You know how we hid a secret note in our first house to hopefully be discovered in a few decades? Well, we found one in our new house! It doesn’t appear to be very old, so we’re guessing it’s from the previous owners (who lived here for 22 years, so it’s still pretty amazing). Where was it? Tucked behind the large wall mirror in the hall bathroom. See that tiny nub sticking out under that wonky orange arrow?
While John was giving Clara her bath I was hanging out with them slash standing-around-staring-at-things-I-can’t-wait-to-update when I looked up and saw it peeking out of the top of the mirror. So I tugged on the corner, revealing a nice little printed note.
In case you can’t make it out, it read:
May today bring you peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are both of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love. It is there for each and every one of us.
Isn’t that sweet? I dunno if it’s leftover pregnancy hormones or what, but it totally made me tear up. Because it’s exactly how we feel. Like we’re exactly where we’re meant to be. How cool are the past owners of our house for hiding this little gem? We think they’re the bee’s knees.
Have you guys ever found any messages in your home? Any initials with hearts scrawled in a kids closet, letters carved into concrete outside, or beer cans and old newspapers in the walls? Somebody tell me you found vintage “men’s magazines” somewhere. Scandalous.
Tashia says
Hmmmm…. nothing quite so nice. As I went to work taking out the old nasty drop ceiling in the basement I found lots of empty soda cans, food wrappers, and not suprisingly carcasses of dead mice and the evidence they left before perishing. EWWW!
The best however came as I was vacuuming up the floor after pulling out the ceiling pieces. There on the floor was a lovely little eight ball of crack all nicely wrapped up in plastic that had fallen when I pulled out the pieces. I called the cops and they picked it up from me.
Needless to say I would have LOVED a nice note that you received. :)
Spring says
The house we’re renting has a handprints and the name of the owner’s stepdaughter (who actually lives next door) outside the garage.
When we built our last house the workers left a coke can in the walls. I saw it when I was doing a walk through just to see how things were progressing. They put it just…. out… of… reach. I couldn’t get to it no matter what I tried. For all I know it’s still there eleven years later. Fortunately it never attracted ants.
kristen says
that’s awesome. & beautiful. i’m going to copy it, print it out ten or twelve times, & hide it in random spots out in the world. i just know the recipients will discover it exactly at the moment[s] they need it most. :)
Dolan Geiman says
Very nice! In exploring abandoned homes for artwork materials, I’m always finding letters and notes (http://www.etsy.com/listing/13223362), but never intentionally left for someone like me to find. Great thought by the previous owners.
Sandy says
How sweet is that!!! Would be even sweeter to have it framed and put somewhere in your home. The words used is just so beautiful.
Mari says
What a neat little surprise! When we moved into our house when I was 7 I found a height chart in the closet done in pencil. The previous owners had boys and they were much taller than I, but I still wanted to join the fun. So, every so often, I would add my notch to the wall.
The best part is that the boys had written “shoes off” or “shoes on” next to their name depending on the footwear they were wearing while being measured. Again, I wanted to be part of the “gang,” so I wrote “socks on” or “socks off” next to my notch. I’m sure those socks really made a difference. :)
Amanda says
I bought my great-grandparents house. Last year I was having some work done on the back porch and one of the boards said “Ma Settle”, my great grandmother. I took a picture of it so I can always remember.
jenn says
when i was about 15 i wrote a message on the basement stairs in pencil a week before we moved out. i dont remember what it said but i was pretending to be a ghost named annie or something like that. the new owners found it a few days after they moved in and told my dad i needed therapy. hahaha we all thought it was hilarious.
jenn says
oh! and at my first house in the basement rafters there was a ninja turtle helmet thrown up there. i always tried to reach it but i was too tiny.
Karan says
We haven’t found a note hidden somewhere, yet but we leave them all the time. Every time we do some sort of remodel/refurbish sort of project, we leave something hidden…under new carpet or floorboards, under the new roof, etc. And…we ask workers who are repairing our house to sign pipes or leave messages behind walls, etc. It’s fun knowing that we’ve got all this surrounding us every day.
