The mansion was built by Sarah Winchester in the Santa Clara Valley of California after she was left the sole remaining heir to the company which made Winchester rifles. Her husband, the son of the founder of the company, and infant daughter had died leaving Sarah in sole possession of a sizable fortune. The distraught woman went to a medium after the death of her family and was told to continuously build a home to house the spirits of all those killed by Winchester rifles. She followed the medium's advice and in 1884 construction began in California and continued for 38 years until her death in 1922.
The Winchester House reached a height of seven stories before an earthquake in 1906 left the building four-stories tall. It has become a tourist attraction due to it’s randomly constructed rooms made without a master building plan.
