As the Winchester Mystery House’s official website reports, Sarah bought a large farmhouse with eight rooms and had workers tirelessly renovating it, around the clock, until her own death in 1922. Her plans and motivations were never revealed, and the luxurious building (construction went on from 1886 until 1922 to the tune of $71 million in today’s money) became the focus of rumors, whispers, and over the years, enthralling mysteries.

Whether the cavernous mansion is indeed haunted by the furious souls of Winchester rifle victims and Sarah Winchester planned the befuddling architecture of the home to trick them (as the 2018 movie, Winchester, suggests), it’s impossible to say. It is certain, however, that this fascinating building and eternally popular tourist attraction was almost destroyed two decades before Sarah’s death, by the San Francisco earthquake of 1902.

Britannica reports that the quake’s impact was followed by a devastating fire, which caused damage totaling approximately $350 million and destroyed around 28,000 buildings. Sarah Winchester’s iconic property could have been one of them, but its flexible foundations saved it from such a fate. Its impressive focal point, a vast central tower, collapsed and is lost today, but ghost hunters and fans of the macabre can be thankful that much of this historical building survived the natural disaster.