knowledgeable and pleasant. Well worth the visit

I went there when I was a kid and have been back as an adult. Both experiences very different due to different perspective but just LOVED it. The history of the Winchester Riffle, family and home is pretty impressive, strange and interesting. Guided tours are well priced and guides are very knowledgable. Just love all the unique, quirky and strange features of this property and the history behind why these features exist. If you haven't already, check out the Netflix movie Winchester before you go. The kids really enjoyed it's quirky and mystical vibe. Lots of little places to explore. Highly recommend to all. You may even get a little extra bonus on your tour as the house has spirit activity.

Haven’t taken the tours yet but have walked the grounds outside the house. It is beautiful, wild snd just plain awesome. She had an amazing imagination and the workers she employed to build onto her house did an amazing job. One day I will take both tours that are available here!

We had a great day visiting Winchester Mystery House. Loved the history of it. Beautiful grounds. Some places you can feel the energy. I'm sure this would be a great Halloween thing to do. Been a bucket list thing to visit and I'm glad that we were finally able to.

Checked out the Halloween walk at the Winchester house...wasn’t what we were expecting, but had a great time nonetheless. Looking forward to going back to do the actual tour! Definitely recommend!

Spent a great afternoon touring the Winchester Mystery House. Our tour guide was awesome….very knowledgable. Small tour groups so you can enjoy and ask a lot of questions about the house. Take the tour, you’ll be glad u did!

We enjoyed the different rooms that we were able to look at. The staff that was stationed around the home are extremely friendly and knowledgeable.

The Winchester house is amazing. It's hard to believe Sarah Winchester took a farm house and turned it into what it is today. Just be aware, if you are expecting to see a time capsule, this isn't it. The interior decor was sold years ago. The house itself is in some stages of disrepair. It is not owned by a foundation or trust. Therefore, it is a for profit entity. They are trying to make repairs but it is a lot of house. The tour guides are great and will share a lot with you. It's an enjoyable experience.

Myself and two others traveled six hours to do the two different tours: the regular and the more tour. We were a little early getting there and they were able to get us into the early tours which was cool. Our tour guide was absolutely amazing! I'm sorry I can't remember her name, but she was incredibly passionate and knew so much about the history of Sarah and the house. It was such a great experience and we will probably go back soon!

Pretty expensive ($42) for a jumble of rooms without any real distinguishing architectural features. Group too large, so pace, pace, pace! Tour guide has a handful of corny jokes and not much more. Snippet here, snippet there, hurry alnog. The whole thing is a production and designed to squeeze out max dollars (would you like to buy this, want a picture?) Upshot, this was a nutty lady overwhelmed by imagined guilt and follish spiritual advice - though presumably she lived more sanely at her other properties. It becomes a funhouse that isn't even wholly restored. Yes, you trapse all over, but ithere's little rhyme or reason to any of it, and not too much insight into daily life at the house. If you are at all budget consious, there are many other things in the Bay area to see in preference to this. Not a wholly wasted hour, but an overpriced one.

If you sale the story as a haunted mansion and include telling the story of her faithful white workers that appear in the photos on the walls, and how diligently they worked amongest themselves for favorable pay. You should include those who worked for no pay. You probably should also include the history of Santa Clara during this time. None of the tour includes the history of the Native Americans and Slaves. I find it hard to believe that none of the likes were mentioned during this tour. NOR did they appear in any of the photos. Erasing history is a big problem in this world. Just Google how many slaves the Winchesters owned or gave away as Christmas presents. But yet we sale tourist traps for 50 dollars and then we are fed a half ass story that includes no one else but them. I assure you that others were present on these grounds. Use that as the ghost story. Or better yet use your 50 dollars per person for 2 drinks at the bar.

Took both mansion & explore more tours and has a great time! The staff was very knowledgeable and shared the story in an interesting way.
Highly recommend to arrive early before the crowds and take both tours.

Incredible tour. Such a unique design and build. My favorite building tour I have ever been on. Stunning and beautiful.

I've gone to the Winchester Mystery House countless times, and I'm always amazed at how they continue to update the format and venue. We've taken relatives and frequently recommend it as a great rainy day event for our Airbnb guests,

I strongly recommend taking 2 tours, the foundation and one of the extras.

So great to see such wonderful history cared for. Thanks for sharing with us. Highly recommend this tour.

Visited the famous house this morning and was completely amazed at the craziness of this house. We participated in two very entertaining tours and our guides, Dante and Zack, were very funny and informative. Loved the visit and would recommend seeing this place if you are in the area. The two tours together took around 2 hours but we did have a break in between. I would highly recommend doing both tours!

I was visiting San Francisco and this was a must-see so I went with some friends to tour the Winchester house. The history of the house was very interesting and the house itself is beautiful and unique.

Something strange happened towards the end of the tour. As my friends and I were walking in a room next to the dining room with double doors, we were startled. There was a dining table on the other side of the doors and while that area was not lit, the half windows on the doors visibly showed that area was not toured and no one was there. The doors were 2 feet away from us and we were talking when they started to shake as if someone took the door knobs and tried to open locked doors for 2-3 seconds. We both stopped talking and just looked at each other in shock. We later mentioned this to a tour guide and they confirmed no one was in the dining room area.

I’ve never seen a ghost before and this was definitely one of the stranger things I’ve ever encountered. Maybe someone was running across the door frame on the floor above? Who knows...but I’d say this was an interesting experience.

The house was so super cool! Lots to explore and it was absolutely beautiful! The staff was very friendly and informative! Some of the floors were closed down for repairs but it was still awesome. make sure you buy your tickets online cuz they don't sell them onsite at this time.

Wanted to mention our lovely tour guide, Emma. Winchester House is beautiful and it was my first time visiting. I had first learned about the house from Watcher Entertainment on YouTube and it looked beautiful. Emma was funny and engaging, respectful, and extremely knowledgeable about the history of the house. She is a skilled storyteller and it is clear she loves her job. I hope the org that now owned the house keeps Sarah Winchester’s legacy alive by paying Emma and her colleagues well. Also-other gift shops take note! I love all the merch available to people purchase and spent a pretty penny because so much of it was excellent.

Stopped here on our road trip home from our cruise. This was well worth stop. Lots of history. Would recommend this place.

Great place, great tour. Very well organised. We watched the film before visiting which made a massive difference. Would have liked to see even more of the house. The only improvement was for the tour guide to go slower. She did not wait for the group to catch up before she started talking... it seemed a little rushed.

Creepy as expected since they added Halloween decorations and props. Guide is very good and knowledgeable. A bit claustrophobic with narrow passageways as you move from room to room.

I visited the Winchester Mystery house with my husband and my son this past week. We went on the house tour which took about an hour and then we were free to tour the garden/grounds at our own pace. Our tour guide, Amanda was very knowledgeable, well spoken, and also very funny. She made the tour enjoyable and interesting. The architecture of the house is such a wow factor along with the views up at the bell tower. Such a fascinating experience in which I would do again if I’m ever in the area. We were kinda hoping to maybe have a super natural experience but unfortunately it did not happen....Go if you ever get a chance, it will be worthwhile for sure.

It is fascinating to think of a woman living alone in the 1800’s, with the money to exercise creative freedom. It was a scandal in those days for a woman to live autonomously, and though being a rich widow would have insulated her from some talk, inevitably the gossip about her swirled. The extraordinary artistic freedom she exercised is staggering to contemplate. But Sarah Winchester’s life was also a sad, lonely one, and the bewildering warren of small rooms that make up this insane house reinforce the impression of a brilliant woman living in isolation and pain and slowly losing her mind. Although very interesting, we couldn’t wait to get out of there after the tour. Also, our tour guide gave us the impression of being a bit insane herself.

The home is interesting as was the story but I learned more on wikipedia and reading things in the gift shop than I did on the actual tour. I didn't think worth the cost for what we learned. Beautiful place and you can't keep track of where you are in the home!

It's been close to 50 years since both my mom and I visited and it was such a let down!!! The house was quite run down looking. It appeared as the only thing holding it together was the copious amounts of paint. The tour guide, (name being left out but the mansion has been informed), was just blah (trying to be nice). Maybe I am extremely jaded after spending many years working for the Disney Company, but it was obvious she had her spiel memorized and had no ability to make her spiel come to life or add personality to it. Several times it was clear that she lost her place in the spiel and had to stop and think about "what line came next." The tour we took years ago focused on the small details of the house and the mysteries surrounding it (like the various staircases to nowhere, doors to nowhere, secret passage ways, labyrinth design and paranormal activity to name a few) - that was barely touched upon. In addition to that, why in the world would you start a tour by entering the house through anything but the front? The courtyard, where the tour started, was nothing to get excited about at all. It actually detracted away from the beauty of the mansion. We actually felt like it was all staged. Looking at past history of who was the GM of the house, I see it was a former Disney employee (Keith Kittle) back in the early 70's....no wonder it was so much more enjoyable all those years. The whole thing was just just a huge disappointment!

The basement tour was the biggest waste of money! There is nothing there, a few signs...some in areas so dark you can't even read them. We were just so disappointed by the time we got to the basement that we just walked through to the end just to get out...maybe 7 min after descending the basement stairs?

I was really looking forward to this part of our trip now when people ask I've told them it was nothing like it had once been and not worth the time or money. Very sad.

This was my second trip to the area in 15 years so I wanted to come back to the Winchester House again. We were shocked at how much in the area has changed from how we remembered it - this is not the fault of the Winchester House obviously but it is now surrounded very closely by high rise buildings - apartments and such which really spoiled the outside in my opinion.
When booking online I was shocked at the price for a 1 hour tour - $42 !! i went ahead and booked as I really did want to revisit it.
I found the tour guide extremely creepy, and not in a haloween way.... however he was a reasonable guide, you could tell that he had an interest and fondness for the house and the story, however he was at the same time pretty wooden.
The tour felt rushed to get in and out in the 1 hour, to the point where the tour group behind us was waiting around the corner as they were too close to us. The group was too big for the size of the rooms and we really were squeezed in much more tightly than I would have liked, this also meant that we hurried from room to room without being able to look too closely.
I appreciate that this is a business, to make money and the place is obviously really expensive to upkeep, but this visit really made me feel like I was there for my ticket money, and for that reason, I would be unlikely to revisit it again in the future.
I would still recommend a visit (if you can afford it) as its an interesting story, but i did leave disappointed.

This was a very interesting visit, especially learning about the history and the mansion's peculiar design choices and additions. Stairs, doors, and windows all seem to be oddly placed. You will learn quite a bit about the eccentric Sarah Winchester as well.

