There were hallways with no doors that went to dead-ends, doors led would lead to drops of many feet, and the famous staircase to the ceiling. There was no grand scheme for the house, though every morning Sarah met with the foreman to go over plans and come up with ways of dealing with conflicting designs. Rooms were added and remodelled according to drawings Sarah had done by hand. The six rooms of the original farmhouse were quickly remodelled, though the original hay loft and back stairs remain in much the same style as they were when originally built. Once Sarah Winchester arrived in San Jose in 1884, the original plans for the modest farmhouse were scrapped and Sarah began drawing up plans for expansion that would lead to continuous building for the next 38 years. And by paying at the end of every work day, she could fire anyone at any time, something she did quite frequently. Since she paid more than twice the going rate for help, she ensured that she got the best. She bought the house and the 162 acres it sat on and hired the best carpenters, orchard workers and gardeners in the Valley. Sarah found a six-room farmhouse under construction just outside San Jose. She chose the Santa Clara Valley, an agricultural area of Northern California. The medium told Sarah to 'Head towards the setting sun', which Sarah took to mean move west. The medium claimed to have contacted her husband and informed her that there was a curse on the family because of the thousands of people who had been killed by the Winchester Rifle. Shortly after William's death, Sarah made a trip to Boston and visited a medium. William died of tuberculosis in 1881, leaving Sarah in mourning for the rest of her life. The couple had a daughter, but disease took her away from them a few weeks later. In 1862, William had married Sarah Pardee. William Wirt Winchester, son of Oliver, was named the Vice-President of the Winchester Company in 1871, and when Oliver died in 1880, he became the owner of 48.9% of the Winchester Company. Among the biggest fans of the rifle were President Theodore Roosevelt and General George Custer. The company grew rich as the gun became a favourite of cowboys, lawmen, outlaws, the plains tribes and the army. The lever action rifle had been around for years, but Oliver Winchester had developed the means to mass produce it. The Winchester Repeating Rifle may well have been the main reason the American West was taken from the native peoples who had been there for centuries. The history of this mansion is as strange as its dead end staircases, the windows that look onto on brick walls and the doors that open to 20 foot falls. The Winchester Mystery House has drawn millions of visitors since it was made a public attraction in the 1930s. No trip to Silicon Valley is complete without a visit to this strange Victorian house set in a beautiful garden, right next to three giant, domed movie theatres.
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