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39 Times People Discovered Surprising Things Left Inside Buildings By Previous Owners
Every old house has its secrets - from hidden treasures in the crawl space and secret doors to creepy basement passages and dark attics filled with ancient valuables. The history is all around us, and if you look hard enough, you can find a treasure trove inside your home. Below you'll see a list of people who made unintentional 'archeological' discoveries when on the task of home renovation and then found a way to put them to good use.
Some of the artifacts are small, like coins hidden in the wall, while others are more permanent features to the structure of the building, such as an old well in the floor and secret rooms. No matter the size we can all agree it's pretty cool to come across clues that tell us about times past, so scroll down below and enjoy these 'rare antiquities.' Don't forget to upvote your favs and may your treasure hunt be lucky!
P.S.: The story behind the razor blade slot that quite a few people find when home remodeling has a simple explanation - some houses built before the 1970s had these slits for razor disposal for two reasons. One was that the razors were dangerous to put in general trash, and the second was that people didn't think about littering and trash the way we do now. For them, waste used to 'magically' disappear, so dropping them into a secret place between your bathroom walls seemed like a great idea.
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They Found The Old Bath Under Their Living Room
Pulled Up The Carpet At The House, And Guess What I Found!
Treasure In My Bathroom
Wow, wow wow. I wonder the story behind, how can one leave that ring? What happened to original owners!
I Was Helping My Dad Move Into His New Office, When We Found A Trapdoor
This Vintage Space Themed Wallpaper Found Under 3 Layers Of Other Wallpaper In An Old Farm House
The Walgreens In My Neighborhood Used To Be A Bank And They Used Its Vault As Their Vitamin Section
Friend Was Redecorating His New House And Found This Under A Layer Of Wallpaper
Found A Paw Print On A Brick Wall
The Table At This Pub Has A Well In The Middle Of It (England)
Untouched 1800's Cemetery Preserved In The Basement Of A Tall Building Built Over It
My Grandparents Have A Glassed-Over Well In Their Kitchen
They bought the house 10 years ago, they stripped it down and they found it then. They thought it was quite unique and wanted it as a feature, it’s about 25 foot deep and connects to a small old river that ran under a long time ago. Fortunately I have yet to see anything down there!
Our New Apartment Has A Little Milk Door Under The Cabinets
My Friend Decided To Replace Her Old Carpet And She Found A Cellar Door And A Cool Surprise
I would be worried that the 'surprise' waiting for me after opening a secret cellar door would be eternal damnation and pure unbridled evil carnage...
My Apartment Is An Old Police Station And Still Has The Original Cell Doors But Painted
I will probably paint black bars on it to make it more realistic!
Found Some Friends In A Mile-Long Tunnel That Travels Beneath My Apartment Building
Lost Hippie Mural Found Under My Flooded House
Found A Message While Removing Our Cork Floor Tiles
My Living Room Was Built Around A Huge Sandstone Rock
This Wall Broke Exposing Years Of Layers Of Paint
Found Some Nice Drawings Under The Wallpaper I'm Removing
100-Year-Old Elevator Handle I Saved
I have so much urge to give it a Go! Like they show it in movies!
These "Tom And Jerry" Type Mouse Holes Gnawed In A House Built In 1741
Uncovered At A Times Square Construction Site
I've Been Living In My House And I Just Noticed My Back Door Handle Is A Spoon
The House I'm Staying In Has Kept Its Original Well As A Feature
So I Just Moved Into A New Apartment, And Made A Big Discovery
While Renovating My Basement We Found This Painting On The Cement Behind The Wall
I Recently Moved Into A 70s Porn Motif Dream Home. This Is My Bathtub
Honestly, to me it looks like just a wash basin, may its the perspective which is making it look small or that is really small bath tub for midgets!
Apparently, Disposing Of Old Razor Blades Inside Your Wall Was Acceptable In The 1950's
In their defence it is labelled 'razor blades'.' Where else could you possibly dispose of them?
there was a slot on the back of the razor blade package for used blades.
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Yup... ran across the same thing doing a bathroom remodel in our house that was built in 1939. This is what behind the wall looks like raz-5b8eaa...35272e.jpg 
It was encouraged to do this, as Aaron Kara says in his comment. Better there than in the trash where they could cause harm.
Why not put them back in the original container? It was designed to accommodate used blades.
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My grandparent's house had this same medicine cabinet, this is exactly what it's designed to do.
The house I grew up in was built in 1954 and had those slots in both of the medicine cabinets. I'd forgotten all about that until I saw this. Nice memory! They still used that style in the 70's, too, based on a couple of apartments I lived in over the years. Yes. I'm old! :)
The house I bought has that. My daughter was freaked out by the idea of someones DNA inside our bathroom wall lol
LOL Have you ever been on a construction site? Especially back then? Youre in for a treat.