We opted for the basement add-on and felt it was worth it. The basement is self-guided, and it can be genuinely creepy—especially if you find yourself alone in one of the quieter areas. The only issue with the basement is navigating around the crowds as there were numerous bottlenecks and tight, congested spaces.

The mansion can feel very cramped due to the high volume of people that are touring at any given time. Tours are frequent and the group size is on the large side. With that being said, our guide was fantastic--knowledgeable, engaging, and kind.

Took the basic tour, saw the mysteries of the house, the reasons Mrs. Winchester took the building continuously and learned more about her charitable works. Garden tour and new tour of never-before-seen house tour available.

Before buying All Hallow's Eve Lost in the house tour ticket please think twice. This tour is for kids under 8 years old. They promote it as a tour for 13 and up but you will be very disappointed. I have never been in anything boring like this before. Waste of money and time. If you want to experience this house it is better to do a day tour and learn about the history of this house and etc.

A place to see for sure . A most go and see in person . An hour long to see it the place is amazing inside and outside .. a nice gift shop.. doors going anywhere and the windows are beautiful looking as well … a once in a life time place to go

Winchester Mystery House us located in the heart of Silicon Valley. Its great that this historic venue is still intact and well managed in the heart of San Jose. It is very nicely decorated, and the tour gives you a sense of history on why this place is very special. It also introduces you to who the "Winchesters" are on a very in depth prognosis.

This tour was a bucket list item for me! I have wanted to tour the Winchester Mystery Mansion since I watched the movie and heard about the house. The movie took alot of liberties, but they got alot right too. The #13 is very prominent throughout the house. You must go down to go up and at times go up to go down. There are doors to nowhere and doors everywhere!
Sara Winchester was only 4'10" tall. Many of the doors, halls, ceilings, staircases and even the one and only shower were built with her tiny stature in mind. I am also very short so I fit right in!!
The Winchester Mansion is claimed to be very haunted. They also offer paranormal investigative tours to hunt for ghosties.
There is section of rooms in the house that still display the destruction from the 1906 earthquake.
This was a very interesting tour of a very wacky house!
If you are in San Jose I highly recommend stopping by! so worth it!
And go watch the Movie "Winchester" too... then compare.

Tour and history of the house was interesting but expensive and rushed. Jen the tour guide was very knowledgeable but rushed. The group was large considering the size of the rooms in the house.

Awesome tour, great tour guides! Would highly recommend the explore more add-on! Incredible house with an incredible story! A must see when in the area.

Such an interesting place! The mind of Mrs Winchester is as much of a maze as the house. I have been wanting to visit for years and I was not disappointed!

My husband and I visited the house while he was working in the area. The house is a beautiful old style Victorian home with all kinds of twist and turns on the inside. The rooms are decorated beautifully and our tour guide Zack made it an interesting tour. We done the mansion tour which is $39/per person (adult) and the tour last 65 minutes. Photography is allowed as long as you take quick photos. The only complaint I had was that you’re really rushed through so makes it hard to take photos. Video is not allowed. Mrs. Winchester was an interesting person in her creative ideas of her home. Parking is free and they also offer an “Extended Tour” for an additional fee. Enjoy your trip

Excellent tour. Joshua was an awsome tour guide. Anyone loving the spooky haunted house theme will love the gift shop.

If you watched the movie you would be disappointed from the tour. It is just a tour of an old mansion that has many rooms, windows, and doors that lead to no where. It's best to look at the outside and look at pictures online. However, if you are bored and don't have any plans it's worth checking out.

It is just an old big house not well designed .
Over priced tickets for nothing
Not worth your time .

We spent a little over an hour touring this iconic and bizarre Victorian mansion in the heart of tech country we’re once vast orchards stretched.

For those not in the know, this place was the pet project of the eccentric heiress to the Winchester (rifle) fortune. Having relocated from Connecticut and acquired a small 8-room farm house and surrounding land in 1923, she spent the next 40 years adding rooms in a bizarre manor with odd staircases, doorways to know where and secret passages. Today it has around 160 rooms including 13 (her favorite number) bathrooms with more windows than NY’s Empire State Building.

Yes it’s pricey to visit. Your 65-minute guided tour costs around $45/adult and you have to endure some corny “dad” jokes along the way, but the stranger and beautiful interiors made us glad we stopped by,

The small group tour (around 15 people in ours) are led through and past around 110 of the 160 spaces. We happened to visit of a rare hot (85+) day and since there is no AC some of the spaces were a bit warm but there were a couple of places where water was provided.

In its heyday over 40 crafts people were busy day and night expanding and maintaining the property. One of those crazy places that can only exist in the USA. Worth a visit.

This has been on my husband’s bucket list for years. It is a crazy tour just because of the house itself. Our guide was great. Make sure are able to go up and down stairs because there are a lot of them. The only thing that was disappointing is that the furniture is not original.

This was the main highlight of my trip to San Jose. I didn't get a chance to watch the Winchester movie but I did read up on the topic enough to appreciate the history and architecture of the Winchester dwelling.

Back when it was built, it would have been considered a high end building with luxurious amenities. The tour guide was informative and engaging. The garden is well kept and good for photos. Last but not least, a huge gift shop to browse which got the kids excited.

Upon arrival, there are so many activities to do even before you go in the house, it was decorated for Halloween which took away from some of the narrative, but Jere was engaging and funny as our guide. There are some very tight spaces and if you take the explore more tour, you will be wearing a hard hat in some areas (Alexis did a great job with this). You can easily spend 3 hours or more on site and you hardly know it's there surrounded by larger buildings, but the grounds are immaculate. This was a bucket list item and I'm so glad I went.

This place is weird, but interesting I had never been and lived in California for a long time.The Mansion is pretty impressive, so many different room, and they have done such a great job keeping the house up in good condition. I bit of a costly thing to do but once inside I felt it was worth it, I would suggest you go there during the spring or early summer there isn't and heat in that old house, and the day we visited it was cold so dress accordingly. After looking at the photos and shearing them my mother kept saying she was seeing shadows of people in the windows, along with numerous other things, ha ha. It is also worth it if you have a great tour guide that will answer question and explain in more details about the house. Lots of walking up and down stairs, through narrow hallway and walkways. Over all great experience not sure I need to see it again.

I also wish I had looked for reviews before paying a ridiculous amount of money for the All Hallow's Eve Lost in the House tour this past weekend. We were 4 adults and 5 teens/preteens, and it was so. not. scary. This was my second time at the Winchester House and a first for some of us; the first time I went, we did the daytime "behind the scenes" tour with our kids and had a great & informative guide; it was well worth it. This time, we couldn't believe how dull this was, especially for how expensive the tickets are. The house itself is very cool, of course, but it would have been SO easy to make it more fun and creepy with more spooky props, a few jump scares, a better theme/story...seriously, it wouldn't be that hard. All the kids were pretty disappointed, and the adults were too - for the cost as well as the lost opportunity to get in the Halloween spirit. On the plus side: customer care was good at all points, the Witches Brew drink was strong (and typically pricey, but you expect that), and the outside fog by the graves was cool. The preteen kids had fun running around the outside grounds; they are easy to please in that regard. Other than that, a big flop. Save your money! Would not recommend.

Me and my family visited Winchester Mansion in late December 2019. We loved the tour especially the way tour guide Dante made it interesting. It is a very interesting place to visit and having a tour guide like Dante made it even more interesting. He uses very catchy expressions to keep you entertained and attentativd and make the tour interesting.I wish we have more tour guides like him. We will especially ask for him if came back for the tour.

Amazing, I loved all the tour of the house. Our guild was wonderful very knowledgeable and entertaining. What a great example of Victorian architecture, lovely statues, and gardens. Once again comfy shoes, wear a coat it's chill in the house, be perpared to walk a mile with lots of stairs. Buy your ticket online we had to wait a hour for a tour. She was quite a interesting lady so glad we decided to drive San Jose.

I found the tour fascinating, wondering about this tiny woman who created this bizarre but interesting house. However, they fall so short on what it could be! Information is given but there's no storytelling, and this house is yearning for a bard, someone who can spin a tale around all these bits and pieces of info and make it th compelling piece of history that it had to be. I mean, the woman had a seance room with three exits but only one entrance. You can't drop that factoid without mentioning she thought the ghosts of those killed by her family's guns were following her. But the guides sort of hedged and avoided talking about anything remotely non factual. Spin the tale!

However ,I did find it interesting, the covid socially distanced tour was still great, the period costumes fun. Just, for the price, how about upping the entertainment factor? Maybe make the teen employees from the theater department. If I hadn't listened to a podcast about the Winchester house as a base for the Disney haunted mansion, it wouldn't have been as fun. And, btw, I didn't see that mentioned anywhere. Why not?

I took my adult daughters and their boyfriends here to celebrate one of them turning 31 and having this house on their "bucket list." All six adults were amazed by the beauty, the story, and the mystery. We took two cameras that I have used for years and never had a single issue and I took over 300 pictures. Most of the pictures came out as beautiful as ever, but we had a few that were completely unexplained. I have uploaded a couple of examples.....

Very interesting house with a heap,of history. The tour guides were excellent informative, witty and lots of knowledge in relation not just to the property but the history of the area. Nice grounds and the usual large gift shop to liberate you of your hard earned cash.

My second visit (but that was some 40 years ago) and my husband and daughters first visit. Our daughter has wanted to visit the house for many years and this year we decided "why not". The self guided tour was actually quite nice. There were plenty of guides around that if you did have a question someone could answer.

The gardens are so beautiful so make sure that you take the time to look at them as well.

Sarah Winchester is undoubtedly one of history's most colorful characters. This house has to be seen to be believed. It helps to read up on the story before touring the house. It is very imposing and we were a bit frightened but in a good way. You get a vivid glimpse of Sarah's belief in the spirit world. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and definitely recommend this house.

I cant say enough of how much my sister and I enjoyed the tour. It was our first time and it lived up to our expectations. We are definitely going to go back and do another tour maybe on Halloween. I enjoyed the guides that day. They made the experience even better with their shared stories on top of history of the Winchester house owner. I did get a great orb picture while at the top of the house and some pictures with puzzling shadows. My sister cant figure it out either. We did the regular and bonus tour which is worth the money. We also walked around on our own outside where a groundskeeper? helped show us the popular spots where there was sightings of ghosts which was awesome. It was a great day with my sister. Again we are definitely going back to do another tour. Big Mahalo ❣️!

