16 People Who Discovered Firsthand That Old Houses Can Hold Many Secrets

Imagine: a family buys an old house and finds a secret place in the ceiling with little treasures in it. Or, for example, they discover a mysterious secret door in the kitchen. Does it sound like the beginning of a horror movie? Well, it’s not! These are real stories from people who moved into a new house and found out that it hides quite a few surprises.

“We bought a 200-year-old house. This is what we found in the walls.”

• We’ve found stuff in the walls, too. Each one we open up turns out to be a little portal to other eras. © I_Make_Some_Things / Reddit

“Got a glimpse of the 70s when removing the dishwasher today!”

“We bought a 100-year-old house. There was a linen cabinet in the hallway. But when we decided to take it apart, there was a big secret behind it. A staircase leading up to the second attic.”

“Me: ‘Yay! There’s original floor under the carpet! Oh wait... OH NO!!!’”

“I was stunned at the gorgeous details hiding under all that paint (I counted at least 5 layers!).”

“We just bought our first house built in 1909 and found this under the carpet.”

“I’ve had this in my apartment (1940s) for 10 years and I still don’t know what it is. I use it for toilet paper, but I’d like to know what it’s actually for.”

• It’s 1000% a linen cabinet. © dontdontdontdontdontstop / Reddit

“Noticed some flat stones in an overgrown area of our backyard. Found a super old walkway.”

“No idea how long these have been covered. Some of the stones were 3–5 inches down and some gnarly roots were growing over them. The house was built in 1911. Will be a fun summer project!”

“This end block is a lovely quarter-sawn piece of American Chestnut, which is now nearly extinct. It took me several hours of scrubbing and picking with Dental tools to get it like this.”

“Found this photo in the wall of our 1912-built house. What the house was like then and what it is like now.”

“Just bought my first home built in 1900. I decided to remove the drop ceilings in 2 rooms. And found a bunch of stuff in them, including an old flute.”

“Today’s discovery. Good thing we decided to add a back door. That explains why that area was always so cold in the winter!”

“I have serious repairs and found a massive linoleum floor cloth.”

“Any idea what this door was for in our 1880s Italianate kitchen?”

• My first thought was either a milk door or somewhere to keep firewood/coal out of the way. © titus-andro / Reddit

“Ripped off the old wallpaper. I think I’ve won some kind of lottery!”

“We bought a 100-year-old house. The fireplace was boarded up, and when we took it off, we found this.”

And these people have extraordinary houses. Check them out!