Sarah Lockwood Pardee married William Winchester in 1862. Their daughter Annie died of marasmus at five weeks in 1866. William died of tuberculosis in 1881, leaving Sarah with $20 million and 50% ownership of the Winchester company - roughly $500 million in today's money, plus $1,000 daily income. The death of everyone she loved unmoored her. According to legend, a Boston medium told her the Winchester fortune was blood money, haunted by the thousands killed by Winchester rifles. The only way to appease the spirits was to build - and never stop. Sarah moved west, away from the family, away from society, and began her strange construction project.

Workers built around the clock, seven days a week, for 38 years. Sarah served as her own architect, sketching designs on scraps of paper, changing her mind constantly. Rooms were built, torn down, and rebuilt. The house eventually reached 7 stories before the 1906 earthquake damaged it; it was rebuilt to 4 stories. At its peak, it may have had 200 rooms; 160 remain. There were 47 fireplaces, 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, and 6 kitchens. The house had hot running water, indoor plumbing, and gas lighting - remarkable for the era. Sarah installed pushbutton gas lights and an elevator. The constant construction employed dozens of workers at premium wages.

The house's famous weirdness may have multiple explanations. Stairs that lead to ceilings were probably the result of constant remodeling - where a floor was once, then removed. Doors opening to walls were likely once doorways before redesign. Windows on interior walls brought light into rooms that expansion had made dark. Sarah's obsession with the number 13 was real - many rooms have 13 windows, 13 ceiling panels, 13 hooks. Whether she believed this confused spirits or simply liked the number is debated. Some historians argue Sarah was simply a wealthy woman enjoying an expensive hobby, and the 'curse' story is tourist mythology invented after her death.

Sarah allegedly conducted nightly séances in a special blue room deep in the house, communicating with spirits who gave her building instructions. She supposedly entered through one door and exited through another to confuse ghosts following her. The séance room exists; whether Sarah actually used it for spiritualism is less certain. After her death in 1922, workers found rooms full of furniture never used, grand ballrooms that were never visited, and evidence of a reclusive life spent in a small portion of the vast house. Sarah left no diary explaining her motives. The mystery of her true beliefs died with her.

The Winchester Mystery House operates as a museum at 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose. Multiple tours are offered: the standard mansion tour, a guided exploration tour, and special seasonal events. The house tour takes about an hour and covers approximately 110 rooms. Features include the séance room, the 'door to nowhere' opening to a two-story drop, stairs that lead to ceilings, and a window built into a floor. The Victorian Gardens are included with admission. San Jose International Airport is 4 miles north. The house is accessible from Highway 280 and is a popular stop between San Francisco and Monterey.