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It kept the used blades safely away from kids.
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This is the way my grandparents built their house in 1953. When they redid their bathroom before I was born, there were a bazillion razor blades in the wall.
I had a razor blade slot in my NYC medicine cabinet, which shared a wall with my neibhbor’s cabinet. We could see each other through the little holes if we opened our cabinets at the same time.
ok...no laughing, I still have those cabinets in bathroom of my house in florida,. they were in the house when we bought it, previous owner had bathroom finished in 60`s retro look which we liked so we left them...
Definitely! Our medicine closet had a razor slot! House was bought brand new in 1951.
Yea, the home I grew up in in the late 60s to 1983 had a cabinet just like that, and it was amazing to me as a little kid: where do all the razors go? I'm sure the new owners of the home could tell you, as they must have remodeled that bathroom.
My parents had that in their home. They bought it in 1968 and I have no idea how old the house was. I’ve talked to women in their 80s who lived there as children.
Interesting, because we found HUNDREDS of razor blades behind the wall mirror when we redid our bathrooms.
People back then assumed it was safer than putting them in the trash.
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Omg! My house was built in the 1950s, and I just looked and my medicine cabinet has a razor blade slot into the wall too! That's so weird and gross...
We had one of those in the house where I grew up. Didn't know what it was for, I used to push change in the slot!
The house where I grew up had this type medicine cabinet also. The house was built mid-1950s. As a child it was a treat for daddy to let me drop the razor blade in the slot.
I didn't know this, but I don't find it that weird, it's fairly logical. Disposing of blades in the bin doesn't magically get rid of the blades, they can't be recycled because it's not hygienic and they pose a safety risk to the rubbish collectors and the rest of the family. They are small and not flammable, so what is wrong with storing them forever in a place which is inaccessible?
Still have that in our medicine cabinet. Getting ready to renovate so perhaps I'll have some interesting pictures as well.
You can tell the younger folks making comments on this. This was a long used practice of disposing of razor blades. Medicine cabinets, as they were called for many years, had the slot already in them when you would buy them when (or if) you were replacing yours, which was rare which is why so many still exist. People didn't immediately gut and replace everything when they bought a new house. It was just something people had "way back then".
This was common practice so no one would get injured taking the trash out.
You didn't know about this? It was common in hotels from the 1920s through the 1960s.
That's what those are for! I've seen this in apartments I've lived in but had no idea. I guess cause I'm female & don't use disposable razors.
Long time ago I was collecting razor blades - I wish I'd found something like that back in those days ;)
Most old house had them in the medicine cabinet back then. i've lived in several old homes that had them. Though I don't really know why.
I remember living in homes as a kid and these were a regular feature in the bathroom cabinet.
I've had a couple apartments with these. I always wanted to see what else was back there.
I lived in an apartment that had the same medicine cabinet design. The building was from the 1920’s.
Oh, yeah - I remember - lasted into the 70s in fact cause I remember cabinets like this.
OMG I removed an old medicine cabinet a few years ago and found a stack of razor blades behind it. There was a hole in the cabinet, but didn't specify 'razor blades'. I had no idea that was a thing!
My 1948 house has the same thing, when I had it redone they found razor blades and an empty cone-top can of beer
We had one like that, but the cabinet has been replaced now. I think they found one razor blade in there.
This Mail Slot In A Building I Was In Today Sends The Mail Down 17 Stories To The Basement. Original From 1929
I love it the way it is maintained and preserved. A gateway to 1929!
My House Still Has Old-Fashioned Light Switches From Its Original Construction
This Building Has The Original 1909 Electrical Switches
That's smart. I bet they are still better (better quality, made of better materials, more durable) then new ones. As long there's still someone who knows how they work and how to fix them and as long you can find spare parts for them... OK that might be a problem. But as decoration and for a history lesson it works
Found This 20-Year-Old Promise Hidden Under The Wallpaper In Our New House
Friend Tore Down His Wall For Renovations And Found This Mural On Another Wall Behind It
My House Used To Be A Bank, So We Use The Old Safe/Vault As A Basement
There's A Random Chain Embedded In The Wall Of My 1930s-Era Home
A House My Girlfriend And I Looked At Had A Shower In The Guest Room
The Fan In My Toilet (Probably From The 70s) Has The Same Logo As Beats By Dre
My House Still Has The Original Light Switches
In my house we found a door behind the fitted wardrobe leading into a room with chains hanging from the ceiling
This needs pictures! (Assuming they were for fun.. not torture.. was the police called?) ok this needs a lot more explaining!
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Love these kind of threads! please put more of this up bored panda, loved it!
My first apartment was in a 2-room school house. Found the original slate blackboard under the wallpaper. Years later, I'm now a home renovator and found vintage porn in the walls. I'm sure the guy that put it there thought he was doing some future guy a favor.