Katie says
Earlier today when I read this, I was thinking I didn’t have any stories like that, but now I just remembered one.
In my parents’ old house, we found a typed out (like on a typewriter) list of chores for the previous owners’ kids taped into the inside of one of the kitchen cabinets. My mom thought it was sweet that the first *and* last ‘chores’ on the list were “Hug your Mom” – so we ended up leaving it there the entire 14 years we lived there… and I think we left it when the house was sold. I wonder if the new owners still have it up?
Amy L. says
Warning: this is a little R-rated, I’ll do my best to describe it in a family-friendly way.
When I moved into my first apartment in Providence RI about 12 years ago, I found a keychain hanging on a nail in the bedroom closet. It was three metal figures, a woman standing, posed between two men. The men were both sporting huge…er, let’s just say they were very excited. There was a mechanism so that when you could move the two men side to side…just use your imagination.
Alissa H. says
Sometimes I stick quotes like that on my mirror… I wonder if that’s what the previous owners did, and when they moved they noticed they left that up and decided to cram it behind the mirror.
It is nicer to think that they wrote it just for you though.
Rosemary says
When I was tearing shelves out of the downstairs bathroom, men’s magazines came tumbling down from the top shelf :)
When my hubby tore down walls downstairs, he found they were using old roofing material in between the walls for insulation. Not really neat, more sad that they didn’t put in the effort to truly insulate. Glad we felt the need to clear the whole downstairs out and start fresh.
gail says
sweet!
I never have found anything, but every time I DIY I leave a note.
when I laid my daughters hardwood floors over plywood subfloors I left a message.
When I did a surround on my fireplace hearth, I left a message.
Under some paneling in the kitchen we wrote a message 30 years ago!
I love it!
gail
Martha Beeton says
We had quite a few interesting finds here in D.C. Vintage “men’s magazines” behind the radiator, a sexually suggestive light plate switch cover, and a hollowed out book entitled How to Improve Your Sex Life with a flask inside.
Noticing a theme here? We definitely bought a former bachelor pad.
Heather Jo says
We found many “treasures” inside a hollow bay-sty;e window seat, including about 50 vintage penthouse magazines and the true gem: a jar of white stuff labeled “sperm.” Um, yeah.
Amy says
I grew up in So. California and my parents owned their own business, which was housed in a very old J.C. Penny’s store. One day some workers came to make sure the building was earthquake proof..and opened up a whole hidden room. My little sis and I climbed up there (with help from my dad) and discovered all sorts of things! Old catalogs, notes, loads of dust. Of course we wrote our names on the wall along with the year before they could seal it back up. That was in the 1980s. I always wonder what has happened to that building now…and if anyone ever found our signatures. I LOVE this kind of stuff! :)
Jennifer says
Whoa. So I tried reading pretty much all of the comments (some really good stories) but it’s a lot! I appreciate now how you 2 deal with answering comments :)
I have found pots, pans, food, a shower head (and I understood why….I would swap that out too for a better one, which I do when we are renting, bring my own to install), hair ties, and a baby picture. So far, thats it!
Jess says
We moved around a lot when I was growing up, but in what I consider my “childhood home” there was a small door out to a secondary attic space at the end of the upstairs hallway. Of course my sister and I weren’t allowed to ever go exploring in there but we would sometimes open the door to just look at the forbidden, secretly hoping that this would be the time that Narnia would appear on the other side instead of crossbeams and fluffy pink insulation. Nothing so magical- in the far corner, draped over some electrical wires, hung an adult sized pair of men’s tighty-whities. Many years later, I’m still wondering what in the world they were doing there!
Amber says
My family bought the house next door to my grandparent’s home. My grandpa had put a gate between the fences when I was a kid so all the grandkids could play with the neighbor kids who lived in my current house. When we started moving our things into the garage we found one of my cousins’ name scribbled all over the wall. It’s been about twenty years since he scrawled it there.
