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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
But they couldn't do the same for the viking archaelogical dig in Dublin, even though My Father wrote and told them of similar schemes. Buried forever under the hideous civic offices now.
Everybody would just tear it down or move it. It is awesome to leave it like this. I love it. Think of the Halloween parties...
Pretty sure that's "The Crypt" under the Center Church in New Haven. http://centerchurchonthegreen.org/history/crypt/
Yes it would be I'll impossible to get the foundations in for a tall building in. Crypt makes so much more sense.
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You want a haunted house? Because that´s how you get a haunted house.
This was the basis of the plot for the movie Poltergeist. Houses built over a cemetery.
This was done out of respect... the house in the Poltergeist was built over a cemetery with complete LACK of respect. Big diff.
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Wow that is so bizarre and extremely creepy! Like I'm envisioning night of the living dead. Where is this??
What?!? In the basement of a building?!? That is so funky? And creepy.
Something tells me that bulding should be featured on "Ghosthunters".
This is actually the Center Church on the Green Churchyard in New Haven, Connecticut. The cemetery is from the 1600-1700s. In the 1800s, a new meeting house (church) was built over the cemetery grounds.
That's good the graves weren't disturbed and they're protected from all weather.
That's good they weren't disturbed and their graves are protected from all weather.
untouch?are u retards they fuking need to dig to make that tall building..idiots jizz
This is in the basement of the Center Church on the Green in New Haven, CT
Not that I would care after I'm dead, but it would depress me to know that there was no sky over my grave anymore.
This is in new haven ct, you can visit for free, it’s pretty neat. A church was built over it. Hundreds of other burial plots were relocated to create the town green, I believe it all was done 250-300 years ago.
i was like why so many mirrors? andddd then Realization... bet the building is haunted!
I went on a Roman tour of Cologne and there are a few artifacts that are sort of incongruously preserved in underground car parks.
I think its sad! Resting in peace in a field surrounded by nature one decade, in the basement of a city complex the next!
At least they were respected in their eternal rest. Hope that will give away good vibrations.
my school actually has a small cemetery on the grounds that we fenced off out of respect
Ok. I would hate to work or live in that building for fear of the ghosts being pissed at having their final resting spot so callously built over like this!
Totally cool! Didn’t disturb the final resting places and cause hauntings!
I tnihk this is lovely; it’s better than destroying the graves. When I looked at this picture I found it very calming. They are all at peace.
Brilliantly clever! The graveyard is undisturbed and can still be visited. Beats tearing up old cemeteries and moving the graves. Plus the tombstones are now safe from the weather. Genealogists must love this.
At least you get a warning in The Sims if your house is on the top of a cemetery
When they come out at any time they will wonder what happened to the stars and the sun. Then some one is going to be is a lot of trouble times.
Yeah I wouldn't want to live/work in a building with a cemetery in the basement.
You son of a b***h! You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies, didn't you? You son of a b***h, you left the bodies and you only moved the headstones! You only moved the headstones! Why! WHYYYYYYYY!
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I wonder what kind of building it is. A supermerket toping a cemetery would be weird but habitations wouldn't be creepy.
Its under a church. http://centerchurchonthegreen.org/history/crypt/
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I’m 99% sure this is the basement of a church in new haven ct. still creepy that they built a church over a cemetery, but a bit better than a random building?
Well II guess that’s better than what our builder did with his other land he built homes on and that is move the Native American buried there. Which in my book is a NONO!
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.
