Winchester Mystery House Centennial Speaker Series: The Many Houses of Sarah Winchester

House Historian, Janan Boehme returned in August for the Centennial Speaker Series to discuss the many houses of Sarah Winchester.

Centennial Speaker Series Topic: The Many Houses of Sarah Winchester with Janan Boehme

Many thanks again to Courtney for being by speaker sidekick on this round. I loved attending these, but it was always so much more fun to have someone come with me to talk about the subject afterwards. Isn’t my sister the greatest? Naturally, we were in for a treat as Janan was once again behind the podium to talk about Sarah’s history.

Sarah Winchester’s Homes from Connecticut to California

Janan took us on a nation-wide tour with Sarah through her many homes before and beyond the Winchester Mystery House. In case you are unfamiliar, Sarah was born and raised in Newhaven, Connecticut. Newhaven was a sea port that was very industrialized and one of her earlier homes was on 27th and 29th orange street where her father ran a bathing house. She would find herself in three other homes before her marriage to William in 1862. After the civil war, Sarah’s father-in-law, Oliver, built a large mansion for the whole family to reside in. It was Sarah and William’s responsibility to maintain this home. Sadly, none of these homes still exist today.

Between 1880 and 1881, Sarah experienced the loss of her father-in-law, her husband and her older sister, Mary. From here, Sarah moved to San Francisco for a short while before being shown La Llanda Villa by Ned Rambo. Ned helped Sarah manage her many properties until he passed in 1865. Which included Sarah’s sister, Isabelle’s property, which was named “El Sueñjo” or “The Dream”. The two sisters’ dream was to eventually raise carriage horses on this property.

As time went on, Sarah put much of her attention into continued construction on La Llanda Villa until 1906. After the earthquake happened, Sarah retreated to her houseboat, “The Ark”, located in Burlingame. After her niece, Daisy, married, Sarah wished to be closer to her and purchased a house in Atherton. From 1907 to 1912, she lived in another home located in Burlingame. Then, she purchased Daisy a home on Waverly Street in Palo Alto. In 1907, Isabelle moved to Palo Alto and became a prominent activist in the community.

Although Sarah started to spend less and less time at La Llanda Villa, she passed in it’s halls on September 5th, 1922. Daisy brought Sarah and Isabelle’s bodies back to Newhaven at Evergreen Cemetery where they reside to this day.

My Takeaway from the Centennial Speaker Series with Janan Boehme

This was a lovely and thorough presentation and I did NOT do it justice. Like I’ve said before, you have to catch any experience you have with Janan if the opportunity arrives. She is a wealth of knowledge and experience. In turn, she is beyond willing to share it with anyone that expresses interest.

Craving More from Janan Boehme?

In case I didn’t mention it already, Janan is the house historian for the Winchester Mystery House. If there’s something on the property that is history-focused, it is almost certain that Janan had a hand in piecing it together. Be sure to swing by the gift shop and check out the lovely little room up the stairs just to the left when you first enter. It is an in-depth exhibit of the house’s history with all the fun details I cannot do justice to. Plus! It is complete with beautiful artifacts and memorabilia from over the past 100 years.

What else can be discovered beyond the Centennial Speaker Series at Winchester Mystery House?

Below you will find other posts I’ve written regarding the Winchester Mystery House’s assorted experiences and educational programs. At Llanda Villa, there is always something new to learn! More often than not, I like to think myself one of the first in line to attend.