Ann says
In our 1st house, we found an old large roll-up vintage map of the young United States with “Dakota Territories” on it. It was paper thin and the ends were practically falling off. We donated it to the museum. In our current house, one of the children who grew up in the house carved “David’s room” on the door. I swear you can’t see it unless you are looking sideways at the door.
Kristina @ spabettie says
I LOVE this! and that it has happened twice! (maybe this is more common than I know??) :)
when my parents sold the house I grew up in, I left a note etched into the side of the door to my bedroom…
we are currently looking at houses – when we do move, I think I will leave a note here !
Amy says
During our home construction, one of the workers wrote “Mexico is where the heart is” on one of the studs in our bedroom.
katy says
the previous folks in this house left a notebook hidden way high on some cabinetry in the laundry room. It contained banking numbers and his children’s social security numbers….NOT the kind of thing you leave behind!
Sheri says
Hello! I know this is completely unrelated to this post, but I remember in a post sometime over the summer or fall that you mentioned you went to Montessori, Sherry. We’re considering that for our kiddos, and just wondering what your experience was with it, both good and bad?
Thanks!
Sheri
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sheri,
My experience with Montessori schooling was great. I went there for 1st-5th grade and I believe it taught me a lot about self-reliance and time management. After crossing over to public school I was the only one out of my friends who didn’t procrastinate (my brother was the same way, and he was also Montessori schooled). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Colleen says
We found a check from the 1980’s for $300 for school tuition from the lady 3 owners ago (who apparently died in our house). We also found a little note card explaining how to operate the telephone (call the operator basically) with a love letter written on the back, probably to the daughter of the original owner. They had both slipped between the floorboards or baseboards and were sticking out of the basement ceiling.
Zoe Feast says
I used my business card to shimmy up a wobbly toilet after I’d had a ceramic tile laid in my bathroom. Does that count as a note!?
Lora says
Love Love that note and also Kristen’s idea! It is profound and thoughful in the most lovely way!
Aimee says
My house has a sweet little handprint with the name “Sarah Jane Rogers 1968” written under it on the cement in the backyard, and all the previous family’s names are very faintly etched into the driveway. It is so cute.
I found an old print of Jesus in my attic, lol. I was only poking my head in when I took off the piece of wood that covers the entrance to paint it.
Jessie SP says
We have found SO MUCH stuff in our ceilings. Baby pictures, stereograms, letters, trinkets, even a whole record. We’ve eve found numerous Valentines, Christmas cards, etc. We’ve got a 1925 foursquare and the gems just keep on coming. Finding this stuff is definitely my most favorite part of the otherwise incredibly messy and difficult demolition process. I’ve got pictures and scans on my own blog here: http://53masonstreet.blogspot.com/2010/10/things-we-found-in-ceiling.html , http://53masonstreet.blogspot.com/2010/10/but-wait-theres-more.html , http://53masonstreet.blogspot.com/2010/12/fascinating-items-found-in-living-room.html,
Ironygirl says
I found a social security card that had fallen in between a drawer and lower cabinet in the kitchen. I don’t even remember the name now, but I mailed it in to the address on the back instead of auctioning it off on ebay or something like that.
Marie S. says
Last year mom was babysitting my sister’s kids (at my sister’s house) while they were away on a week-long getaway. The house was built in 1924 and my sister’s family moved there in 2001. I don’t know what my mom was doing but discovered an un-mailed letter from the early 1960’s detailing a visit from the previous owner’s (x2) elderly great-aunt who became ill and actually died in the house. It fell in the crack between the baseboard and the wall and just a tiny corner was sticking out–never got mailed.
Kate says
we moved into our “raise the kids” house nearly 2 years ago. I knew that the previous owners had a teen daughter and young son.
when putting toiletries away in the master bath, I pulled out the top drawer and on the sides were scribbles done in eye pencil and lip liner. It made me tear up a little, knowing it was a little piece of a childhood left behind and that soon enough, it would be MY little daughter drawing with my eyeliner while I wasn’t paying attention :) I haven’t cleaned it off.
