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Post by tlsmi on Sept 8, 2014 12:00:15 GMT
[quote[But the unknown music and a female voice kind of humming, would probably freak me out. Do you sit and listen to it, ignore it or what do you think when you hear it?quote]
Scared the crap out of us! It's always in the middle of the night 3:00-4:00 am. We have no neighbors close by. We started writing on the calendar when we heard it to see if we could pinpoint something, yet we haven't. It's really, really odd.
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Post by amandad74 on Sept 8, 2014 12:06:47 GMT
In the last house we lived in, our house, along with 3 others, were built on the side of a hill. It was built in 1992. We had a 4 story house, technically. The last story was called the sub-basement. It was unfinished, just like all the other houses that had them. It was dirt, but could be finished off. One of our old neighbors did finish the sub basement last year. The basement level was a normal basement, but the sub basement was unfinished with dirt. We used it for storage. You could not access it from the house, you had to go outside and go through the door. In the basement there was a door that led to a wall, which if you were going to finish the sub basement that is where you would put the stairs. The sub basement had windows and French doors and very high ceilings. It looked like a crawl space but had matching windows, French doors, and a deck off of it. That house also had an intercom and central vac. We used the intercom but the central vac outlets to plug the hose to was a pain to get to so I rarely used it. The master bedroom had a private deck and it was 4 stories up. It was like being in a small treehouse.  The house we live in now has a lot of closets. Lots of storage. It also has a half bath right before you get to the master bedroom. It is on the main level so it could be for guests but we have another half bath off the kitchen/laundry room. So 2 half baths on the 1st floor. House was built in 1996.
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Post by brina on Sept 8, 2014 12:11:27 GMT
Other than the laundry chute (which is no longer to code, so no new houses in this area can't have them) our house is pretty run-of-the-mill, but my in-law's house is over 100 years old and has some fun quirks. It is large, but not mansion or estate large - maybe 4000 square feet, but it was certainly a product of its time. In over 100 years they are only the third owners.
-They have an elevator. The previous owners, one of them was wheelchair bound, had it built. The kids loved playing in it when they were little. -In the garage they have a private gas pump. The house was originally built as a summer home, and cars were not very common at the time. The original owners wanted to be able to drive to their lake house and then be sure to have gas to drive home. The garage is also a true coach house. There is an apartment above it where the 'coachman' lived. It still has the original 2-button light switches. -It has servants quarters. The third floor has three small bedrooms and a small bath. Only the back stairway goes to the third floor.
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Post by myboysnme on Sept 8, 2014 12:28:37 GMT
My grandparents' 1960's home had a clothes chute and an inground garbage can in the backyard! My current house is only 2100 sq feet but it has 2 sets of stairs going upstairs. One is off the den leading up to the bedrooms, and the other one is on the other side of the wall leading up to the rooms over the garage. That's the only quirky thing about my house. Is the garbage can for dog poop or fireplace ashes? Can you get to the entire upstairs from one staircase? Or do you have to choose a staircase depending on what rooms you want to go to? The trash can in the ground was a metal lid on the ground. Inside it was a regular size trash can. The trash can was pulled out of the ground by the trash man and put back in. Very strange. But everyone in that neighborhood had one. The weird thing is, all their trash fit in that one can. Today we use like 2 huge toters for trash each week. The stairs in my house do allow access to the other side by going through the master bedroom. The master bedroom has a door on 2 sides of the room - one leads through 2 other rooms to the back stairs, the other leads to the bedrooms and front stairs.
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Post by anxiousmom on Sept 8, 2014 12:28:56 GMT
In our old house one of the bathrooms had a functional razor disposal slot. When we gutted the bathroom, the number of rusty blades in the wall was astounding. Years and years worth of razor blades. How very odd. I am not understanding the disposal of razor blades in the wall. Might have to google that one. In the older homes, on one of the interior walls of the medicine cabinet has a slot a little bit longer than a razor blade and about 1/3 of inch high. It is open directly into the wall space and was meant to drop a razor blade into after use. I haven't opened that wall up, but I presume that if I did, I find all kinds of used blades down there.
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Post by lbp on Sept 8, 2014 12:35:28 GMT
We built our house in the 1980's. We have a secret passage from one part of the house to the other. We never use it. I also have a loft library in the living room which I LOVE!
We also have walnut baseboard, crown molding, and chair rail through out the house that came from the walnut trees from my grandfathers farm. The bathroom cabinets and the staircase is made from the same walnut. If anyone comes in after I am dead and takes this out or paints over it, I am going to haunt them!
Speaking of haunting, we may have a ghost in our house.
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casii
Drama Llama

Posts: 5,588
Jun 29, 2014 14:40:44 GMT
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Post by casii on Sept 8, 2014 13:20:55 GMT
Our house is a Sears kit house built in 1915. We've found old letters, postcards and coins in between the joists in the attic.
When renovating the kitchen, we found old Natty Boh cans in between the studs, presumably from previous workmen.
The original house painters painted their signatures and dated them on the attic rafters.
There is a little tunnel between the basement and the bottom step of the main floor stairs that we assume was supposed to be a cat door. We can totally freak people out be grabbing their ankles as they stand at the bottom of the stairs.
We bought it from the original owner who was well into her 90's and still caring for local elderly residents as a home healthcare nurse, but she had turned the basement into a rough kind of apartment with a canning kitchen and bathroom that was elevated to accommodate the plumbing. Her boss had bought and built the home, then decided to build another house down the street, so he sold it to her. No matter how long we live here, it will always be the Chipley House. It's just that kind of town. Lol
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eastcoastpea
Prolific Pea
 
