Mrs.Sara Winchester, who lived near San Jose, California, had a most unusual belief.
She believed that she would die the day she stopped adding rooms to her house.
Because of this belief, she built the most unusual house in America-perhaps in the world.
When she moved into the house in 1884, it was an ordinary, average-sized house.
Grandually, however, as she added rooms and corridors, it grew and grew.
Some of the rooms had expensive furniture and curtains, and even stained glass windows and chandeliers.
Most of them, however, were empty and had no purpose.
A few were only a few inches wide.
And many of the stairways and corridors did not lead anywhere.
Their only purpose was to keep carpenters and builders busy.
Unless she could hear the noise of building, Sara Winchester was not happy.
She continued adding rooms to her house for 38 years.
When she died in 1922 at the age of 85, her house had risen to be eight stories high.
It contained 180 rooms, 2000 doors and 10000 windows.
The house also had three elevators, 48 fireplaces, nine kitchens and many miles of passages and hallways.
It occupied three acres and cost its owner five milion dollars to build. |
