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From layers of wallpaper to eerie attic finds, old houses certainly keep a ton of secrets. When they’re uncovered, these remarkable surprises turn ordinary home renovations into real-life scavenger hunts, making homeowners even more curious about what other treasures lie hidden in their old houses. Some of the discoveries are touching, while others are downright strange, but all of them offer a glimpse into the stories the homes hold and the history behind them. We’ve compiled a list of 50 amazing finds people uncovered in their old houses for you to explore.
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#1
Before It Was Torn Down, My Wife Preserved A Section Of Her Late Grandmother's 100+ Year-Old House, And Framed All The Layers Of Wallpaper
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#2
I Was Advised To Post Here The Authentic Tiles I Found In My Newly Purchased House. The Wooden Floor Is Also Original
#3
I Took A Knife To The Lino In The Bathroom And Found The Original Edwardian Tiles. My Great Great Grandmother Was A Housemaid Here In Cupar In The 1880s
#4
Was Sorting Though Some Old Brick That Was Left Over From Our 1890’s Townhouse, And Came Across This
#5
Just Bought Our First Home (1909) And Found This Under The Carpet
GenericElder 1 month ago
Can you imagine looking at that and going, "nah, lets just cover it up with wall-to-wall"?
#6
Collection Of Reference Seeds Found In My Grandad’s Attic
#7
Doing Some Painting And Carpet Removal In Our 1920s Dutch Colonial When We Realized These Stained Glass Windows Were Underneath The Wood Paneling
The Majestic Opossum 1 month ago
Wood paneling is bad enough, but to cover up stained glass windows?! There's a special place in hell for people like that, and it's covered in stucco and popcorn ceilings.
#8
Plate Warmer Rediator In Our 1888 Home
#9
They Found The Old Bath Under Their Living Room
The Majestic Opossum 1 month ago
I don't even want to imagine how much work it was to dig that out... But a hell of a find!
#10
Note Found 3 Years After Losing Her
#11
The Louisa M Alcott First Editions Found In The Century Home I Acquired. Rare Book Lottery Won
Becca not Becky 1 month ago
Get those appraised! I genuinely want to know what those would be worth.
#12
My Apartment Is An Old Police Station And Still Has The Original Cell Doors But Painted
Ever wondered why more often than not, people seem to find things hidden in the most bizarre places in old houses? Well, thanks to the construction methods used decades ago, these homes just happen to have many natural hiding spots. From loose floorboards to hollow walls, there really isn’t a shortage of convenient places to stash things.
#13
Restoring My 1880 Victorian House And Found This Vibrant Tile Original To The Home After Partially Removing A Faux Fireplace
The Majestic Opossum 1 month ago
Beautiful! I imagine what the rest of it must've looked like...
#14
When You Discover A Beautiful Murano Glass Grape Lamp In The Attic 🤯
#15
My Wife And I Are Upgrading Our Kitchen. We Found This Fossil Under The Floor Boards
Tonja Jackson 1 month ago
Someone’s dinner? That’s what happened to the fish that Betsy got from the fishmonger!
#16
Found A Paw Print On A Brick Wall
#17
Uncovered This Beauty - We're Still Finding As Much History As We Can. We Have Found That This Pub Of Mine Was Built In At Least 1835 As A House, Before It Became A Pub In The 1870s
#18
I Developed A 120-Year-Old Photo Found In A Time Capsule ( Full Story In Comments)
#19
Found A Hundred And Thirty Year Old Recipe Book While Cleaning Out Grandmas House
#20
Found 83 Gold Coins At The Bottom Of A Coal Container After Renovating The House !
Andrew Keir 1 month ago
Sovereigns? If they're Maple Leafs they're probably worth more than the house ...
#21
Demo Team Pulled This Out Of A Fireplace In A 1950s House We Are Renovating…
#22
The Previous Owner Of My New Home Left A Few Things In The Attic. This Card Slipped Out When I Moved The Bag
It's a plastic Christmas tree.
#23
Removed An Old Nasty Drop Ceiling From A Home Built In 1840 And Found This Hiding Above
#24
My 84 Year Old Father Is Renovating His House. Hidden Behind The Wallpaper He Found These Wall Murals, Which He Believes Are From 1912
#25
This Vintage Space Themed Wallpaper Found Under 3 Layers Of Other Wallpaper In An Old Farm House
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that some of the most common discoveries people make in old houses are actually everyday objects belonging to people who once lived in them. From vintage photos to handwritten postcards, these items aren’t just evidence of the past, but are also a connection to the people who once walked the hallways of the house.
#27
Pulled Up The Carpet At The House, And Guess What I Found!
The Majestic Opossum 1 month ago
Awesome! So many families were likely torn apart in this room...
#28
Dinosaur Bone Found In The Basement Of My Friend’s 15th Century House In North-Eastern France
David Paterson 1 month ago
OMG. Send this photo to the museum pronto. This looks genuine. Dinosaur bones this size are valuable. Even more valuable if they can track down which species it was.
#29
Discovered Original Tin Ceiling In Our 1920 Foursquare!
