

An exterior view of the Winchester Mystery House. Image Credit: Public Domain

The mysterious Victorian mansion has remained a place of intrigue since Sarah Winchester's death in 1922.

One of San Jose's most popular tourist attractions, the enigmatic mansion has 161 rooms, 40 staircases ( some of which leading to nowhere ), 10,000 windows and 2,000 doors.Constructed in 1884 and owned by Sarah Winchester - the widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester - the building is said to be haunted by the ghosts of those killed by Winchester rifles.Its interior is as lavish as it is bizarre, with a peculiar room layout, doors leading to solid walls, windows on the walls of inside rooms, a large bell which is rung every Friday 13th and multiple 'decoy' rooms that Winchester used in an effort to fool the spirits she believed resided there.Now the home's preservation team has announced that yet another room has been discovered within its walls - this time an attic space that had remained inaccessible since 1906.Items found inside included a sewing machine, a pump organ and a set of paintings.The story goes that Winchester had become trapped in there during an earthquake and, believing evil spirits to be responsible, ordered the room to be permanently boarded up afterwards.