Every year hundreds of people find something that has been hidden in their house. something that didn’t originally belong to them. As they peeled back layers of wallpaper / old carpet they came upon treasure in their home, contents of which weren’t like anything they’d ever seen before.
These photos remind us that you never know what might be just few feet away from you, whenever you’re in your house. It could be an artifact, old photo, or even something worth a fortune!
1. Followed The Grate To Find Something Unexpected
While milk doors & outdated switches are cool, this hidden chapel under the floor is bit creepy. When this couple decided to see where the grate on their floor leads to, they didn’t know what they would find.
Below their old Victorian home was hidden chapel with a large cross and stone pews.
cellar once stood under old Tudor house, but during reign of Queen Victoria, it was torn down, and a Victorian was built on top of it. In Tudor times, cellar was used as a secret place for Catholics to pray. king was Protestant, so Catholicism wasn’t allowed.
2. Vintage Wallpaper Hidden Under Plenty Of Layer
In some homes, people have painted over walls / put up the layers of wallpaper throughout years without removing the original designs.
In an old farmhouse, the newest owners were removing the wallpaper and discovered this vintage design under numerous layers.
vintage space theme design was probably on walls of a child’s room who was curious about galaxies far, far away.
That child is all grown up by now, but new owners imagined how cool this was for a young child back in day.
3. Makeshift Safe Behind The Shower Wall
When people take out old the features from homes, it is like they are treasure hunters. When this person removed old shower walls, they found a makeshift safe from the original owners. Hidden behind loose panel, they discovered some unexpected treasure.
Although there wasn’t much in safe, it did hide some more valuable items. There was diamond ring & container full of rare coins. The person also left a note with the family’s name, so clearly they had planned that someone would eventually find the hidden treasure.
4. Drugstore Was Built In An Old Bank
Walgreens drug store took over old bank, but they kept many of the original features. The bank had a high-security vault, which store transformed into “Vitamin Vault.” Instead of wasting the space or removing the cool features, they repurposed it.
Some of you might think it is bit bizarre, but to others, it was a cool experience to enter the high end security vault. How often do you get to go deep inside a bank? You can shop for vitamins & see history of the old building at the same time.
5. A Beautiful Painting Covered By Wallpaper
When this man was redoing his home, he found old painting that looks like it belongs in moderately priced family restaurant. We hope he found way to incorporate this Italian fresco into design of his home because you can’t just paint over art like this. 
We can’t believe someone covered this in first place. We don’t know where this home is located, but this person should use this as opportunity to start family-style Italian restaurant. Maybe that was home’s original purpose.
6. NYC History Revealed In Times Square
New York is the full of incredible history, with so many unique things to discover. It was original capital of United States, and Manhattan has hundreds of years of history. During some construction in Times Square, workers found an advertisement hidden on the side of a hotel.
this ad was around 100-years-old, and it showed that you could stay for just $1 night. Today that would be an incredible bargain because decent hotel is usually upwards of $100-$200 per night. ad was well preserved for past century & showed how much New York has changed.
7. A Norwegian Resistance War Room
In European countries, homes are much older, & there are unique facts about each house. When agroup of college students rented a home in Norway, they never imagined that they would find hidden room in the attic.
They noticed that attic was much smaller than it should have been & after searching, they found hidden door. Behind door was a tiny room with maps, a printing press, and copies of resistance newspaper. It was popular during Nazi occupation, but the room was abandoned after the war.
8. An Entire Underground City
When people build new developments, there is a lot of prep work that goes into projects. A Russian developer bought land of an old market, and he wanted to get started on his skyscraper. As team began digging the foundation, the police were called because of their discovery.
Beneath market was the remains of an underground city. It had workshops, a cinema, bars & restaurants, and casino. town was built by old migrant workers who came to country illegally, so they lived & worked below ground to not get caught. The people only left at night to get supplies.
9. this Door Just For Milk
Way back in the day, there used to be a milkman who would bring glass bottles of milk each week. Just like today, people aren’t always home to receive deliveries.
but here you can’t leave milk out in the hot sun. People started installing milk doors to solve this problem so their milk wouldn’t spoil in the sun. 
two-sided design would keep the milk at lowest possible temperature until someone put it in refrigerator. Most people removed this outdated doors from their homes, but these people found one, & it is such a unique feature. Why would you get rid of a piece of history?
10. Hit The Jackpot
people find pieces of history, also people really hit the jackpot with their hidden treasure. here newlywed couple moved into their dream home, & they knew the property needed a lot of updating. They didn’t have much money, but they wanted to make it work.
couple used the money they had to start renovations and discovered metal tin crammed into ceiling. They found $20,000 & later uncovered six other containers full of cash. They couldn’t believe their luck, but it didn’t last long. FBI seized the money as evidence of a bank robbery in the ’60s.
11. Chains That Lead To No Where
When you start the construction on a home, sometimes people decide to remove unnecessary walls. here people began to knock down wall when they found a mystery chain sitting inside the wall. people had no idea what this chain was for or its purpose.
homeowners took guesses, but they realized it was probably from old coal furnace. here Chains were used to operate the dumbwaiter and bring coal to basement. furnace kept the house heated in winter, but these haven’t been in use since the ’80s.
12. Time To Move Out
When Butlers moved into their home, they thought it was most fantastic place for their family to flourish. home was older, but it had a certain charm that made them buy it. sweet old woman who lived there before them kept the house lovely, which made their discovery even more shocking.
family discovered stack of VHS tapes she left behind with one titled “Save Yourself.” It was covered in blood, & they assumed it was a silly prank. family watched the tape & left house immediately. They did not want to stay in such a scary place a second longer.