#30
Friend Was Redecorating His New House And Found This Under A Layer Of Wallpaper
#31
My Grandparents Have A Glassed-Over Well In Their Kitchen
#32
Cleaning Surprise
The Majestic Opossum 1 month ago (edited)
A Ukrainian Pysanka! Not terribly valuable, but super cool nonetheless.
#33
Uncovered Victorian Terracotta Tile
#34
Our New To Us House Has A Secret Panic Room That Wasn't Included In The Listing! Built In 1978 And I Love This Place!
#35
Was Helping Clean Out An Old Mansion In Minnesota And Found This Civil War Letter In The Attic. He’s Saying That The War Will Be Over Soon And He Will Be Coming Home
Motivated sloth 1 month ago
The penmanship is incredible. Could you imagine this guy trying to read a prescription from a Dr today?
#36
Twitter User Finds A Secret Hiding Place In His Walls While Renovating, Inside Was A Children's Book Of Poems From 1835
#37
The Table At This Pub Has A Well In The Middle Of It . [england]
While many items found in old houses carry sentimental value, only a select few are historically valuable and end up in museums or galleries. In these cases, experts are tasked with tracing and uncovering the important details about the item that make it special. So, next time you find a vintage photo in a storage box or a strange-looking coin on the attic floor, don’t toss it in the trash without consulting professionals.
#38
Buying A 140 Year Old Home, Contents Included
The Majestic Opossum 1 month ago
Those are some great bonus items! I accidentally broke my hubby's ornaments like that (passed down from his grandma) - so I admit I'm a bit jealous 😞
#39
Untouched 1800's Cemetery Preserved In The Basement Of A Tall Building Built Over It
#40
Found A Message While Removing Our Cork Floor Tiles
#41
John Wayne Gacy Did Construction For My Grandparents And We Found His Business Card While Going Through Some Stuff Today
#42
While Tearing Up Their Carpet, My In-Laws Found A Giant Monopoly Board
#43
Doing Electrical Work In This House That Was Built In The 1800s And There’s A Prison Cell Under The Basement Stairs
#44
Stayed Over At My Great Grandma's Thursday. This Thing Kept Me Awake All Night
#45
Looking For Somewhere To Stay On Airbnb ... Found The House Of Nope
#46
Pulled Up The Carpets In Newly Purchased House To Find This
#47
Went In The Attic Of A House We Were Looking At Aannd
#48
136 Year Old Note Found On A Shingle When My Parents Renovated Their House
#49
Found This In My Girlfriends Loft. She Only Moved In 3 Months Ago And Says She Has Never Been Up There. Guess What My Name Is
#50
Found This In The Basement Of My New 🏠
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What do you think ?
HylianArchivist (they/them) 1 month ago
Coolest thing we have in our basement is Korn graffiti under the drywall
Chich the witch 1 month ago
Helped a friend renovate a place from the mid 1800s. Found shelves hidden behind false walls in closets that were used for rum running. Also found several whale bone corsets shoved in a wall. No bucket of gold though :(
Huddo's sister 4 weeks ago
My grandad built secret compartments and cupboards into the house he built in 1973 and I always thought it would be cool for new owners to uncover, but the next owners (apart from my parents who bought it from my grandparents in 1998) just pulled the house down to build a McMansion.
Load More Replies...
SoMrHarris 1 month ago
When we moved into our house, we found a false wall panel in the cupboard under the stairs. Removing the panel revealed a massive safe welded to iron beams, bolted to the wall. Sadly the safe was open, and empty!
General Anaesthesia 1 month ago
Is BP now automatically hiding ("This comment is hidden. Click here to view.") comments with helpful Internet/Image links, and disabling replies?
SoMrHarris 1 month ago
Found a false wall panel in the cupboard under our stairs when we moved into our house. Removed it to find a massive safe welded to iron beams embedded in the wall! Sadly, the safe was open and empty.
HylianArchivist (they/them) 1 month ago
Coolest thing we have in our basement is Korn graffiti under the drywall
Chich the witch 1 month ago
Helped a friend renovate a place from the mid 1800s. Found shelves hidden behind false walls in closets that were used for rum running. Also found several whale bone corsets shoved in a wall. No bucket of gold though :(
Huddo's sister 4 weeks ago
My grandad built secret compartments and cupboards into the house he built in 1973 and I always thought it would be cool for new owners to uncover, but the next owners (apart from my parents who bought it from my grandparents in 1998) just pulled the house down to build a McMansion.
Load More Replies... SoMrHarris 1 month ago
When we moved into our house, we found a false wall panel in the cupboard under the stairs. Removing the panel revealed a massive safe welded to iron beams, bolted to the wall. Sadly the safe was open, and empty!
General Anaesthesia 1 month ago
Is BP now automatically hiding ("This comment is hidden. Click here to view.") comments with helpful Internet/Image links, and disabling replies?
SoMrHarris 1 month ago
Found a false wall panel in the cupboard under our stairs when we moved into our house. Removed it to find a massive safe welded to iron beams embedded in the wall! Sadly, the safe was open and empty.
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