In 1886 Sarah Winchester paid John Hamm $12,570 for an eight-room farmhouse on a 45-acre ranch, and named it Llanada Villa because the land reminded her of the Llanada Alavesa, a plain in the Basque country she had visited with her husband. She grew fruit there, housed staff from Europe, China and later Japan, and over time enlarged the property to about 160 acres. The name “Mystery House” came only after her death.
Questions people ask
What does Llanada mean?
It refers to the Llanada Alavesa, a plain in Spain’s Basque country that the land reminded her of.