I’m in San Francisco visiting Deb Lacy, a mystery writer, and we went to the Winchester Mystery House. It was the home of Sarah Winchester (b. 1840 - d. 1922), who married the son of the the creator of the Winchester repeating firearms.
Apparently after the death of her child and husband, Sarah Winchester sought guidance from a spiritualist who told her the ghosts of people killed by Winchester guns were going to kill her too. However she could appease the ghosts if she moved west and built a big house for them. As long as the construction never ceased, she would be safe. The speculation is that is why her house was always under construction for the next 38 years. At her death, there were 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms and 6 kitchens.
Expanding on the number 13, there were repeated instances of the number throughout the house, that it clearly had significance for Sarah Winchester.
It seemed to me that Mrs. Winchester was a mental case, but I liked the eclectic home. I was particularly interested in the innovations throughout the estate, such as: a fruit-drying shed, a self-sustaining water system, gas manufacturing plant, greenhouses that shared water with the outdoor gardens, indoor cranks to open window shutters (still used today), and the servant call system.
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