I enjoyed the regular hour-long guided tour, but with more time, I would have done the Explore More tour or the special Unhinged Halloween tour. Fascinating history and incredible feat of building. Very cool, big gift shop and even a small cafe where you can get food to eat there or take out. Be ready for a lots of walking and standing. And explore the exterior grounds too!

Place is AMAZING, took a rode trip from SoCal and the house is right in the heart of Downtown San Jose. We did just the tour of the house and it is OLD SCHOOL MONEY at its best..

A must see Historic Bucket List Place!!!!! Has lot parking. Not hard to find. Historic building with a unique past. Tour guys are well educated on the property as well the family history.

I loved the history, antiques, and quirky architecture. My husband was hoping for more about the family firearms business. We were there on a frigid January morning and I think it may have been colder in the house than outside, if that’s possible. Dress as if you’d be outdoors the entire time. Great tour guide!

It a bit corny depending on the tour guide, but the place has a huge history. Sarah Winchester came up with many brilliant ideas, but she was a bit off her rocker (glass doors in toilets).

Don't study up on it before you go. The main premise that the builder was crazy is largely contrived. That said, it's a fun oddity to visit. Beautiful Victorian details. Tour groups are relatively small and the guide was entertaining.

I’ve been here a dozen times with people of all ages. This latest trip was with two small children (7-9) and my girlfriend. We all had an amazing time. We did the daily estate tour and the explore more tour. It was my first time doing the explore more and it was amazing and totally worth it. As many times as I’ve done I always see and hear something new. I will continue to visit. Plus they let military/veterans in free all month and offer 40% off other tickets. You can’t beat that. If you’re in the area on vacation or live here you have to go. There’s nothing else like it. Roxi was our tour guide and she was great. One of the best I’ve had.

Cool place. One of a kind experience. If you’re looking for something very unique I would recommend stopping in. We attended with a group.

We went to the Winchester house to see the interesting architecture and hear all of the stories about its construction. It was a fantastic trip. We did both the regular tour and the extended tour. I highly recommend both. We had 2 fantastic tour guides one was Freddie and the other was jet Jett. This is a really cool house with all sorts of interesting features and the tour guides really personalized it and made the tour fun. Highly recommended if you have some time period each tour is just over an hour.

Was a good tour except the groups are big and it gets crowded in the tight spaces. The tour guide was awesome and really made the story pop out in your mind.

We weren’t too sure what to expect here. It’s quite pricey but you do get to wander the small gardens before your guided tour. Our guide was Sabina and she was very good throughout. It was interesting to hear about the history of the house, its links to the Winchester rifle Inventor and the possible spooky goings-on. It’s not a grand house as such but it has so many quirks it’s just interesting to see. It’s about an hour to visit the whole house which is an absolute rabbit warren (so stay with your group). And watch out for ghosts!!

After learning about The Winchester Mystery House from a few podcasts (shoutout: Lore & Morbid), I was very interested in visiting. Our tour guide was fantastic and kept a good pace throughout the tour. I learned a few new things from the guide and appreciated the opportunity to see The Winchester Mystery House in person. If you are in the neighborhood, I feel the tour is worth your time. It is both historic and a bit spooky. We enjoyed the regular tour and I'm interested in returning for one of the deeper dive or spooky tours.

We did visit when the house was decorated for Halloween and although that was cool, it was also a bit distracting from the story of The Winchester Mystery House and Sarah Winchester.

This tour would have been 5 stars if they had not disassociated themselves from the Winchester rifle. I understand being sensitive in light of mass shootings but that is a huge part of the history of this house. They used to have a display of old rifles and also let you hold a rifle as a prop when they took your group’s photo. History should not be re written! Her guilt over all who were killed by that rifle was responsible for her moving to California. Those spirits allegedly haunted her causing the constant construction of the house over the 38 years.

We had a good tour guide this time (Isaac). I’ve only had one bad tour there. That poor tour guide did not believe any of the legends & ruined the “mystery” of the house. Isaac played up the mystery & shared some reported paranormal events that made it more exciting. We did not experience any event personally.

Our friends visiting from Texas absolutely loved the tour but were also disappointed that there was very little mention of the rifle and it’s connection to the house.

People on here giving poor reviews because they’re too cheap to travel should stay home. Of course the guides memorize a script. If u want a broadway performance then pay for it at the theater. You get what u pay for.

It was my first time at Winchester Mystery House and it was some good creepy fun. Would love to visit during the Halloween again!

The house is quite interesting to see, but I felt the price was ridiculously high. The tour took over an hour but I felt we were somewhat rushed as the next tour group was soon to follow. Of course, they wanted us to pay more to see more. The guide was nice. We didn’t buy the family pic as it too was ridiculously overpriced. The rooms were small and stairwells were narrow. The group was large and had to crowd into the room. Often the guide would start her speech before half the group got into the room, so we didn’t always hear what she was saying or see what she was talking about.

We took my mom on her 82th birthday, and overall we had a great time. One hiccup: We made a reservation for a Tuesday, but when an atmospheric river came through our area, it was too treacherous to drive (San Jose is more than an hour from our house). I saw on the site and in the confirmation email that you could get a refund or rescheduled date by calling their number or emailing. Well, I emailed and called 5 times each (plus reached out on Facebook and Twitter) and didn't get a response. I ended up buying a second set of tickets (totaling $200 for three people for two tours), and after four days of not hearing back, asked for the refund at the ticket counter, which they gave me without any problems. So I'd say maybe don't depend on that number or email. That said, our house tour was with Freddie, and she was amazing -- really lovely and informative; we very much enjoyed her and the tour. Our second tour was the Spirits tour, and I'd thought it would mostly be about Victorian spirituality, and it was partially about that, but there was also a lot of ghost stories. You do get access to rooms you don't see on the house tour, but overall it wasn't QUITE our scene. That said, our tour guide was Jennifer, and we also very much enjoyed how informative and nice she was. Overall, really happy with the experience; you really should go if you have the opportunity.

Reminded me of Fonthill Castle from my area. I love touring interesting constructions.

Loved the projection presentation on stained glass. Loved the music and earthquake simulation, etc. well thought out. The house smelled great. The trees and decorations were lovely.

Just wish they wouldve started the tour in the restored rooms. We wouldve warmed more to the fact that this was her home and it couldve been lovely. Focussing our attention on how people wouldve dined at that time in Connecticut and the West. Suggesting we imagine the kinds of gatherings she might have had, etc. Focussing on life of a wealthy woman (albeit reclusive) of her experience in her community at the time. Im sure there must be some documentation.

Id love to have heard how many servants (I asked and was told “many”), their lives, their rooms, etc. (I think the Newport mansions do it well.)

Just starting the tour in the cold bare bones of the home left me confused and cold (literally and figuratively). The confusion wasnt because of the mixed up home, but because it looked extremely uncomfortable. It wasnt until to you got to the beautifully restored part that you fully appreciated that the home, while strange, could have been beautiful.

So grateful the home was preserved.

A very interesting look at this unique house by Sarah Winchester. The architecture ranges from beautiful to bizarre. Your entertainment will mostly be due to your tour guide, and Gwendolyn was top-notch!

If you’re interested in history, innovation and maybe a little ghost story, this is a fascinating place to visit. We went with two teenagers and we all enjoyed it.

Andrew gave a wonderful tour with so many interesting facts about the house. Be sure to walk through the beautiful gardens outside. You won’t be disappointed with the tour. Trying to buy tickets is another story, however. The website says advance tickets are required but trying to buy them online can make you go crazy. You pick a time, register and pay with a credit card. And then … time after time, I got a message saying the time I picked was no longer available. I tried calling the posted number which no one answers and left a message which no one returned. Since this was to be my last day in San Jose, I drove to the property and found many people buying tickets at the door. In doing that, you have to wait for the next available time which was about an hour in my case. Also, if you’re a senior, tell them up front so you will get the senior price. They won’t ask you.

With some spare time on our hands, and reading the favorable reviews, we thought this would be a good filler. I think basically it was a waste of money. The tickets are expensive (approx $42 per adult), and while the house is interesting and sprawling (you get to see maybe 100 of the 160 rooms, on a one hour guided tour), none of the furnishings are intact, though a number of finishes are. There is little historical relevance, nor any innovations that would draw you to the property. The newly restored rooms are interesting shows of Victorian area rooms and antiques, but you can see they can't keep up with the maintenance of the exterior/facade. The building is hot and stuffy in places, and you walk a lot of steps and stand in small rooms with a group of 18 other people/strangers. The property is now surrounded by high rise apartments and mid rise commercial buildings. Sadly, that may be the future highest and best use for this antiquated, irrelevant relic. Parking is included in your ticket price. They start and finish you in a large gift shop of tchotchkes.

Informative / fun tour! We went to visit the Winchester Mystery Mansion and it exceeded our expectations! They had a cafe and huge gift shop. We also got to view 110 rooms and do the basement experience! I highly recommend adding that it’s only $13 extra and self guided!

Amazing tour with great tour guide. Very informative. Made the tour very interesting. My first time there.

Purchased the “All Hallows Eve” tickets for a double date. They tried to make it funny, but it was a ridiculous tour with fake overreacting by the tour guide. I don’t need extreme fright night, but disappointed it wasn’t more of a serious tour for Halloween. The light show was the only cool part about it

We really enjoyed our tour of the house - it's a fascinating building and Sarah Winchester was an impressive woman. Afterwards I wanted to know more about her life so took some time to read about her life. It turns out that the tour pretty much lies to you about Sarah and her supposed obsession with the paranormal. They really lean in to all of that and from what I've read it's pretty much all unsubstantiated nonsense which was created after her death to sell tickets to her unusual house. While I was on the tour I asked the guide a little about Sarah's relationships and he dodged the question - I now understand why. I think her history and that of the house is interesting enough without having to peddle this nonsense. It also does a disservice to a smart, philanthropic woman. Visit the house but read her story on Wikipedia before you go so that you can ask the tour guide some awkward questions..

If you happen to be in San Jose, CA area, then this is a must for you. It was build over 100 years ago, but is well maintained. Staff is very friendly and knowledgeable about the history of this place. In the winter time Gardens may not be the best- but good to walk around and relax before your tour. Tours are with a guide in small batches of 10-15 in a group. There are over 160 rooms here and be prepared to walk - no elevators0 but steps are small. Photos are allowed, but no flash photography. Seniors get a discount on their tour prices.

Didn’t see any ghosts! 😏
My husbands not really crazy about spooky places or their claims but I really was fascinated about the history. My dad had a Winchester rifle and obviously the superstition of those days and her personal misfortunes lead her to build this marvelous mystery house. Our tour guide I believe it was Jennifer, was extremely informative and well spoken. My husband found all the bizarre stuff very interesting. The garden area was beautiful so glad we made the visit.

