The Winchester Mystery House Hits the Big Screen
Helen Mirren’s new movie delves into the mind behind the bizarre California mansion. We go behind the scenes
“Terror is building” warns a poster for Winchester, the Helen Mirren-led gothic thriller due in movie theaters Feb. 2. It’s also the unsettling feeling for many people facing new construction or a major remodel!
With apologies to Academy Award-winner Mirren (The Queen), the real star of the film — initially subtitled The House That Ghosts Built — is the labyrinthine Victorian mansion built by rifle fortune heiress Sarah Winchester in San Jose, California, more than 100 years ago.
With apologies to Academy Award-winner Mirren (The Queen), the real star of the film — initially subtitled The House That Ghosts Built — is the labyrinthine Victorian mansion built by rifle fortune heiress Sarah Winchester in San Jose, California, more than 100 years ago.
The Winchester house is a Victorian-era Queen Anne, with fish-scale-patterned shingles, finial-crowned gables and witch’s hat roofs. Construction began in 1886 and lasted for decades.
In 2012, a script about the tourist attraction drew the interest of German-born Australian directors and identical twin brothers Peter and Michael Spierig (Jigsaw, Predestination). “We were like, this house sounds incredible! So we visited it,” Michael says. “Peter and I fell in love with the house, did the infamous house tour…. We came on board and worked on the script for the better part of two years, developing ideas, continually researching and going back to the house.”
In 2012, a script about the tourist attraction drew the interest of German-born Australian directors and identical twin brothers Peter and Michael Spierig (Jigsaw, Predestination). “We were like, this house sounds incredible! So we visited it,” Michael says. “Peter and I fell in love with the house, did the infamous house tour…. We came on board and worked on the script for the better part of two years, developing ideas, continually researching and going back to the house.”
Photo from CBS Films
Original vs. Replica
The house’s dark, cramped rooms and present-day location next to a busy shopping center and freeway weren’t conducive to filming a movie that takes place in 1906. So the directors reproduced parts of the mansion in Australia.
“We built the first level of the house in a paddock,” production designer Matt Putland says. “We found some great trees that matched the trees that were in San Jose, and we basically built a garden, a driveway, the veranda, the front door and a few other areas as part of an exterior set on a property just outside of Melbourne.”
The exterior shots in the film combine a physically re-created ground level, a computer-generated tower and, for the rest, a virtual 3D model made from hundreds of photos taken by drone.
Original vs. Replica
The house’s dark, cramped rooms and present-day location next to a busy shopping center and freeway weren’t conducive to filming a movie that takes place in 1906. So the directors reproduced parts of the mansion in Australia.
“We built the first level of the house in a paddock,” production designer Matt Putland says. “We found some great trees that matched the trees that were in San Jose, and we basically built a garden, a driveway, the veranda, the front door and a few other areas as part of an exterior set on a property just outside of Melbourne.”
The exterior shots in the film combine a physically re-created ground level, a computer-generated tower and, for the rest, a virtual 3D model made from hundreds of photos taken by drone.
The house’s famous switchback staircase
In the house. Putland also reproduced several key interior areas, including the innovative switchback staircase, which has 2-inch risers and is unusually narrow.
The design made it easier for Winchester, who was only 4 feet 10 inches tall and suffered from arthritis, to hoist herself up the stairs.
In the house. Putland also reproduced several key interior areas, including the innovative switchback staircase, which has 2-inch risers and is unusually narrow.
The design made it easier for Winchester, who was only 4 feet 10 inches tall and suffered from arthritis, to hoist herself up the stairs.
Jason Clarke, as Dr. Eric Price, stands on the film-set version of the switchback staircase. Photo by Ben King
On the set. Although seven flights of mini stairs zigzag back and forth to rise to one level in the house, the production team built only four flights for the set.
“Re-creating that on a set was quite a struggle since we needed to get a film crew, three actors, cameras and everything onto the set. A lot of the pieces had to be dismantled for camera access but still hold their integrity,” Putland says.
On the set. Although seven flights of mini stairs zigzag back and forth to rise to one level in the house, the production team built only four flights for the set.
“Re-creating that on a set was quite a struggle since we needed to get a film crew, three actors, cameras and everything onto the set. A lot of the pieces had to be dismantled for camera access but still hold their integrity,” Putland says.
Lincrusta wallpaper and art glass at the top of the house’s main staircase
In the house. Putland and his team had their work cut out for them when it came to dressing the walls, since Winchester’s renowned collections of art glass and Lincrusta embossed wallpaper are rare.
Watch: Take a video tour of the house and learn about its Victorian-era innovations
In the house. Putland and his team had their work cut out for them when it came to dressing the walls, since Winchester’s renowned collections of art glass and Lincrusta embossed wallpaper are rare.
Watch: Take a video tour of the house and learn about its Victorian-era innovations
Anaglypta wallpaper and stained glass on the set. Photo by Ben King
On the set. “We made a stained-glass window with 13 gems. As for the rest of our stained-glass windows, they reference the designs directly from the house. The spiderweb design will pop up in a few places, and the stained-glass patterns on the doors are patterned straight from the Winchester house,” Putland says.
“Sarah had one of the largest collections of Lincrusta wallpaper that exists, and it is still at the house,” he says. “Those original wallpapers date from the late 1800s. We had to find an Anaglypta wallpaper that we could source in Australia. We couldn’t match the exact pattern but found something which we feel is similar and altered the color…. We chose a warmer tannish yellow and gave it a texture over the top to bring out the 3D effect of the wallpaper.”
