This paper proposes the concept of a novel multi-wheel stair-climbing wheelchair. The necessity for mobility aid technology for elderly and handicapped people that has ``minimal invasiveness for use in an historical environment'' are described. With this goal in mind, a prototype of a novel wheelchair having a stair-climbing function resulting from transformable wheeled four-bar linkages is proposed, and the principle of operation, mechanism design, kinematics, statics and basic performance confirmed through a experiment are illustrated in this paper.