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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)
It's in a pub called the march hare just outside Worcester I think
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Again its a no, fill that well in, I don't want the vengeful spirit of a creepy girl as a dinner guest
Again. Watch out for your tablet. Also, how big is your monitor? ♥
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imagine having a couple of drinks with your friends and you look down and something looks back
Imagine Sadako (from The Ring movie) trying to get out of the well.. 😂
If I was the owner of that pub during Halloween I'd hire some one to dress up as a demon, standing silently in the well.
same! all I thought was .... when is Samara going to come up for her dinner o.O ?
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It's a good thing there's a covering on the top to prevent people from throwing stuff down it.
There's one like it in the King William in Curry Rivel, Somerset.
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I’ve been there can’t remember the name but it’s in North Zyorkshire I think on the way to the Zlake District
Portsmouth, NH. In an ally under the Dolphin Striker. We used to call it the "End Up" because that is where everyone would end up for last call. Awesome live shows with full brass section!
It’s definitely The March Hare in Broughton Hackett near Worcester. Top place.
There's a little restaurant in Painswick, in the Cotswolds that has a well like this in the floor of the toilets. It's similarly covered with glass so you can't drop a cheeky poo down it.
There Is a pub on the isle of wight with a well that looks the same as this called the kingswell inn Brading
I think there are a few; one is at The Three Horseshoes, Hazel End (near Stansted)
My uncle lives in a farmhouse in England which is about 800 years old and has a well in the middle of the entrance foyer. They covered it with toughened glass so no one could fall in, but there is still water in it.
Hi, I worked for a water company years ago ad we traced many of these under old pub and brewery sites, used as a source of water for their business In one case they were old water wells, linked by underground tunnels returning to an old waterworks depot as a water supply for the town - over time they'd been covered over as the land was sold and built on
A local pub where I live has one of these. They seem to be the thing to do if you find you've got a well in a place you want seating.
Wetherspoons in Tavistock has one and the White Heart in Modbury has one in the floor with a glass too (Both South Devon)
The Widow Cullen's Well in Lincoln has a similar feature in the corridor leading to the toilets.
Gives me vibes of a secret entry to the leaky cauldron in Harry Potter series
Luscombes Golden Ball Restaurant Lower Assendon Henley-on-Thames Oxfordshire
Timmy fell down years ago drunk, but they don't want the same accident again so they made it into a table.
Years ago I went to a restaurant in Cambridge that was partially over a pond and the tables had glass tops and you could see the water below
There's one similar in a pub called The Valley Inn Tavern in Christchurch, NZ. Obviously not as old though... :)
Obviously not as it clearly states it's in the UK not western Australia.
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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?
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.
