[Lee Stewart]

The Winchester Mystery House: San Jose, California

With the word mystery in its name, the Winchester House has a good reason for its reputation. Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune, continued construction on this house after her husband and infant child had passed with the purpose of creating a mystery. A psychic had told her that her family died because the spirits of the people who died by Winchester rifles were angry; by continuing to add rooms and wings to her home, she could give these spirits a place to go. Sarah believed that the confusing passageways that turned on themselves and staircases that led nowhere would confuse and trap the evil spirits.