A couple renovating their Victorian home were stunned to learn from an architect that their house appears to contain a completely hidden extra room.
London resident Rachel Gagie shared the surprise discovery in a reel on her Instagram account, 39andfine, announcing: “We have a hidden room in our house.” Because it was uncovered in the run-up to Halloween, Gagie admitted the revelation about their Victorian-era property left them “a little spooked.”
“I love reading thrillers but it means I have a wild imagination and I’ve definitely been assuming the worst,” Gagie told Newsweek. “I like to make it sound lighthearted but I am panicked that it could be bad!”
Renovating a home is rarely simple. A previous survey of just under 1,000 U.S. citizens, conducted by Schlesinger Group on behalf of home renovation and remodeling service Sweeten, found that 85 percent of respondents consider home renovations to be stressful.
For Gagie, the work being carried out on the South London house she shares with her partner is part of a long-time dream. “We really wanted to live on this street, it’s been our dream, but all the houses are done up and we couldn’t afford them,” she said. “Then two years ago this one came on the market and had lots of damp issues etc which made it affordable. So we’ve lived in it the last two years saving up and are just about managing to do it!”
The toughest part so far has been juggling money, time and energy. “We’re really stretching ourselves mentally and physically to do this,” she said. “We hope to do some of it ourselves as well so that we can make it work but we’re two weeks in and already exhausted — but it’s worth it.”
Despite being early in the process, the couple are quickly discovering how many surprises an old house can hold. The biggest twist so far is the mysterious section at the back of their property.
“From the back of our house there looks to be a boarded up window and a boarded up door but they are actually bricked up on the inside. So we can’t access it at all,” Gagie explained. “From the inside the bathroom door leads to what would be the downstairs restroom and the window we assumed led into a cupboard. We weren’t aware there was anything else there.”
That changed when Gagie brought in an architect to carry out a measured survey. “The measured survey allowed the architect to have a detailed measurement of the current building so that they can then do their drawings,” she said. “So it was only then that we realized that the measurement inside the bathroom wasn’t the same externally.”
Gagie said they haven’t opened up the blocked-off area yet, so they still don’t know what’s inside. Since she posted about it on social media, plenty of armchair detectives have weighed in. “All the comments seem to suggest it’s a toilet or pantry which would be great but I’m also concerned it’ll be absolutely foul in there,” she said.
What puzzles her most is why anyone would seal up a usable part of the house. “We can’t believe someone would close off a space in a house that’s usable?! Which is also why we hope it’s something fun!”
Either way, the secret won’t stay hidden for long. “We’re actually doing an extension so we will need to completely knock it down regardless,” she said.
Until then, followers online are eagerly waiting for the big reveal.
