How’d you fancy Witches stairs in your house?
These are called Witches’ Stairs.
It is believed that the design was thought to confuse or trap witches, preventing them from easily climbing the stairs due to the staggered pattern.
Unlike traditional stairs with a regular series of steps, witches stairs alternate, with each step offset to either the left or right.
This design creates a zig-zag pattern, allowing for a steep incline without requiring a large horizontal space.
According to Wikipedia, alternating tread stairs are sometimes referred to as “witches stairs”, in the supposed belief that they were created during an earlier era as an attempt to repel witches who were thought to be unable to climb such stairs. Such a fanciful origin of the term has since been disproved, with experts finding no mention in any historical literature of stairs that were believed to prevent access by witches.
You will occasionally find them in very old New England homes.