My fiance would always pass by this area whenever he would be in San Jose so we decided to finally check it out during our last visit.

The house and area is huge and it was a fun way to kill free time for us. The house has the most quirky architecture and the story behind the house and the matriarch who designed it is quite intriguing.

The tour guide was very nice and is a fantastic storyteller.

For those who plan on visiting, a tip for those who are quite tall: the house has some areas that are very narrow and with a low ceiling because the original owner was quite small. So be cautious and try not to hit your head!

Very interesting house with a lot of stories, tour was informative and enjoyable. If you visit during cold weather months, dress warmly because there is little heat inside the house. Recommend using a groupon to pay for admission to bring down the cost.

The Light Show was worth the drive...don't miss it! However, the Unhinged Tour was a mixed bag. While the costumes, makeup, props and acting were all excellent, the tour was very rushed. Guests were constantly rushed from scene to scene, with no time to linger a bit and take in the surroundings. If they slow it down to a more leisurely pace, I'll give it 5 stars. But even with the fast pace, it was definitely worth the money.

I knew what Winchester rifles were but after seeing the movie, I wanted to know more. Winchester Mystery House was the place to go. First off, I should have kept my Hollywood I,ages of the house out of my head as the movie needed to make it seem spooky. Once you see it in real life, it is more like a maze house than something spooky. Although, the Mansion Tour (which lasted about 65 minutes) tour guide will tell you it is believed that spirits wander the grounds. The short summary of Sarah Winchester helps give you a simple reason why the stairs were inclined and curved they way they were, odd places for doors and windows and the connection from place to room to place to room.....I did subscribe to mailing list to get an additional savings off ticket price but I am still disappointed I paid that much solidly because I felt the tour group or my set time was too big. When you buy tickets on their website, you pick what time you want to do the tour. The staff do run on time and on schedule which is great. I just think that since they are so efficient, groups for mansion tours should be capped at 10 just because I missed some information and it was hard to huddle in small rooms/spaces with a large group.

Loved this tour! Our guide Suzanne was phenomenal: knowledgeable, interactive, well-paced and did a great level of group interaction - she didnt just talk at you which I always appreciate. The grounds are lovely and you get a nice walk (about 1/3rd mile I think). Overall a great 65 min tour.
FYI- the house isnt the most accessible because of the amount of stairs so keep in mind if you have limitations walking.

There are many disappointing aspects about this house and tour. First, the house is located on a city block in San Jose. It is not a handsome estate in the country. Second, our tour guide lacked any story telling capability. Third, the house is just a jumble of rooms. The website leads one to believe that it is an "architectural wonder". The 60 minute tour is hardly worth the $42 per ticket.

a little expensive for a house tour -but it's not your average rich person's big old house. my house is older ( but about 150 rooms smaller). the owner of this house is a whole more interesting than the owner of my house (me). she built a house with no rhyme or reason. but it must have been fun doing it. this house is all over the place. i wish it still had some original furniture because as crazy as she was the furniture must have been crazy too. our docent/ tour guide could have been a little more enthusiastic

A must visit if you’re in San Jose! Don’t hit Valley Fair Mall or Santana row, although close they are overpriced and crowded! WMH is a local treasure, see how one woman built an 1800s monument to the spirits of the people who were killed by the famous Winchester rifle; as long as she kept building 24/7 the spirits would stay away! Over 100 plus rooms and beautiful grounds to explore, make sure to take both tours so you can see as much of the grounds as you can! My absolute favorite place in San Jose!

When you see it toted as “...the house of mystery” that’s your first clue to reconsider whether to visit.

First, at $35 per person, for what you see in one hour is not worth the money. The ticket prices should be $5-$10 max or the City of San Jose should buy it and allow free admission since it is registered as a state historical landmark. My personal opinion is this place teeters on the verge of being a bit of a tourist trap.

The guide was knowledgeable, but, through no fault of his own, moves through the house too quickly not giving patrons a chance to examine the rooms or their contents as we were walking through. The tours were packed in too tightly and too close together—at least on a weekend.

The things I enjoyed the most were: The stained glass windows; climbing all the multiple stairways which were often quite narrow with multiple twists & turns; climbing up to the highest part of the house where you can see the bell tower; and, the grand ballroom—the only room in the house designed by an architect.

There wasn’t much history given about Sarah’s father-in-law or the history of the development of the Winchester gun. Nor were there any photos or diagrams depicting what the home looked like originally and how it changed through the years or the square footages of the original house, the pre-1906 earthquake home & post-earthquake home. You get a general idea without much detail. In a nutshell, the woman kept adding onto the house because a psychic medium told her as long as she continued working on the home the sound of the construction would keep the evil spirits away. It was rumored the house was haunted & they were the spirits of all those killed by the Winchester guns. Sarah also had a ritual of a nightly seance.

I learned more about the house from reading articles on the internet after my visit. Some things were not even discussed in the tour at all. I would have liked to learn at bit more about the significant architectural design elements & more time to examine them.

I’ve visited many historical houses such as Hearst Castle, George Washington’s home at Mt. Vernon, Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright, Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello or Graceland (to name a few) & they were, in my opinion, more interesting & worth the money.

However, if you are a local resident of San Jose I can see why this house holds a special meaning as a historic point of interest in the community —after all when you search for San Jose on Trip Advisor the photo of the Winchester House is what pops up! So apparently it’s quite significant to the community of San Jose. This year marks its 100th anniversary.

Cool historical house to tour. There were lots of interesting things to look at. I didn't think the Explore More tour added a whole lot of value so I wouldn't do that one of I could do it over. But the main tour was pretty cool

We only got to see 110 out of 160 rooms why I have no clue maybe covid idk we couldnt even see the basement

This place is bizarre and wonderful. The tour lasts over an hour and you get a good sense of the history of this really strange house. Our tour guide was smart and funny. They could do a better job on the gardens, though, and the gift shop is, shall we say, dull.

Free admission in gift shop and around the house (gardens)

The house cost around $40 per adult to enter, not worth it if you are not interested in horror and ghosts

Fascinating tour and house. I would definitely not miss this on your travel plans. The staff was great, easy parking.

CANNOT CANCEL OR RESCHEDULE!!! Website says u can cancel or reschedule by calling the number or email. I have been calling EVERY DAY for over a week. I have emailed also. Left messages on the Contact US page. NO RESPONSE!! I just want to reschedule. I paid $136 and am going to lose it because no one answers the phone or calls back. I only have one day left. I don't know what else to do.

Our tour guide was very good, extremely knowledgeable with excellent presentation skills. I felt like she could have been one of the cast members at the Haunted Mansion at Disney, however. Not sure if that was part of the script or if that was her demeanor. Regardless, it added to the bizarreness.

The house is definitely weird, unsettling, and perplexing. I can understand the mystique due to how bizarre the house is more so than how historic or significant it is. To me, it just was just a walk through a weird person's home.

I had purchased our tickets through Groupon. I certainly don't think $39 is a fair or good value for a one hour tour through a freak house.

My main reason for the average rating is the cost at $42 for an adult for the main tour, that is extreme for an hours tour. You may as well get the explore more tour added on if you have the time just to reduce the overall cost, another $42 on its own of $12 if bought at same time.
We were on holiday and this seemed a quirky think to do so prepared to spend the money. It is definitely more of a curiosity than a 'must see'.
It is bonkers!
I heard the history and just cannot understand why someone, her neice? could not persuade her to stop. It also shows just how much money she had to be able to carry on with the work. Apparently 15 builders 24/7 for 38 years, well they all saw her coming no wonder they were loyal a never ending cash cow.
It is a sad story non the less.
Some of the works make sense as she was a short lady so low hand rails then suffered with arthritus so staircases with very low risers but most of it is insane.
We found the explore more tour better but does only make sense if you have done the main tour, so main or both not just explore more. The latter covers some of the outer buildings too but only from the outside.
Very large gift shop.
Cafe out of action when we visited.
Whole place now closed until 1st April due to C 19 virus so hope they crack on and finish cafe and other works needed in this period.
Gardens were a bit disappointing, not very large, well kept, but nothing unusual - given the rest of the place.
She died in the house and the work stopped immediately.
The house is sparsely furnished as all was left to the neice who kept what she wanted and sold the rest - an awful lot of 'stuff'.
There was piped music/sound effects throughout the tour which I didnt think really added anything. Also plastic flowers in the conservatory area. Surely a few pots of live plants/bulbs/ferns could add to the ambience, in there and throughout the house.
Definately quirky, a large house, not especially beautiful outside and definately not inside.

Our tour guide; Mackenize was a delightfully, funny and knowledgeable person. She answered my curious questions. Definitely a must see when you visit San Jose!

We loved everything here, from the moment we stepped in, the mansion is breath taking, our tour guide was gracefully talking of the history of this place…recommended 100% even if you haven't watch the movie!

They've done a good job with the tour. It's interesting and I enjoyed it. Our guide was very good and entertaining. I'd been wanting to visit since I was a kid when I read about it in a spooky stories book over 35 years ago. So I'm glad I went. But I felt it was overpriced. Had I been able to go on a weekday and used a Groupon I think I'd give it a higher rating. I highly recommend a visit if you can get a discount.

I took my grandson to this unusual, interesting mystery house during his school vacation. He is a 13 year old and curious about everything and our tour guide was so patient.
Our tour guide was a gem.
Her name is Arizona and she knew all well including all the stories that went with the house.
She obviously loves her job.
We will be back again.

Tyler did an AMAZING job of being our tour guide. Tyler was so knowledgeable, professional and funny. The house is incredible in itself, but I LOVE seeing and hearing the history. Highly recommend this tour soooo much!!

The “Unhinged” haunt at the Winchester Mansion had all the spooky vibes that are inherent in the old house but the installed scares were not as good as past years snd no projection on the house this time. The actors were great, playing their roles as ghost hosts but only the really jumpy patrons will come out screaming. The pre show was very entertaining but I’m not sure that energy keep up past the opening. It seemed “dead” when I left. For a single event haunt is it’s also rather pricey but that makes the VIP pass a value since it allows you walk both paths through the house. But any excuse to visit this amazing place is worthwhile and I highly recommend doing the daylight tour to get the real bizarre history of this haunted estate.

I wish I had read prior reviews before spending $64.99 + tax & fees for the All Hallow's Eve Lost in The House "performance". Apparently it sucked in 2019 and other years and they have found it financially successful enough to not care about the fact that this is nothing more than a Fund Raiser - Donation Drive.