Deputy's Wife says
During our major kitchen remodel last year, the contractor found a roll of uncut $2 bills. Not kidding. Very cool!
Ashley at The Real Vertical House says
HOW AWESOME!!! we’re still waiting to find the crazy awesome treasure that will allow for us to finish restoration on our 100+ year old home. however, we have found some pretty rad gems: my favorite, our original skeleton key – that still works! (i now have it tattooed on my arm yay!). it had fallen behind the mantle in our living room, and we found it in a pile of soot when we removed it to strip it.
we also found some old postcards from the 20s! so cool! i love hidden house history :)
kristen says
Oooooooh, reading these comments takes me back 28 years when my neighbor and best friend were playing in her basement (Goonies style), we made treasure map (even burnt the sides *her mom helped us*), placed it in a beer bottle and corked it up. We hid that puppy well, deep inside a wall there in the basement. I wonder if anyone has found it.
Kelsey says
Oh my gosh!! You use the word “wonky”! Me too!! Anytime I use it, I get giggled at and told it’s a made up word. I love the note! We live in a new house now, but I plan to leave one when we move out someday!
MichelleS says
Actually, at our old house They were redoing the staircase and they were putting up drywall right across from it. I was in like 6th or 7th grade but I drew a huge picture in chalk on the wall right before they put the drywall up in front of it. I always wonder if anyone would be taking down that wall in the future and would find my picture. It was of a sunflower that was as big as I was at the time with a sun and grass and everything. Ah fond memories. :)
Jane says
When we gutted our kitchen all we found was an old Garth Brooks style shirt in the ceiling. So, to prevent a future owner’s disappointment, we left a time capsule for them in the wall before we closed it up. We put a photo of ourselves and our dog and a note wishing them happiness in the house in a cute little box.
Rosa @ flutterflutter says
Oh fun! I can play this game!! Friends of ours moved into a early 1900’s home. When they started renovating the house years later, they discovered that the reason they hadn’t been getting adequate heat into the kitchen was because there was an enormous roll of vintage “adult mags” stuffed down the heating vent!! haha!
K Blue says
That is so cool!
We haven’t found anything super interesting yet.
The previous owners were sweet though and left us a note on the counter. :)
We had the whole house re-carpeted, and before the carpet arrived, I wrote secret messages on the floor of several of our closets.
kristen says
Love it! My sisters and I left notes and drawings in chalk under the flooring of the house our parents built… very precious memories.
Elizabeth says
Yes!! In our first home we uncovered letters in one of the bedrooms. They were love notes–teen love no less! We were convinced it was a sign of things to come. Nearly 18 years later we’re still going strong…ha,ha! p.s. my oldest is 15 yrs old and my eyes misted over after reading your secret note. Can’t be pregnancy hormones!!@#@@# On a serious note, wishing you both much happiness in your new digs– it’s just beautiful!!!
Ellen says
I found a baggie of suspicious dried weed…and a turquoise/silver ring on a top shelf in the bathroom when I moved in!
Lauren @ Beautiful Fight says
So fun!
Amber says
When we were planting flowers in the back flower bed, we found a “time capsule” in a glass jar. It looked like 2 step sisters had buried it and it had notes to each other, a bracelet, and school pictures in it. It was a fun little find.
Kasey says
We found some old Budweiser cans circa 1980’s stuffed in between some walls. Heart-Wrenching isn’t it. :)
Becky S says
When we gutted one of the bedrooms we found about 8 Marilyn Monroe posters on the walls with some dried up roses pinned to each one (kind of obsessive), in the living room walls was what appeared to be horses hair rubber banded together in pony tail fasion (very creepy) and in the dining room walls was the previous owners initials written in a heart with a small note in mans handwriting saying how much he loved his wife (very sweet).
Jordan says
Wow, That is awesome! I am totally going to do this at our old place (which is on the market now.) What a great way to brighten up someone’s day and just make your house that much more intersting!