The Winchester House;San Jose, California

In 1886, a woman named Sarah Winchester had inherited 20 million dollars after her husband’s death. After inheriting this money, she moved from her home in New Haven, Connecticut to San Jose, California and had bought a small farmhouse with eight rooms. She started a 36 year long renovation project that had cost 5.5 million dollars. The renovations only stopped when her death came in 1922. There are over 160 rooms, including 40 bedrooms, an astounding 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, two basements, and not to mention secret passages. But not all doors can be walked through. They lead to surprising—and almost deadly—places. One has an eight-foot fall to a kitchen sink. Another door leading you have to look out for is a 15-foot drop to the garden. 

There was a reason for all this renovation, though. She had been making all these rooms for the spirits of those who were killed with a Winchester Rifle (Her father-in-law had owned and founded the company that invented these weapons). After Sarah’s husband had died, she was haunted by spirits of those who died of the Winchester Rifle, so she had consulted a medium which gave her the advice to move to the west and buy a home and build continuously. 

There are two different stories on why Sarah had rooms constantly added to the estate. One of them is that once the construction was completed, she would die. The other stated that she built the house to confuse the spirits and some say that she slept in different rooms every night and took secret paths throughout the house. 

All in all, if you’re planning on touring this mysterious house, be cautious and make sure not to get lost. Or you may not find your way back.