Emily Chan
A millennial couple on TikTok named Courtney and Matt (@living_in_history) share all about the restoration projects they’re conducting on their 130-year-old house.
In a building that old, it’s almost a guarantee that they will come across a few surprises at some point.
In 2022, they received a mysterious letter from an anonymous sender who claimed to be the “last surviving member” of the family that previously owned the estate. It detailed all the secret rooms and hidden compartments in the house.
The letter came all the way from Canada and was addressed to the purchaser of the home. The writer was from the Madison family and had grown up in the house that Courtney and Matt were now living in. Apparently, there were three secret rooms and a compartment concealed within the fireplace.
In a viral series of videos, the couple took a tour around the house, uncovering the features that the letter described.
They started searching around the fireplace in the front parlor. Above the fireplace, there was a vertical mirrored panel.
According to the letter, “the panel slides up to reveal a secret compartment.” When Matt slid the heavy panel up, a collection of dusty, unopened vintage bottles of alcohol was revealed.
Next, they followed the letter to a secret room “in the washroom directly opposite the door in the wall” with a knob in the paneling.
When they hunted down the hidden room, it turned out to be a small, attic-like crawl space rather than an actual room.
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