{"nrhp_refnum":"74000559","name":"Winchester House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"525 S. Winchester Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Jose","county":"Santa Clara County","state":"CA","lat":37.317915355000025,"lon":-121.95104663699999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-08-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 160-room Victorian mansion at 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, built from about 1884 by Sarah L. Winchester and enlarged until her death in 1922. It is now operated as a museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is the only one of its type, an outstanding example of Victorian construction that grew without restriction or master plan. It shows an eastern or midwestern Victorian influence in its mix of shingles, siding, bric-a-brac and cornices. It is also a California Registered Historical Landmark (#868) and has drawn an estimated 3,000,000 visitors.","narrative":"Winchester House is a 160-room Victorian mansion in San Jose, California, built and owned by Sarah L. Winchester, widow of William Wirt Winchester, son of the maker of the Winchester repeating rifle. After the deaths of her daughter and husband, she is said to have consulted a spiritualist medium, moved west and bought an eight-room farmhouse. From 1884 she built continuously, with no master plan, until her death on September 5, 1922. The result is a light wood-frame house with many roofs, brick and concrete foundations, and two basements. Its mixture of shingles, siding, bric-a-brac and cornices shows eastern influence not found in local craftsmanship. The nomination calls it the only example of its type and an outstanding illustration of unchecked Victorian growth. It is also a California Registered Historical Landmark, and an estimated 3,000,000 people have toured it. Restoration of the house and grounds was under way at the time of listing.","period_of_significance":"Circa 1884-September 5, 1922","architect_builder":"Sarah L. Winchester (Mrs. William Wirt Winchester), owner-builder","architectural_style":"Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good to excellent repair, unaltered apart from code compliance, with a full restoration to its condition in Mrs. Winchester's time under way; used as a museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.461278-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/74000559.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000559/bf917d47a7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000559/bf917d47a7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"The wub","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winchester_Mystery_House_2023-07-17_02.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">The wub</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winchester_Mystery_House_2023-07-17_02.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861826","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q608039"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/santa-clara-county/winchester-house-74000559/"}