13. 1970s Heart-Shaped Tub
’70s was time for love with whoever & wherever. Whoever designed this home in ’70s decided to install a heart-shaped bathtub, which might look nice, but it is not the modern design people want in the 21st Century.
It looks like house was full of love when it was built, but we can’t say that anyone would enjoy this today. new homeowners probably needed to replace most of the bathroom decor, but it is a glimpse into design taste of past.
14. Messages Beneath The Cork Floor
Cork floor tiles are much less common than they were in late ’80s. When this family put down their flooring, they commemorated day by signing their names on original flooring. youngest family member was four years old at the time.
Today youngest son would be 36 years old. In some countries, it is common for people to leave notes in home that say gas or milk prices. This shows how much time has changed since the last renovations.
15. A Secret Lair For Villains
When this family inherited an old mansion from relative, they were excited to see what they could do with property. It was built over 100-years-ago in a historic part of San Fransico, and also it still had original wood paneling and floors.
After exploring house, the family found hidden room on the top floor. It looked like their relative used this particular room to keep his most prized possessions. room was behind a bookcase, and also here it had artwork, silver, deeds, and bonds. They converted it into a den that has unique story behind it.
16. Marine Life Drawings Hidden Under Old Wallpaper
“Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.”
When these people removed old wallpaper from their new home, they found some fish drawings that original owners left on the walls. Whoever drew these was very talented and loved fish.
Some carpenters will leave notes / drawings on walls where they know it will be covered up. However, if you remove work they did, you can find many pictures & notes left behind. We don’t recommend ripping up your walls for no reason, though.
17. Two Young Boys Found A Secret Staircase That Made The Family Sell The House
When you are stuck at home with nothing to do, you might as well explore features of your home.
Two young boys were stuck inside on rainy day when they discovered something interesting behind bookshelf in their family room.
After realizing that air was coming from behind the bookshelf, they investigated & found a hidden staircase behind the shelves. When they investigated, they discovered that someone had been living there.
room had a bed, some of their missing toys, and fresh food. The family sealed the room but sold the house only a few months later.
18. A Hidden Basement
Usually, when you rent an apartment, there is not much you can do to change interior. With all rules and restrictions in lease, the tenant doesn’t have much freedom to renovate. This person was exploring her new apartment when she found a door on the floor.
Little did she know, she got an extra room that she didn’t have to pay for. The door led to a secret basement that she can now use for extra storage or a hangout spot. The stairs were covered with tools, which disguised the room even more.
19. 100 Year’s Old Elevator Crank
Before modern the technology, elevators needed manual cranks to function. Someone would turn device to get to desired floor, which seems like a lot of unnecessary work compared to modern times.
Someone moved into old apartment building, and they found this manual crank, which was at least 100-years old. We hope that they updated elevator technology since then, but it is a historical feature that should be preserved.
20. 1800s Cemetery In Basement Of A New Building
In basement of this building is a preserved cemetery from the 1800s. In New Haven, Connecticut, cemetery was part of a more extensive outdoor graveyard in original center of the town. Eventually, a church was built over the center of the cemetery.
rest of the gravestones were moved to a nearby cemetery, but bodies weren’t moved. During Hurricane Sandy, some of skeletons were unearthed. Some of headstones in basement go as far back as 1687 before United States was established.
21. Message From The ’90s
“It’s 5th of October, 1997. If Spice Girls are still popular next time this room is decorated, I’ll eat my overalls.” Although Spice Girls are no longer at the top of charts, their music is still loved by many people worldwide. However, this dad was not a fan, clearly.
If someone did this again, they would probably write, “If Drake is still popular next time this room is decorated, I will eat my romper.” Like Dads of the ’90s, modern-day fathers do not love Drake or his music. It must be a “dad thing.”
22. Original Light Switches From Home’s First Construction
here home was first constructed in the 1920s with knob and tube wiring & light switches that looked like this. Throughout years, no one replaced the light switches to preserve some of original features in the home.
We imagine that switches were rewired because old wiring was coated in fabric instead of plastic. There has to be something so satisfying about pushing a button instead of flipping a switch. We hope the people continue to preserve these light switches.
23. Children’s Mural Behind Added Wall
This is not as interesting as the Italian fresco or cave drawings, but it is interesting that someone covered up this artwork without painting over it first. new owners were replacing the drywall when they found this behind the beams.
It looks like contractor got bored before he put up the wall & decided to leave a little mural for next contractor to find. Who doesn’t love a good smiling flower on their wall? We definitely would cover it up and wait for someone else to find it again.
24. Hundreds Of Layers Of Paint Exposed After Years
crack in this person’s wall exposed hundreds of layers of paint & years of redecorating. If this person sands down all of that paint, they could get an extra inch of space in their room. Every time someone painted this room, they left old paint on the wall.
You can guess that at least one of those layers is lead paint. This looks like inside of a jaw-breaker with multi-colored layers. We guess room gets smaller every time you paint it.
25. Mouse Holes Perfect For Rodent Friends
it looks like something out of Tom and Jerry cartoon. This house was built in 1741, and over the years, it has been host to humans and rodents alike. Although it wasn’t part of the original design, it has become a part of home’s history.
Although new homeowner prefers not to have mice or rats in their home, it makes for a great picture. You can just imagine a cartoon mouse running in there to hide from the devious cat. However, real mice aren’t as cute as cartoons.