You can maybe do fake school with stuff
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I found this note behind written behind a kitchen cabinet i had removed in my Circa 1900's house.
Turns out the previous owners thought it "would be funny" when they updated the kitchen. Luckily they decided against putting a chalk outline of a body under the bath when they remodelled that.........!!!! Words fail me. IMG_5396-5...0c625b.jpg 
We found an old Sears catalogue in the attic of our old farm house dating back to 1939. Amazing prices.
When travelling to Asian countries, I visited many forts and palaces built my kings/queens. While roaming inside I always wondered, if I press a brick or step on something, which will open a vault and I will find lots of gold/diamonds hidden inside and then I will be crazy rich for my entire life, sadly it never happened and I am still stuck with this computer!
I found a well in my school. It is in room 113. They put bricks and the floor of the classrooms. It is now a chromebook space
Hell naw!! All of those basement/underground, a well, cemetery, old doors, floor painted, message on floor/wall, all them crazy a*s found...Rrrrrrun!!!!! But I like the mail slot all the way down, the bank vault/safe, that's neat! Those area like Hollywood hill you probably can find the drug money like my hubby said hahaha!
I put a time capsule in my last house after buying it and updating it. M
When they remodeled my bathroom in 2014 I placed copies of the 2010/2012/2014 SF Giants World Series victory newspapers in a plastic bag with powdered silica in the wall above all the plumbing so that someday someone will have the joy of discovery. I also included a letter with all the information I have about the building that I've lived in since 1982.
We found a message in a bottle in the ocean once. It was from the 1600's.
Such amazing and odd things people hid in walls and cubbies! I love it!
I heard about a house where, after doing some renovations, found that under the house were the ancient ruins of the theater where Emperor Nero forced his citizens to watch him perform.
We had renovations done on our house and when we had a wall moved, found empty beer cans and McDonald's burger wrappers from the 70s.
Wish this were a list. My parents have a big cartoon cowboy drawn on the wall underneath their stairs. There's a door that's always covered it as long as I can remember. I never noticed it until I was a teen but they said it was there when they moved in... they've lived there more than 30 years.
In my house we found a door behind the fitted wardrobe leading into a room with chains hanging from the ceiling
This needs pictures! (Assuming they were for fun.. not torture.. was the police called?) ok this needs a lot more explaining!
Load More Replies... Love these kind of threads! please put more of this up bored panda, loved it!
My first apartment was in a 2-room school house. Found the original slate blackboard under the wallpaper. Years later, I'm now a home renovator and found vintage porn in the walls. I'm sure the guy that put it there thought he was doing some future guy a favor.
You can maybe do fake school with stuff
Load More Replies... I found this note behind written behind a kitchen cabinet i had removed in my Circa 1900's house.
Turns out the previous owners thought it "would be funny" when they updated the kitchen. Luckily they decided against putting a chalk outline of a body under the bath when they remodelled that.........!!!! Words fail me. IMG_5396-5...0c625b.jpg
We found an old Sears catalogue in the attic of our old farm house dating back to 1939. Amazing prices.
When travelling to Asian countries, I visited many forts and palaces built my kings/queens. While roaming inside I always wondered, if I press a brick or step on something, which will open a vault and I will find lots of gold/diamonds hidden inside and then I will be crazy rich for my entire life, sadly it never happened and I am still stuck with this computer!
I found a well in my school. It is in room 113. They put bricks and the floor of the classrooms. It is now a chromebook space
Hell naw!! All of those basement/underground, a well, cemetery, old doors, floor painted, message on floor/wall, all them crazy a*s found...Rrrrrrun!!!!! But I like the mail slot all the way down, the bank vault/safe, that's neat! Those area like Hollywood hill you probably can find the drug money like my hubby said hahaha!
I put a time capsule in my last house after buying it and updating it. M
When they remodeled my bathroom in 2014 I placed copies of the 2010/2012/2014 SF Giants World Series victory newspapers in a plastic bag with powdered silica in the wall above all the plumbing so that someday someone will have the joy of discovery. I also included a letter with all the information I have about the building that I've lived in since 1982.
We found a message in a bottle in the ocean once. It was from the 1600's.
Such amazing and odd things people hid in walls and cubbies! I love it!
I heard about a house where, after doing some renovations, found that under the house were the ancient ruins of the theater where Emperor Nero forced his citizens to watch him perform.
We had renovations done on our house and when we had a wall moved, found empty beer cans and McDonald's burger wrappers from the 70s.
Wish this were a list. My parents have a big cartoon cowboy drawn on the wall underneath their stairs. There's a door that's always covered it as long as I can remember. I never noticed it until I was a teen but they said it was there when they moved in... they've lived there more than 30 years.