On the set. “We made a stained-glass window with 13 gems. As for the rest of our stained-glass windows, they reference the designs directly from the house. The spiderweb design will pop up in a few places, and the stained-glass patterns on the doors are patterned straight from the Winchester house,” Putland says.
“Sarah had one of the largest collections of Lincrusta wallpaper that exists, and it is still at the house,” he says. “Those original wallpapers date from the late 1800s. We had to find an Anaglypta wallpaper that we could source in Australia. We couldn’t match the exact pattern but found something which we feel is similar and altered the color…. We chose a warmer tannish yellow and gave it a texture over the top to bring out the 3D effect of the wallpaper.”
The mansion’s ballroom
In the house. After filming in Australia, members of the cast and crew traveled to San Jose in May to spend three days shooting the ballroom, a bedroom, the attic, hallways and the jumble of rooftop gables, spires and turrets. Then the editors fused the set and house together.
In one scene, “our actors walk down this hall and through the doorway on the set in Melbourne,” Putland says. “They will peek through a curtain. What they see is the actual house in San Jose.”
In the house. After filming in Australia, members of the cast and crew traveled to San Jose in May to spend three days shooting the ballroom, a bedroom, the attic, hallways and the jumble of rooftop gables, spires and turrets. Then the editors fused the set and house together.
In one scene, “our actors walk down this hall and through the doorway on the set in Melbourne,” Putland says. “They will peek through a curtain. What they see is the actual house in San Jose.”
Mirren as Winchester in the set’s ballroom. Photo by Ben King
On the set. “Sarah Winchester built the most-talked-about, expensive mansion of 1906, when it was at its peak in size and grandeur,” Putland says. “We wanted to really represent Sarah’s aesthetic — that lush richness we feel would have been her style of the time. She was importing chandeliers from Germany. The parquet floors in the ballroom have eight different timbers in them. As a designer, to be given the task of re-creating that aesthetic and that level of opulence has been a lot of fun and a massive challenge.”
On the set. “Sarah Winchester built the most-talked-about, expensive mansion of 1906, when it was at its peak in size and grandeur,” Putland says. “We wanted to really represent Sarah’s aesthetic — that lush richness we feel would have been her style of the time. She was importing chandeliers from Germany. The parquet floors in the ballroom have eight different timbers in them. As a designer, to be given the task of re-creating that aesthetic and that level of opulence has been a lot of fun and a massive challenge.”
Even though the house was “immaculately reproduced in Australia,” Mirren says, she was “blown away” when she saw it for the first time last spring.
“I’ve never been in such a personal house, ever,” she says in a video interview with Collider. “It’s the dimensions of it that you begin to understand, the tininess of it. It’s like a little, a wonderful little doll’s house. The decoration in every corner — you can spend an hour in … every little room because the floors, the ceilings, the walls, the friezes, the fireplaces, the tiles — everything is chosen personally and decorative.”
But ultimately, Mirren says, “it’s the psychology of Sarah … that we are all fascinated by, as manifested by this house. Who was that woman? How did she think?”
“I’ve never been in such a personal house, ever,” she says in a video interview with Collider. “It’s the dimensions of it that you begin to understand, the tininess of it. It’s like a little, a wonderful little doll’s house. The decoration in every corner — you can spend an hour in … every little room because the floors, the ceilings, the walls, the friezes, the fireplaces, the tiles — everything is chosen personally and decorative.”
But ultimately, Mirren says, “it’s the psychology of Sarah … that we are all fascinated by, as manifested by this house. Who was that woman? How did she think?”
Poster image from CBS Films
Movie Info
Besides Mirren, the Winchester cast includes Australian actors Sarah Snook as Winchester’s niece, Angus Sampson as her construction foreman and Jason Clarke (who also plays Sen. Ted Kennedy in the upcoming Chappaquiddick) as a fictional psychiatrist who is hired by Winchester Repeating Arms Co. to assess Winchester’s sanity and who is dealing with a tragedy of his own.
The film is set to open Feb. 2 in the U.S., Feb. 22 in Australia and March 15 in Germany.
More
Houzz TV: Beyond the Ghost Stories of the Winchester Mystery House
Oscar Time: Does Your House Have Star Quality?
Learn about the roots of Victorian Queen Anne style
Movie Info
Besides Mirren, the Winchester cast includes Australian actors Sarah Snook as Winchester’s niece, Angus Sampson as her construction foreman and Jason Clarke (who also plays Sen. Ted Kennedy in the upcoming Chappaquiddick) as a fictional psychiatrist who is hired by Winchester Repeating Arms Co. to assess Winchester’s sanity and who is dealing with a tragedy of his own.
The film is set to open Feb. 2 in the U.S., Feb. 22 in Australia and March 15 in Germany.
More
Houzz TV: Beyond the Ghost Stories of the Winchester Mystery House
Oscar Time: Does Your House Have Star Quality?
Learn about the roots of Victorian Queen Anne style
Now known as the Winchester Mystery House, it’s considered by some to be haunted by the spirits of people killed by The Gun That Won the West.
Legend has it that Winchester was a madwoman who ordered nonstop construction on the 24,000-square-foot house — with hundreds of rooms, stairs leading nowhere and doors opening into walls — to appease or confuse those ghosts. Another explanation, interesting in its own right, is that she was a grieving but visionary widow who used her wealth to experiment with technology and educate herself in the architecture of countries around the world.
Watch on Houzz TV: See the architectural oddities and early technologies of the Winchester Mystery House