The tour guide did the best they could with what they have - unfortunately it hasn't occurred to them to get more educated about the site itself and the history - I doubt the other guides have either. We also couldn't hear them very well.

The story line for this tour is ok, the execution would have been done better by middle schoolers overall. There was one "actor" / "Performer" and a few security people dressed up with electric candles under their faces. Random sound effects, a couple puffs of air and a fog machine in the attic. The victorian iron coffin was cool, however, most of the tour group had no idea the history of such an item and saw it as another prop. The hanging lady was also cool.

Pretty much it was a line of people telling the person behind them "step up" "step down" "small step" "BIG step" "small bump".

Although there were fans throughout - it was SO stifling hot at 8:40 at Night!
Many of the electric candles were out which wasn't helpful. I would love to take this tour at a slower pace during a cool fall day so I could actually see things and learn a little more about the various rooms. My friend said we went through 113 rooms - if that's the case, THAT is impressive and explains the seeming 5-10 seconds in each space!

The garden tour /Jack o' Lantern Trail is self-guided and the signage at the various points were unlit, even under the nearly full moon. The ofrenda - Día de Muertos area was very nicely done and having that theme throughout the entire garden grounds would have been AWESOME. Frankly, it would also honor the local community. San Jose has always been predominantly Hispanic and has a very rich heritage. (Remember They Were Here First - everyone else is a newbie - intruder - colonial!!)

The front garden was sparsely decorated with "dozens" of pumpkins - maybe a total of 4 dozen on the entire grounds - I didn't count, but it didn't seem like that many.

The Axe throw I guess costs extra, or so I was told by a random person waiting on their friend that it was a paid activity. There was no staff person present, so who knows. But the shooting gallery required quarters, so I assumed the axe throw was a ticketed thing.

I love the house, I love the grounds, even as small and shrunken as it has become with time. It's a beautiful place to sit and relax amidst the chaos of a Big City (Santana Row is right across the super busy wide city street). It used to be free to walk the grounds so families would come and picnic. I didn't look to see if it is now by fee, but would assume so.

Although I can recommend the regular tours, I cannot in good conscience recommend the Halloween Season night Tour. Totally bummed my trip, since several years ago it was recommended and I just finally got around to it!!

(Side note: some silly people in the tour group were compelled to press the guide for their pronoun - the guide seemed taken aback & uncomfortable btw - I felt like saying "human" why does it matter? I grew up being told to just include people and treat them well without getting hung up on labels and have used the gender neutral "they" regularly for WELL over 20 years as a matter of course - I'm beyond confused about the new necessity of mandatory labels.)

My friends and I came here to do the Axe Throwing for one of my friend's birthdays. It was really fun! Our instructor was great and really friendly. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to do anything else, but I will definitely be coming back!

We are visiting from Oklahoma, the Winchester Mystery House was a top on our list of places to see. They offer two different tours, I definitely recommend booking in advance and doing both! One is more informative about the history of the house, the other is related to the paranormal events that have occurred there. Both tours will show you different sides of the home and one will take you into the basement. 👻 They are both about an hour each. Our tour guide was amazing, very informative.

Covid has been wreaking havoc across the globe, but it also creates some unique opportunities, such as visiting the Winchester Mystery House on a weekday afternoon when there were almost nobody around.

We had the house almost to ourselves...almost! It made for a extraordinary experience wandering around the mysterious and wacky mystery house. The self guided audio tour gave just enough information, and that friendly staff were always happy to answer questions and give out insightful fun facts.

I would've been annoyed I had came on a pre covid day where the mass crowds would've made for a miserable experience, all the slow people and social media addicts would destroy the experience. But to have the house nearly to ourselves, it was awesome!

We scheduled both the regular tour and the extended tour. There were way too many people on the regular tour to get much out of it .We couldn't keep up with so many people strung through the narrow stairs and corridors and as a result heard very little the guide said. I would rate this a 2.5 tour.
Thankfully we also scheduled the extended tour. There were 13 on this tour (hmmm) and it was enjoyable and informative. I rate this a 5.

Took this special tour with friends and Jim was our guide. His dad jokes reminded me of typical Disney Jungle Cruise style humor, but where he excelled was his historical knowledge of the house and it’s legacy.

Our group got a special look into the houses history with a focus on the macabre, spiritualism, and paranormal. We heard many personal stories from employees over the years, and got a chance to visit areas, like the basement, that’s not a part of the usual house tour.

I think the seance recreation was my favorite part. I just got chills the moment I walked into that room.

Our group experienced something for ourselves when a ghost pushed a lollipop out of my hand! I was holding PERFECTLY STILL! And it still moved! AMAZING!

I would absolutely recommend this tour to anyone with an interest in the paranormal and reportedly true ghost stories of the Mystery House. It was worth every penny!

Beautiful house and gardens. We had the 10:20 am tour on 2 July 2023. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the home and Mrs Winchester. During the tour you will see doors to nowhere. There are some tight areas to walk through because she did not waste space and she was a small lady. The house is close to a mall with some great restaurants and free parking.

Interesting house. I’ve been reading about this place for years, watching documentary films and movies.
First, it is much smaller thank I thought. Mind you I was thinking it would be the size of a small hotel. I needed to remind myself it was a personal home when rooms were much smaller than now.
Regardless, I’m happy I went. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the house. Everything I saw on tv I got to see in person. The switch back stairs, the stairs to nowhere, the seance room, and the beautiful stained glass windows.
Just go and enjoy the experience. The locals said developers are fighting to knock it down. Go while you can and see a piece of history!
R

The place is incredible so many rooms and a beautiful garden. We took both tours and really enjoyed ourselves. We used Groupon and saved a lot. The staff and tour guide were fantastic.

Loved it!!! Not for small kids. And there are small passages and funky stairs but this is a fun and scary directed venture thru part of this massive house. It was scary without being terrifying and not bloody or gross. Excellent staging and makeup and well run and organized. And then the light show was excellent too. If you want a fun evening and like this house, you will certainly enjoy this!!!

I had a bit of a disappointing experience here. The house itself seems much smaller in person. It looks bigger in photographs and online videos. We were in a group of 6. The tour felt extremely rushed. We were already led into the next room before we could fully experience the room we were in. A lot of the house is closed off. It would be nice to explore the house yourself. There is nothing creepy or spooky about this house. It does have interesting rooms and stairs. Also beautiful stained glass windows. I also wouldn’t recommend going in hotter months. The house does get hot, humid and stuffy. Overall, I wouldn’t come back or recommend it to anyone. It was not worth the price to get in. It should be less per ticket. And I didn’t like the fact that it was so rushed.

Overpriced. And, you have to pay even more to see more of the house on an "additional tour". The house was not creepy and we were rushed through the rooms to the point the tour guide began speaking without the full group in the rooms, so we missed a lot of what she said. Paid almost $250 for a family trip there and was very underwhelmed. Would not recommend.

Beautiful weird home with very interesting stories. You are taken on a tour where your guide tells you stories about Sarah Winchester the builder of this home.

Ok, we were worried how much of a tourist trap this could be but it turned out to be a really interesing house if you like history. It is pricey (About $40 per person for the basic tour) and you get a good feel for the house and the history. They over play the mystery part and try to talk a lot about spirits and stuff which it is not clear really was that important to the history. But we still enjoyed toruing the house.

We went on both the standard tour and the "more" tour in the same day. Plan on being there for 4 hours but well worth the price and time expenditure. The house is very historic for its design and innovations such as the elevators. I would consider the house more of a puzzle than a mystery. Sarah Winchester was probably a Mason and a follower of Sir Francis Bacon so hidden through out house are clues that she wanted people to find that would lead to the solving puzzles involving numbers and cyphers and would lead to enlightenment. The house is a large indoor labyrinth with an inner sanctuary (dead center in the middle of the house) that could be used for meditation and reflection. The stairs to no where are like the dead ends in a labyrinth maze. My only disappointment is the place is kept very dark and drab and the carpets are extremely worn and in need of replacement. The tour guides are trained to use their "scary" voices for effect but our two tour guides were also knowledgeable and friendly. My only other recommendation would be to limit the size of the groups to sizes that will fit comfortably in the smallest rooms that the tour stops in. Our group on the primary tour was a little on the large size and did not always fit. Do your research online before you go and the puzzles that Sarah designed will be be explained.

...being rushed thru just to get it over with. The tour guide had the canned narration down pat, but left each room in a hurry, on to the next. Seemed like I was interrupting the timing when asking a question. The basement self-guided tour had a few information plaques which helped better understand what we were looking at. Hard hats are definitely required down there!

The outdoor garden is nice, but a few signs identifying the various flowers would be helpful. Overall, it was kinda blah.

Thought it was interesting to see the architecture of the time and the oddities were certainly odd We did the standard tour and the explore more. Both were great Highly recommend to anyone spending time in the area! Stained glass was exquisite plus many features built into the house were technology forward at the time. Fascinating to see

A little piece of quirky history. Tours run about every 10 min and are reasonable at $15 for adults for over an hour tour. I recommend doing the regular tour. If you have some extra dollars, do the "more" tour. This takes you into spaces that the regular tour doesn't allow including the basement. Overall great opportunity to learn about this family and the house.

I met a friend and had a lovely time. The small stairs were unexpected. I loved the crystal and stained-glass windows. Our tour guide was full of himself an older guy and made-up stories and didn't like to answer questions. It was not as scary as the movie. The gardens are gorgeous. It is a crying shame they put those new apartments so close to the house. Sad to see so many high rises surrounding the house now. It's a beautiful house with so much history. I also enjoyed the gift shop!

Kind of a bizarre place, but that's what it's known for. Old mansion designed by a widow in the late 19th Century. Very pricey ticket. Group was too large and we had to constantly wait for stragglers. Guide clearly memorized the script and didn't show much personality. OK if you're into this kind if stuff, but just strange.

We really enjoyed the tour! We went through so many rooms I lost count. The tour guide did a great job explaining the history of the house and Sara Winchester as we walked through each room. Make sure you wear comfy shoes it’s a lot of walking

We were 4 adults. The main lady hallucinated and built walls anywhere she felt paranoid. It was nothing scary about and nothing mysterious about honestly. We all felt to bored during our trip and was waiting for this to finish. Tour guides were funny/knowledgeable but given that the actual place had very little to offer, guides were trying their best to make this a good experience.

This place is marketed extremely well to draw first time visitors but I would not recommend this place to any one. None of us felt even remotely scary during our entire trip.

