Winchester Mystery House Reopening Monday July 13th with Self-Guided Mansion Tours
Josh Millican
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Winchester Mystery House announced today that beginning Monday, July 13, in accordance with new Santa Clara County Health & Safety Guidelines, visitors will once again be able to explore the 160-room mansion on a new Self-Guided Mansion Tour. The touchless, self-guided experience allows guests to independently navigate the world’s most bizarre home and expansive estate. Tickets will be available beginning Friday, July 10 at winchestermysteryhouse.com/buy-tickets and also include access to the Sarah Winchester Garden Tour.
Related Article: Winchester Mystery House Offering Virtual Tours to Homebound Horror Fans
Said Walter Magnuson, Winchester Mystery House General Manager: “For 97 years, we’ve offered Mansion Tours, but over the course of the past few months we’ve been challenged to create a safe and compelling experience for guests that will be sustainable in the ‘new normal.’ We have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to share this iconic attraction with the public, and the Self-Guided Mansion Tour will allow our visitors to explore the various rooms like never before. This experience leverages the house’s unique design elements and provides guests with ample time and space to engage with the estate’s history while remaining compliant with social distancing guidelines.”
Winchester Mystery House management and staff have worked extensively with local officials to prepare for reopening. The new self-guided tour has been designed to prioritize the safety of guests and staff and is compliant with all current county and state guidelines.
“We are so grateful for the leadership of Mayor Liccardo, Vice Mayor Jones, and Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody,” said Micheal Taffe, Director of Operations. “Their guidance and support throughout the past few months has allowed us to prepare for reopening in a timely manner with a clear set of guidelines and safety measures in place.”
Tour Hosts will be positioned throughout the estate to assist guests as-needed, but the experience will be entirely self-guided with educational and engaging audio and signage. To ensure social distancing protocols can be followed, tour groups are restricted to members of the same household, tour capacity has been dramatically reduced, and the tour route has been modified to focus on the largest rooms of the estate. Additional safety measures include mandatory masks for all guests and employees, timed ticketing, a one-way linear tour path, and sanitization stations throughout the estate. For a complete list of health and safety guidelines, visit winchestermysteryhouse.com/health-safety-guidelines.
Guests interested in exploring Winchester Mystery House from home can take the Immersive 360 Tour($8.99) or the Video Tour ($13.99 to purchase, $5.99 to rent) available online at winchestermysteryhouse.com/video-tour.
About Winchester Mystery House:
For nearly 100 years the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, has stood as a testament to the ingenuity, singular vision and lore that surrounds its namesake, Sarah Pardee Winchester (heiress to the Winchester Repeating Arms fortune). Originally known as Llanada Villa, today it stands as an architectural wonder, a time capsule of a bygone era and one of America’s most celebrated haunted mansions. The estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a California Historic State Landmark, a San Jose City Landmark, and is one of the leading attractions in the Bay Area. Since tours began in 1923, more than 13 million people from around the world have toured the ornate rooms of the Winchester Mystery House. It has intrigued visitors, scholars, and media from throughout the United States, and around the globe, with its combination of the beautiful and the bizarre, its story of heartbreak, tenacity and invention and its legends of the paranormal. For tickets and additional information, visit www.winchestermysteryhouse.com.
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