The curious mansion was designed and endlessly redesigned by Sarah Winchester following the death of her husband, firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester, in 1881.

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Winchester Mystery House

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7 of America's Most Bizarre Tourist Attractions

Few houses are so famous they've inspired several books and movies, but few houses are as strange as the aptly named Winchester Mystery House.

The curious mansion was designed and endlessly redesigned by Sarah Winchester following the death of her husband, firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester, in 1881. It took on a maze-like quality as Winchester continuously added more rooms to the house, sometimes abandoning them before completion and moving on to a new project as the property spiraled out of control. The house became a tourist attraction after her own death in 1922 and, more than a century later, continues to inspire curiosity and fear (rumors persist that the house is haunted) in equal measure.

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