You get to see a lot of rooms, something like 110 out of 160, but the tour felt a little rushed. There wasn't time to stop and look at all the quirks as you're walking through the house, you only have time to look in specific rooms that the tour stops in. While you're there make sure to walk around the outside of the house to see the other structures too.

the tour was very nice. however, the 43.00 price tag is too much. also, they didnt let us tour 50 of the rooms so it wasnt as fullfilling as it could have been.

I love her story and Winchester is my favorite place and if u all think it’s fake then don’t comment because they are real saying “stop the lies” but I really love Winchester

Very cool place to see, lots of stuff to see for everyone great architecture and plenty of spooky things to see. Tour guids were great and very knowledgeable

I came here while in town and went on the regular house tour and thought it was so fun! Really quirky house, I couldn’t stop looking around the whole time at all of the details - even the door hinges had beautiful designs! It was a little pricey for a one hour tour, however I was there for another 40 minutes slowly exploring the gardens and the gift shop. And the tour guide was fantastic. Really cool experience and story. It was a 90 degree day and did get warm upstairs, so bring a hand fan and dress appropriately! Would definitely recommend.

This a fun excursion if you find yourself in San Jose. We did the mansion tour and saw most of the remaining 160 rooms. House is surprisingly tight and the shallow switchback stairs are a wonder. Most of the time I found it difficult to determine a way out in the maze of halls and stairs but the guides do a good job keeping everyone together. Do take the time to look about the yard and gardens as well.

This is a very interesting place. The architecture is amazing and Mrs Winchester was definitely ahead of her time with the elevators, intercom system and hot shower. As far as the legend is concerned, I’m disappointed that it’s a hoax. A little research will reveal the Masonic nature to the mystery of the Winchester mansion. That in itself is quite fascinating. Definitely worth a stop and our tour guide was great! It was also just after thanksgiving so many of the trees were up and rooms decorated, but they were still taking down Halloween stuff. Maybe a little later in Dec it would be really pretty. Tickets are kinda pricey, but it’s a once in a life time trip for many so it’s not a regret especially if you like history.

During COVID lock down our work suggested there was a free tour of the Winchester house. I was so excited as I had always seen partial tours on TV, the excitement was soon squashed, I went to the site and bam $27.00 to have a virtual tour. That is a lot of money especially when many people have lost their jobs during this time. So no tour, and will need to hold the sights I saw on TV.

We love to support historic places and walked up and ordered two tickets without looking at the prices. $94!!! I asked if that included a back rub.

Interesting but a little hollow. Either lean into the haunted or don’t. Guide was engaging and fun but would not return.

Stopped in for a tour of the Mystery House midday on a weekday. It wasn't too crowded, but the tours run pretty frequently. The tour is fairly comprehensive and covers most of the rooms in the house. The tour primarily focused on the history and architecture with a couple mentions of the haunted aspect. After the tour, you can wander the exterior of the house. You have the option to go in the basement right now for an added cost, but the basement doesn't really have much in it. There are a couple of signs, but it's something you don't really need to add on. I recommend sticking to the regular tour. This attraction is worth a small detour, but I wouldn't go way out of your way to see it. It's a fun curiosity, but not a must see.

What a fun experience. The house is lovingly maintained and the grounds are exquisite especially the garden. It was fun to walk around after the tour. The tour guide was informative if not rehearsed but I guess that's to be expected after saying the same thing all day every day. Kind of funny to see this house and grounds smack in the middle of the city with condos and offices around but also loved the old photos of what the area looked like when it was originally purchased. Gift shop was well stocked with everything you could imagine. Fascinating story of Sarah Winchester.

A really interesting building with a good backstory and a little touch of the haunted. The guides are very knowledgable and willing to answer questions and share experiences.

We did the Mansion and Explore tours. If you want the full experience of both, I would buy the tickets online. (The Explore tour was half the cost online.) Our guide though the Mansion tour was entertaining and informative. The rooms are fascinating, and Sarah's story is interesting. I especially liked the Explore tour; the areas on this tour are unique and like an adventure. We went to the mansion because we knew about the hype and the crazy architecture. Our tour guide, Cindy, gave us a more historical view of the building, and her information about the architecture and life in that era was authentic and more interesting than the myth.

The last time I visited the mansion was in the 60s. It was something to do when San Jose was still a farming area with orchards. I'm so glad the state made it a historical landmark and preserved this piece of local history.

Jere was so captivating as a host, everything was so interesting that she had to say about the house. It was clear that she had a real connection. Loved this tour and this host! It is a must!

The tour was somewhat good, and the house was amazing, but...
We drove six hours to see the house, and didn't realize that the Ghost Walk Tour and the Mansion Tour represented two different halves of the house, so that if you don't buy BOTH tours, you only get to see one half of the house. I'm a capitalist, but that amounts to $82/person IF you can manage to schedule another tour AFTER you realize the scenario you're in. (Which we couldn't) The tour guide even had the audacity to tell us, "Well, I guess you have to come back!")

I came here with my spouse and I will say that this house is so beautiful from the Venetian dining room to the garden. I can only imagine how beautiful this house must have been in its prime. I recommend anyone in the Bay Area to at least visit the mystery house once, it is still standing even after all the earthquakes, Amazing!

This house is one of the finest examples in America of what too much money and no sense of design, or taste gets you. If you’re prone to believing spooky stories, you’ll have lots of fun! On the other hand, if you’re interested seeing a grade-A mansion, look elsewhere. Again, it’s worth a visit, but this place if for fans of the occult, not the golden age of Victorian architecture, at least as far as the interior is concerned. Also, if you have kids that are able to pay attention to something other than their phone, they’ll love it. It was a little pricey too.

House is open for indoor tours with Covid safety measures in place. It cost us $84 for 2 people but I think the price is worth it. This property is unique there is nothing like it anywhere else, definitely worth a visit especially if you are interested in architecture and history. You buy the tickets on line ahead of time and they are timed tickets for safety, they have done a great job with the safety measures.

What a wild and mysterious stop on our journey! Visiting the Winchester Mystery House with my son was one of the most unique and intriguing experiences we've had with Vancity Adventure. The house truly lives up to its name—doors that lead to nowhere, staircases that go straight into the ceiling, and endless rooms with a strange story behind each one.

The tour was full of fascinating history about Sarah Winchester and her obsession with building, as well as the legends of hauntings and paranormal activity. Whether you're into the supernatural, architecture, or just love a good mystery, this place delivers.

Highly recommend adding this to your travel list—especially if you enjoy the weird and wonderful side of history. Another epic Vancity Adventure in the books!

I have been wanting to visit here for YEARS and finally was in the area with a couple hours to kill. Purchased tickets online and in advance which was convenient. Bought the basement access add on for $13. We enjoyed exploring the gift shop ahead of time and I was able to get a nice Oatmilk Cappuccino from the cafe ahead of our tour. They take a fun photo of you going into the mansion tour as well if you like that sort of thing (I do). The tour lasted about 70 minutes and was super interesting even though our guide was on the unenthusiastic side. The basement access is okay but not really worth an extra $13. Overall I am so glad we did it AND got the souvenir pic to prove it!

This is a must do! My family was very happy we spent time here, the house is so interesting, tour guides are well informed, entertaining, very professional, and extremely invested in their jobs. You can see they are truly connected with the Winchester’s and Sara! I am excited to learn more about her because of them!

Such a bizarre and fun place to visit! It's such a sad and weird story, and the house is fascinating. Our tourguide, Justin, was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions very patiently. It definitely lived up to our expectations!

The Winchester Mystery House is a lot of fun. I went with a couple of family members in town, and on the main house tour we got Gene as our guide. He was funny, with wry jokes and a well-rehearsed spiel that allowed plenty of time for questions. The house itself is a bizarro experience, with strange architecture at every turn. After the main house tour, we went on the additional Walk of Spirits tour, which is their tour that focuses more on the ghostly aspects of the Sarah Winchester story. There were some legitimately creepy parts, but best of all was our tour guide Victor. He was so insanely knowledgeable, had answers for pretty much everything, and was hilarious to boot. It turned out that only my brother, my cousin, and I signed up for the ghost tour, so we got a personalized VIP tour where we got endless access to the guide, who was more than obliging toward our many queries. I was a little skeptical at around $70 a person for both tours after taxes, but after I was through with it I felt it was well worth it. Note for the pro traveler: do both tours if you really want to get a full view of the house. The ghost tour goes places you don't get to go in the main house tour (like the attic and the basements), but if you only do the ghost tour, you miss out on almost all the main history of the house. The tours are meant to be taken back-to-back like I did today. So go, and ask for Victor! You will not be disappointed.

Staffing choices make it unsuitable for children. This interesting old landmark was something we wanted to share with our grandchildren because we had taken our children here and our parents had taken us. Alas, some staffing choices made it unsuitable for our grandchildren.

I just realized that I didn’t leave a review! Oh gesh...where to start....the entire experience was terrific. Granted the gentleman leading our first tour was a little to be desired but we got the “jist” of the house. He just seemed to be regurgitating the lines he practiced, zero excitement. Wish I could remember his name, sorry...we were there in early October so his name escapes me. The second tour....YOU MUST TAKE THIS TOUR! We literally were the o my two on the tour and my husband loved that. We got to hear a few more spooky stories, a couple while in the coal area in the basement had me just a tad freaked out. Haha. Again, I wish I could remember our guides name because she was just fantastic. I sent an email directly to the “house” but received nothing in reply and that’s fine!

Again, if you do the tour take that second tour and ask questions! Also, ignore the idea that the movie and the house are the same, the only thing similar is the exact replica of the house. If fact my husband watched the film AFTER seeing the house. I will tell you that the greenhouse is photographic perfection along with the front doorway. It feels pretty special walking through the front door knowing Mrs. W only ever had a small handful (three I believe) ever enter there.

The house and gardens were amazing and well kept. The audio tour along with the staff members stationed throughout the house were well thought and informative while keeping to social distancing guidelines. They did a fantastic job adapting to the ever changing

This was a fun and informative tour. Our tour guide was really good and we learned a lot about the home. We were told there would be a lot of climbing but it wasn't difficult at all. There is so much history in the home. We were allowed to take photos. The gift shop was nice and affordable.

We took our grandchildren (ages 12 & 14) and had a really fun time. The experience wasn't too scary but just right! I wouldn't recommend for younger children. The event was organized and ran smoothly. After dark, be sure to see the Light Show in the garden. Due to the timing of our tour we had to wait 20 min for the show to start so we spent our time in the gift shop. It gave us a chance to buy hot drinks and take them out to the garden to watch the 5-7 min show.

