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In 1884, a wealthy widow named Sarah L. Winchester began a construction project of such magnitude that it was to occupy the lives of carpenters and craftsmen until her death thirty-eight years later. The Victorian mansion, designed and built by the Winchester Rifle heiress, is filled with so  many unexplained oddities, that it has come to be known as the Winchester Mystery House. Sarah Winchester built a home that is an architectural marvel. Unlike most homes of its era, this 160-room Victorian mansion had modern heating and sewer systems, gas lights that operated by pressing a button, three working elevators, and 47 fireplaces.
 

• a window built into the floor
• staircases leading to nowhere
• a staircase leading to the ceiling
• a chimney that rises four floors, stopping short as to render it useless
• a door that leads into air
• doors that open into blank walls
• a door in the floor
• upside down posts
• the largest cabinet in the mansion goes straight through to the back thirty rooms of the mansion.
• Mrs. Winchester was convinced by a medium that continuous building would appease the evil spirits of those killed by the famous "Gun that Won the West" and help her attain eternal life.

Number of rooms: 160
Cost: $5,500,000
Date of Contruction: 1884 - September 5, 1922 (38 Continuous years)
Number of stories: prior to 1906 Earthquake - 7; presently 4
Number of acres: originally 161.919; presently 4
Number of basements: 2
Heating: Steam, forced air, fireplaces
Number of windows: frames 1,257, approx. 10,000
Number of doors: doorways 467 approx., 950 doors not including cabinet doors.
Number of fireplaces: 47 (gas, wood, or coal burning)
Number of chimneys: presently 17 with evidence of 2 others
Number of cars at her death: 2 (1 1917 Pierce Arrow Limousine & 1 1916 4 cyl. Buick truck)
Number of bedrooms: approx. 40
Number of kitchens: 5 or 6
Number of staircases: 40, total of stair steps - 367
Number of skylights: approx. 52
Number of gallons of paint required to paint entire home: over 20,000
Number of ballrooms: 2 (1 nearly complete and 1 under construction)
Blueprints available: No, Mrs. Winchester never had a master set of blueprints, but did sketch out individual rooms on paper and even tablecloths!

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