Glossary · History & People
Sarah Winchester
Sarah Lockwood Pardee Winchester (1839–1922), heiress to part of the Winchester rifle fortune, who built the house on Winchester Boulevard. Family called her Sallie.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, she married William Wirt Winchester in 1862. Their only child died in infancy, and her husband died of tuberculosis in 1881. She moved to California in 1885 and in 1886 bought the ranch she named Llanada Villa. She was her own architect, a careful investor and a philanthropist; she stood four feet ten inches tall.
She died at Llanada Villa on September 5, 1922. Her lawyer, Samuel Leib, said she had a better grasp of business and financial affairs than most men.
Sources
Questions people ask
When did Sarah Winchester die?
On September 5, 1922, at Llanada Villa in San Jose.
Why did Sarah Winchester keep building?
Historians find no evidence that she feared spirits. A 1951 study concluded she enjoyed designing and wanted to keep local people employed.
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