The Winchester Mystery House Tour was a unique experience witnessing the quirky and novel architecture designed by Sarah Winchester, the widow of William Winchester (owner of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co). It was hard to understand what went into the logic of it’s design as Sarah added onto the building for decades without an architectural plan. But it is worth seeing for sure!

I want to add a special thank you to my ADA guide, Starr, who provided me with an excellent (handicap accessible) video and tour. She was extremely knowledgeable and friendly and accommodated my disability so that I didn’t miss anything of the tour.

It was so amazing, I hope to come back to complete the entire tour of the whole house after stupid Covid is over.

WMH is a favorite for the girlfriend and I so when I saw tickets for Unhinged I was all in. We had never seen the house after dark and the idea of role players participating had us pretty excited. The scares are appropriate for a family setting. No gore/blood or guts and the cast never grab you, although they interact in a very fun, appropriate way. The light show at the end was fantastic. Lastly, although not required, the girlfriend and I agree that having been on the regular tour (The Explore More Tour) was beneficial in the sense that we were already familiar with some of the rooms. Unhinged is not meant to replace the formal tour, but is a fantastic addition to those that have already seen it.

I have always wanted to go here. Loved it. Was fascinated by the history and how it was built and is still maintained. Very nice staff. Great time.

Do not take the walk with the spirits tour. Although the tour guide did the best she could, she had little to work with. Cramming 40 people in a 10x10 room was just greedy. Often too far from the guide to hear her. Seance consisted of putting your hands on a large round table while listening to a recording. Save your money!

So boring. They make too much of Sarah Winchester’s situation and the wierdness of this house. I just found the whole experience a bore....but my friends enjoyed it. It’s a matter of personal preference, i guess.

Using a Groupon voucher which gave me 10 dollars off the full entry price of 39 dollars, I enjoyed a couple of hours looking around this unique home. The story behind the build is a little shaky but nevertheless the house was interesting and not as sinister as some make out. Would I pay full price for the entry? Probably not, but given its location (near Santana Row and the shopping Mall) I had more than one reason to visit this location. Incidentally it’s easy to get to by public transportation on the No 23 bus for $2.50!

The rumors are true. There are crooked hallways, there are doors-that-lead-to-nowhere, and there are pits-that-make-you-fall-a-ten-foot-fall. But, the other part of the rumor, about the spirits, is fortunately not true. So enjoy the mystery and think up your own conspiracies about the Victorian mansion!

We really enjoyed our tour of the Winchester House, our tour guide was excellent - both entertaining and informative. We took the guided mansion tour, then walked around the gardens after. Interesting house, interesting architecture, interesting back-story of the owner Sarah Winchester. Easy to make online reservations.

The house is now surrounded by condos, office buildings, movie theaters and shopping. Sadly very little of the estate and gardens remain. The gardens themselves are on the small side, I'd not recommend the garden only tour - do the mansion instead which inculdes the gardens.

Seemed like a great experience, and it was. It was a little pricey for what it was, but I would recommend it. Overall the experience was fun and full of exciting things to learn.

This was on our bucket list and boy I’m so glad we made this trip out. It was so interesting to see how this house was built and how mind-boggling to see things that didn’t make any sense in the house that were built. So glad that we came out. The tour was well done groups for a little bit big but all in all they did an amazing job.

One of the randomly interesting things to do in the Bay Area. The tour is about an hour and covers 110 of the 160 rooms. We found it wonderful and interesting. They do, however, really build up the mystery part.

I was in town for business and had a few hours to kill so decided to check out the Winchester Mystery House and mark it off my bucket list. I wanted to do the bundle, but got there late so was only able to do the main Mystery House tour. It doesn't say it on the website, but you have to start the main tour by about 2pm in order to do the "explore more" tour afterwards since the place closes at 4pm and each of the tours takes about an hour. Our tour guide, Abe, was awesome! He was very knowledgeable and really got into character when he was telling us about part of the house. The house itself was interesting to see and worth it if you're interested in history and want to know more about the mystery of the Winchester fortune.

House and grounds are beautiful, tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly. No big negatives, except that it seems pricey at $42 a person. But I am glad that I got to see it. It was busy but they do a good job with how they have the tours timed, so I didn’t find it overwhelming with the amount of people, etc. I would recommend going if you are interested in Victorian architecture or are familiar with the story.

We went for the flashlight tour during the 2020 pandemic. I was impressed that they did such a good job with safety and social distancing. This is the first time I had been to the Winchester Mystery House. I would like to go back and see the gardens and the extended tour where you get to see more of the house. My favorite part was the narrow , winding stairs with the shallow steps. It was an expensive ticket. I think this house is something to be preserved. I think of it as part of the ticket price being for the tour and part as a donation to keep up the place. I was happy to pay it.

Well worth the visit for friends, family, locals. Continues to bring new ideas and insights to this magnificent attreactions. Intersting facts and insights. Dante, tour guide added humor, interesting insights as well as cared about each guest!!!

Never heard of this place but my husband is a history person and mentioned this house. So since we were in the area we decided to stop by. Tickets were easy to purchase online. It was slightly pricey for a family of four cost about 130 for the mansion tour which includes the garden. However there is a spirit tour as well but we opted out because we had our youngest (8yrs old) and she got slightly scared in the beginning of the tour. But it was very fun and the tour guide was very nice and patient.

I was expecting more. The gardens were lovely and the exterior of the house was gorgeous. However, the interior of the house was average. I thought the tour lacked information short of pointing out there was a shower or a parlor. Yes, the house is bizarrely laid out, but I'd say watch the movie and save your money.

Evie was an absolute gem of a tour guide for our tour of the Winchester Mystery house. So engaging and knowledgeable! We loved learning about Sara Winchester and the history of the house.

I finally made it to the Winchester house and it was a great time and totally enjoyed learning about its long history. My guides Jesse and Amanda were great and gave a lot of interesting information about the house and the people who worked for Sarah Winchester. Well worth the visit!!

Waited for our tour past the start time by 10-15 minutes. We did the night tour.
It was all outside tour only. $29 per adult. Price was steep for what it included. Walked though the garden, was able to look into a couple doorways. They had about five places set up that had boards and maybe a speaker box with a person reading the same thing that was on the board. Took our family of five about half hour to walk through.

The Winchester Mystery House was one of my favorite activities in the San Francisco area.
Our tour guide answered many questions and knew about every inch and detail of the house.

Mrs Winchesters story was told very respectful, mystic and touching. We had a great time and recommend visiting the house.

The house is interesting enough, but the tour is way too long and boring. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it unless you really don’t have anything else to do. The stairs specifically smell horrible very musty, it’s not well lit, with any very nice antiques particularly. It’s interesting to hear that she used so much money to design and build the strange house, but that’s about it. The gardens are nice. It would be way better if they had a self guided tour with people posted up to make sure you didn’t touch anything. Spend more money on backlighting displays and not having black and decker vacuums lying around.

Our tour was a bit disappointing. Our guide provided information about the various rooms that we saw, but there was very little sense of how the house evolved or why certain rooms were added (assuming anyone knows). I would like to see the tour follow the additions in the order they were build along with some floor plans to illustrate how the house grew. Sadly, many of the rooms were empty as Mrs. Winchester's furnishings were auctioned off after her death. They need to re-furnish these rooms with period-appropriate pieces to flesh out the feel of the house.

Also helpful would be a video to set the mood, describe Mrs. Winchester and her extreme superstitious nature and set the time period. This could be viewed at the beginning of the tour, or while waiting for the tour to begin.

There are definitely interesting features to the house and I'm glad I finally saw it after hearing about it for years, but I came away a little disappointed in the presentation and felt like the experience could be greatly improved, especially for the price.

Went to the Winchester House with a friend in town. They gave both of us a military discount, which was great because most places in the Bay area don't. We did both tours, which I highly recommend.

The first tour will give you the basic history. The second tour takes you behind the scenes and in the basement. The tour guides are very knowledgeable!

I was concerned that the tour was going to be cheesy and focus on more of the hauntings. Instead the tour was focused on the history of the home. You see a lot of rooms on the tour, our guide mentioned mentioned that you walk through over 100 rooms. Some are more interesting then others. You don't stop in every room, but you do have time to take a quick photo as you walk though them. I thought our tour guide was very entertaining, knowledgeable, and friendly. It is a little expensive, especally for a large family. The cost for myself was worh it though, I am glad I went.

Excellent! We did both tours. They were very different, and worth doing both the original tour and the "More" tour. This place is so creepy and beautiful all at the same time. Pablo(I think was his name) was funny and very entertaining, he had so much knowledge to share. Sabina was funny and good as well, she was knowledgeable but she seemed to not provide as much information as our first tour. So take both!
Sarah was a tiny lady, so some of the areas were a bit tight for me as a Pooh sized person but so worth it. A lot of walking and they have very few places to sit on the tour. The gardens are beautiful as well.

I went with my husband on Halloween night with no expectations. I was actually hesitant to book the tour because of the price. It was a little steep at $54 plus a person. All I can say is Do It ! It was a fun and amazing experience. My husband who is hard to please Completely enjoyed the tour. We were totally absorbed with the actors and the entire show. The photos are a little expensive at $39 but we purchased because its a once in a lifetime memory. If you are hesitant just book it. Its worth the price.

This is a fantastic add-on! Much more private and it gives you an even greater understanding of the layout of the house. The smaller rooms, stables, and the ability to walk through the front door were great additions. The hard hats came in handy!

This tour really made our visit to Winchester exceptional. Highly recommend splurging!

We were there with a larger group and the tour was really entertaining. Aside from the eventful history, you learn quite a lot about the time and the quirky residents of this house. You can't take in everything in one tour, there are different tours with different focuses.

I started with relatively few expectations and was pleasantly surprised! I can also imagine that it could be interesting for families, as there are a few real peculiarities such as hidden doors, strange staircases and absurdly winding rooms.

It’s okay if you choose to visit, not an extraordinary but it’s fine. The only good thing is we can see rich people of 1900 house and lifestyle..

Overpriced and rushed tour. Yes, the house is quirky and unique, but I feel the entrance price is not warranted. The tour guide spoke mostly about the the owner and her life. The sad part is that we were rushed from room to room without getting to spend time really looking at any details of the house bcs there was another tour group right behind us. Sad that covid has eliminated the self guided tour option.

First, the house itself. A beautiful property. Very unusual, and full of all kinds of quirkiness. Enjoyable from an architectural perspective.

