The ground breaking of the Winchester Mystery House started in 1884. For the next 39 years, carpenters and craftsmen would labor day and night building a mysterious yet fantastic 160 room Victorian mansion.

Sarah Winchester was the heiress to her husband's fortune from the Winchester Rifle Company. She inherited 20 million dollars - and therefore didn't spare any expense in her home. The Winchester Mystery House today is more known for its oddities - but in its day it was on the cutting edge of technology. Among other things, the Winchester Mansion had central heating, automatic gas, lights, and three working elevators.

But it is the oddities that intrigue people today. The Winchester Mystery House has doors that open into blank walls. It has staircases leading into the ceiling. The Winchester Mystery House has upside down posts and windows built into the floors. It is said that all these ''oddities'' were to trick the ''spirits'' who were killed by the Winchester Rifle.