Abstract
Nearly 100 years after her death, Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune, endures as a controversial, mystifying, and fascinating figure. Much of what makes her story so confounding yet alluring is our lack of records that definitively explain why she built such an unusual dwelling. That dearth of explanation naturally gave birth to rumors and legends, even during Sarah's lifetime. Just this year, Hollywood took on the story in a new telling of Sarah's motivation for building. What we do know with certainty is that Sarah insisted on decorating and filling her home with the finest objects that her immense wealth could buy. This article endeavors to look at Sarah as (1) a collector, as we study her character to the best of our ability based on her affinity for fine objects and innovative architecture, and (2) as the subject of our own collections at the Winchester Mystery House and how we keep her home and her objects preserved into the future despite few historical records to guide us.
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