That being said, if you read the history of the house and the original owner, it's a shame that the tours play up the rumors and strangeness, often at the expense of the less-interesting true story. Obviously they need to sell tickets, and we might not have come had we not believed the rumors ourselves. If you suspend your disbelief, and go with it, it's somewhat interesting.

Our tour guide our afternoon also wasn't very good. She did a great job of memorizing her script, but repeated her lines monotone throughout. Even when she ended her room speeches with jokes, they were delivered with the same deadpan lack of annunciation which indicated that her lines came from a script. They might have been funnier with a different person saying them. The worst was when she claimed to have had a spooky encounter with a chill and an invisible hand grabbing her. I almost wanted to take the tour a second time, just to see if the other guide repeated the same lines.

Purchased 4 tickets for try 11:20 Self -Guided tour. The description sounds nice. See the mansion at your own pace with only people in your family/party. The reality was is they let people in way too fast and we log-jammed pretty early in the tour and if remained the way the rest of tour. A lot of standing and waiting. And being backed up with lots of other people in small spaces. Really took away from the experience. The house is fascinating, but they need to work on the spacing between groups.

I had not been here in decades, but was traveling in the area with my son and wanted to see if it was a fun as I remembered it to be. WE LOVED IT. We took both tours and thought they were great. Very informative and interesting. They don't overlap much at all, so don't worry that by buying both tours you'd be seeing/hearing a lot of the same. Also, make sure if you are going to do both tours, you buy the bundle, not each tour individually. You save A LOT of money that way. Just buy the one, then there is an add-on feature to buy the second at a significant discount. Mansion Tour is the one I took as a kid. Very quirky and interesting. The Spirits tour is only 5 years old and was a great addition. You get to go in places of the estate that have been closed off for many years. The grounds are nice. Either bring a snack to eat in the gardens or purchase from the gift shop...you might want to stay a while. You COULD do the one tour and be out of there in a little over an hour if you were in a hurry. My son and I were shocked to realize we had spent 4 hours in total! If you are in the area, it's an unusual attraction and worth a stop.

This is a must do stop when in Cali. We loved the tour. Our tour guide was wonderful ❤️ we learned a lot. Highly recommend to anyone

Worste tour ever managed to go on the tour with a group of drunk people where 1 of the girls was soo obnoxious. I had my feet stepped on by her I can't count the number of times she kept stopping and saying you can go in front of me only to turn around a few seconds later and push her way back thru. I could not enjoy any of it she kept saying it isn't scary I live here I been here several times they just say it because it brings people. We went to San Jose just so we could go to this particular tour and it is crazy we couldn't even enjoy it because people find the need to be drunk and act fools. I have no issues with people drinking but if you are going to drink don't go to a public event that people drive far from to visit and ruin the tour for them because you can't handle your alcohol.

This place is sweet. A lot of history and maybe some ghosts. Take the tour and pay the extra to go in the basement. Its only about an hour long tour but the house makes no sense with things being in weird places with no understanding why. A Must See

It is alot smaller than you think. I wish we had more time in each room to observe the stained glass that was everywhere or admire the fine detail in some rooms, but due to covid you can only have maybe 2 mins a room. You MUST move on at the end of a recording, sometime the recording is less than a min so as soon as you walk in you move on. Didnt help that small kids were running around unchecked by a few families. That is not the WMH fault but keep that in mind to not let your screaming kids run wind here. We spent about 1.5 hours walking the house, garden, and shop. So maybe 45 in the house. I'd hate to think how warm it gets inside during the summer. No flash photography allowed inside so mare sure you have a wide angle or atleast a night lens for pictures. The staff is knowledgeable and you can ask questions. Show up early like the website suggests. We had the 11am ticket time and the lot was pretty empty when we showed up at 1030. But as we waited for our time to go in it filled up quickly, so keep that in mind. I would do it again, but maybe earlier to avoid kids.

The house is incredible and the back story is really interesting. The exterior of the property is gorgeous, so well maintained, the interiors are part of the story so still needing some work here and there, but over all very cool to tour. They say it's haunted, we didn't see anything, but I bet this place would be amazing to do as a Halloween tour.

The marketing for this event led me to believe that there would be ghost stories of the house during a regular walk thru. It was much, much, more and a Halloween delight! I can't stop telling friends and family about how wonderful the event was. I do not want to spoil the magic of this over the top event by giving away details. It was so fantastic yet really undescribable. A must see experience.

Haven't been since I was younger, but was SUPER excited to go to the nighttime Halloween tour. Spent $150 bucks on tickets for me and my partner. Was expecting a typical tour of the house with maybe a few creepy, but realistic embellishments. Ended up being an hour "tour" that was maybe one quarter tour and three quarters watching our bad actress guide pretend to be lost and scared and rush us from room to room without giving much detail about the house itself because she was so "scared" she needed to keep moving. Towards the end they also added in the cheesiest jump scares I've ever seen. More bad actors trying to be ghosts and popping out of corners, a couple of visible (not even hidden) wind machines to to blow unrealistically huge gusts of air at you as you walked by, etc. If I wanted to go to a typical jump scare haunted house, I would've gone to Pirates of Emerson. I went to Winchester because I wanted to see WINCHESTER, but unfortunately I did not get to see much at all. Super disappointed and a huge waste of money.

I love to look at beautiful, well crafted architecture and this place had plenty! We did the Mansion Tour and also the Explore More Tour. Both tours covered different rooms of the mansion and all the little hidden features that make the house so special!

This was the most unusual and bizarre Mansion that we have ever visited. The 24.000 square foot sprawling Mansion with 160 rooms is gorgeous with its 10,000 windows and superbly landscaped Garden, but was built with no pre-made plans, no blueprints, and no architectural vision.

Apparently, the wealthy heiress of the Winchester Fortune lived here in constant fear of ghosts, and with advice from a psychic kept building randomly to appease the spirits. So, the place was built with stairs that ended up in roofs, doors that led nowhere, other than to sheer drops either in the garden or in a kitchen sink, chimneys with no outlets, and other doors that opened right into walls. Also, the Number 13 is featured everywhere – from number of bathrooms and holes in the sinks, to hooks in closets.

We enjoyed the tour of the Mansion, and our guide regaled us with lots of stories about the eccentric owner. How sad it must have been for a wealthy lady to be afraid to sleep in the same room on two consecutive nights, or use secret passageways to go from one room to another, depend on seances, and use a staircase maze just to go up 4 steps…

Luckily, some of the rooms were beautifully furnished and classy, and the China and Cut-Glass serving pieces were amazing!

All-in-all, we had put this place on our bucket list to see, after seeing the documentary about Sarah Winchester starring Helen Mirren. Glad we could check it off during our recent trip to this area.

Worth a visit

Interesting house; nice tour guide

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Our daughter and I visited San Jose, CA, and the Bay area one mid-October weekend. We had a good time.

We had some time on Sunday before our mid-afternoon flight home. The night before we discovered the Winchester Mystery House and planned to visit.

Background…
The lady who built it was the grandfather of the founder of Winchester Rifle Company; the lost their only child at birth, and her husband died; a medium told her spirits were haunting her for the deaths from the rifles… she moved to San Jose, bought he 8-room farm house, and then started construction and never finished as the noise would keep the spirits away… and stairs ending at the ceiling and the door that opened to fall into the bush were to confused the spirits.

So this house is interesting… 160+ rooms if I remember correctly… 10,000+ panes of glass.

Victorian style, at least on the outside… interesting inside… some rooms quite nicely decorated; others still damages from a past earthquake; and the parts to “disturb the spirits” may not distrurb any living visitors but do make the home feel less-than-home, at least for me.

Our tour guide (great apologies I can’t remember your name) was informative and made the tour interesting and fun - Thank you!

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I have visited the Winchester House in years past. This year, however, my15 yr. old granddaughter asked to see it. I was thrilled with the tour. They had a short video regarding Sarah Winchester, along with rooms I’d never seen. The Winchester House has added a nice Cafe and Gift Shop. The only thing I would change is the entrance fee- $40 for adults which was my granddaughter’s entrance fee as well.

We treated ourselves to the last tour of the day at 4 p.m.
The entrance is also the shop. It was already decorated for Halloween.
The tour was interesting. But the guide was too experienced, rattled off her text and practically chased us through the house.
The house itself was irritatingly fascinating. Small rooms by our modern standards and lots of small, narrow corridors and stairs that we could just about fit through. And the staircases were also winding, like spiral staircases but square, which of course made the staircase even more difficult. And the steps were all very narrow, small, flat but sometimes of different heights.
The Great Ball Room is just about the size of an old living room. If ten people sit in there, it's full.
But there was a beautiful winter garden and lots of beautiful Art Nouveau panes of glass.

It must have had lots of beautiful rooms, but also lots of strange, dead doors that led to nowhere or without a wall behind them. Wardrobes that were non-existent or narrow or deep or led to other rooms.
Mrs. Winchester lived there with her sisters because her husband had died.
And the strangest thing. There were plenty of rooms that were simply empty and left to decay. For example, after an earthquake, part of it collapsed. They just closed the door and left the room to rot. Or the attic, which was full of furniture that they no longer needed or wanted and which then just rotted away.

As the guide spoke so quickly and unclearly, I later bought a book in the shop. There was hardly any time to take photos either. The guide enters the room and starts reciting, even though half the group is still in the other room, and as soon as she was finished, she moved on. And with 20 people, there was hardly any chance to take a photo in peace.

So I then bought a book and a cup in the shop. $40 for those two little things - a lot. The book is definitely worth it, as the whole story is printed here (so you can read it at your leisure) and the rooms are very well lit and photographed without barrier tape.
Toilets are outside the shop in the courtyard.

A great tour, very interesting to hear all the history behind the house the guides are great, the tour group we were in was a little large and we struggled to get everybody in some rooms, the tour and more is well worth doing as well as you get to see more of the house including the basement. We would definitely recommend going if you are in the area.

A MUST see stop when in San Jose! What an amazing house to visit and imagine living in. The staff was located throughout the house, dressed in period clothing and willing and ready to answer questions and explain about each room. I must give a shout-out to Veronica in Sales. We called for directions as our GPS had us in the totally wrong location and this AMAZINGLY PATIENT gal spent over 30 minutes on the phone as we navigated around San Jose until we were in the parking lot, Customer Service at its BEST...

An unusual journey through this hundred plus years old ancient sprawling mansion , with all its beautiful tainted glass windows & doors that even lead to nowhere, wooden panels...all a must see place... unique in its own way...the lively descriptions by our guide made it all the more enjoyable.