“I’m more concerned that your inspector didn’t find it”: Woman owns house for 1 year. Then she moves shelves and discovers a hidden room
A homeowner was shocked to discover a hidden room in her home—one year after owning it.
Homeowner Zara Braley (@zara_braley) posted a video featuring the mysterious space to TikTok, where it has 10.4 million views.
Behind the shelves
Braley's video starts with two bookshelves standing in front of the room in question. She writes in a text overlay of her video, "Discovering a hidden room in my house that I bought over a year ago."
"OK, so when I bought this house last year, this shelving was left. And I never moved it because it goes all the way to the ceiling. Last night it was discovered that there is in fact not just a wall, but there's a hidden door behind the shelving," Braley says.
Braley notes that it seems as if someone went through measures to seal the room, as it is "all taped up."
"So the question is: Do I crack it open? Like, what if there's, like, squirrels or something? Like, I don't know," she contemplates.
While she didn't seem too enthused about encountering rodents, she entertained a more positive consequence. "But also, what if there's treasure?" she says, weighing the two possibilities.
Uncovering the hidden room
Next, Braley and her brother carefully move the shelves to get a better look at the room.
"Shout out to my brother who came over with a head lamp and sense of adventure," she later wrote in the caption of her clip.
She added that he arrived "to find out what was behind the door in my bedroom." Continuing on with the caption, she opined, "perks of having an old house you never know what you’ll find on a random Tuesday night."
As her brother inspects the area, he spots something. "There's another door," he says, smiling, looking back at the camera.
"Another ... door? What the [expletive]?" she exclaims.
Next, the man then approaches the door and toggles on a headlamp he has strapped above the brim of his hat. He attempts to pull the door open twice, but to no avail.
"It's locked on the other side, I think," he says before striking the front of the door with his palm. After trying the handle and bracing against his frame with a free hand to pry it open, it remains shut.
"What the freak?" Braley says.
"This will be above your pantry area?" he asks, before the video cuts to him in another portion of the house. With his headlamp still on, he peeks through another portion of the house, looking upwards. It appears he's trying to assess the location of the hidden room and, moreover, what it could be used for.
He discovers secret stairs
As it turns out, there's another entry point to getting in the room.
"Oh my God. It is a stairwell!" Braley says as her brother inspects the narrow staircase. Directly above it is another set of doors that are facing downward.
"There's a lot of space up here, dude," her brother says as he pushes the doors outward.
Unfinished wood planks comprise the ceiling. The space is pretty big.
Her brother calls the space "pretty sweet" and notes that it can be converted into a usable space.
"Big reveal," Braley says off camera. She highlights the room's ceilings, commenting that she likes their aesthetic.
Ghost room?
In a follow-up video, Braley addresses a comment from another TikToker who inquired about the house's previous owners. In their remark, they ask if these former residents had any ghostly experiences. Judging by the #ghostgirlies hashtag on her post, it appears that the TikToker was asking if these prior owners witnessed any paranormal encounters.
In the clip, Braley says that she wasn't made aware of any such phenomena. Additionally, in a separate video, Braley claims that there are indeed "ghost girlies" who saunter around her home as well.
As for the stairwell that leads to the attic, it appears to be synonymous with a staple of Victorian-era homes. Specifically, servant's staircases. Oftentimes, these home fixtures were much narrower than the ones found in a house's foyer or main entrance area.
Furthermore, the small stairwell that leads to the attic area is in line with the type of living arrangements a live-in maid would have.
@zara_braley Shoutout to my brother who came over with a head lamp and sense of adventure to find out what was behind the door in my bedroom…perks of having an old house you never know what you’ll find on a random Tuesday night 🤪 #oldhouse #maine #hiddenroominmyhouse ♬ original sound - Zara
Commenters react
Throngs of commenters offered up suggestions as to what she should do with the area. "Turn it into a hidden library!" one exclaimed.
Viewers also praised Braley for not dragging out the reveal of the room just to get more views. "You're going to heaven for putting it all in one video," they penned.
Another person was shocked to see that Braley was more concerned with finding squirrels than anything else. "The way squirrels would be my very LAST concern," they penned.
Others were more worried about potential safety concerns. "Please wear a mask up there. It was likely covered up because it wouldn't pass an inspection potentially due to hazards. I'm a collateral appraiser and have seen stuff like this before," one said.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Braley via TikTok comment for further information.
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The post “I’m more concerned that your inspector didn’t find it”: Woman owns house for 1 year. Then she moves shelves and discovers a hidden room appeared first on The Daily Dot.