Posts: 9,252
Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Sept 8, 2014 13:46:09 GMT
We built our house in the 1980's. We have a secret passage from one part of the house to the other. We never use it. I also have a loft library in the living room which I LOVE! We also have walnut baseboard, crown molding, and chair rail through out the house that came from the walnut trees from my grandfathers farm. The bathroom cabinets and the staircase is made from the same walnut. If anyone comes in after I am dead and takes this out or paints over it, I am going to haunt them! Speaking of haunting, we may have a ghost in our house. I love that the wood came from your grandfather's farm. Tell us more about your possible ghost.
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Post by lbp on Sept 8, 2014 14:10:35 GMT
We built our house in the 1980's. We have a secret passage from one part of the house to the other. We never use it. I also have a loft library in the living room which I LOVE! We also have walnut baseboard, crown molding, and chair rail through out the house that came from the walnut trees from my grandfathers farm. The bathroom cabinets and the staircase is made from the same walnut. If anyone comes in after I am dead and takes this out or paints over it, I am going to haunt them! Speaking of haunting, we may have a ghost in our house. I love that the wood came from your grandfather's farm. Tell us more about your possible ghost. We have been "strange" things happening in our addition since the day we first broke ground. When we were building it we would hear hammering at night, though no one was in there. Since it has been completed we have heard DS's drum's symbols ring themselves, several people have seen shadows, have felt their hair touched, and last week I heard a definite "hello" when I was turning out the lights for the night. Not really sure what is going on, we built the house, no deaths in the house, etc... Many of our friends are "uncomfortable" in that part of the house. We do collect antiques, so maybe something hitched a ride on one of them???
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Post by AngieJoy on Sept 8, 2014 14:11:50 GMT
So now all three bathrooms have 2 switches outside, and anywhere from 2-4 switches inside. What a PITA! There is NO. WAY. we wouldn't use that to terrorize whoever was in the shower by messing with the light. LOL 
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anniebygaslight
Drama Llama

I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
Posts: 7,412
Location: Third Rock from the sun.
Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Sept 8, 2014 14:16:17 GMT
Our house was built in the 1930s. We are tarting up one of the bathrooms at the moment and have removed the tiles, to find a second layer underneath, with a most astonishing fish mosaic over the bath area. I'll post a picture later, when the cloud of dust has settled. It is a sight to behold.
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Post by miominmio on Sept 8, 2014 14:34:56 GMT
Our home has a secret room behind the closet. I have never understood why.
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anniebygaslight
Drama Llama

I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
Posts: 7,412
Location: Third Rock from the sun.
Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Sept 8, 2014 14:42:14 GMT
Our home has a secret room behind the closet. I have never understood why. Priest hole? 
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:53:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 14:57:44 GMT
"In the home I lived in as a kid, we had a trap door in the bathroom to get to the basement." reminds me of Clue!
my parents home also had an intercom system with a turntable. When I was sick, I could call my mother on the intercom.
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anniebygaslight
Drama Llama

I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
Posts: 7,412
Location: Third Rock from the sun.
Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Sept 8, 2014 15:02:54 GMT
As promised, here is the fish mosaic.  Here is the original spout, that was languishing in a cupboard. 
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Post by sbartist on Sept 8, 2014 15:37:06 GMT
Is the garbage can for dog poop or fireplace ashes? Hahahaha - this is the first thing I read this morning and it makes me LOL.
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Post by sbartist on Sept 8, 2014 15:42:19 GMT
The basement level was a normal basement, but the sub basement was unfinished with dirt. We used it for storage. You could not access it from the house, you had to go outside and go through the door. In the basement there was a door that led to a wall, which if you were going to finish the sub basement that is where you would put the stairs. The sub basement had windows and French doors and very high ceilings. It looked like a crawl space but had matching windows, French doors, and a deck off of it. So a sub basement is not below ground? I always think of basements as below ground.
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Post by sbartist on Sept 8, 2014 15:49:01 GMT
As promised, here is the fish mosaic.  Here is the original spout, that was languishing in a cupboard.  What a cool find. Are you keeping both of them?
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anniebygaslight
Drama Llama

I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
Posts: 7,412
Location: Third Rock from the sun.
Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Sept 8, 2014 16:11:57 GMT
What a cool find. Are you keeping both of them? No. Unfortunately the mosaic is in very poor condition. We will keep the fish spout and have it as an ornament. It weighs a ton.
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Post by I-95 on Sept 8, 2014 16:14:38 GMT
Yes, it was a very large house. I had 9 brothers and a sister so 11 kids, plus parents and 3 or 4 live in helpers (a married couple who lived in the finished basement. He was the gardener/handyman and his wife was the housekeeper/cook. There were also a couple of 20 something nanny types who helped with the younger kids and the housekeeping. They lived in the apartment over the garage) The house was, and still is, in California. I think the main section of the house had 8 bedrooms plus the master suite, 6 bathrooms, then the nanny's flat had 2 bdrms and a bathroom as did the housekeeper's floor. there were 2 dining rooms, 2 kitchens and a variety of dens, living rooms (formal and casual) an art studio and a what would now be called a media room. It also had a swimming pool and a tennis court. I asked my mom once and I think she said they paid $180,000 for it in the late 60s. Today I'm sure it's worth millions.
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Post by lily on Sept 8, 2014 16:18:02 GMT
This is a great thread!! I have read every single post and love it!
We don't have anything unusual in our house. It is only 9 years old and we built it.
I would love to see photos of some of the things you are mentioning.
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azredhead
Drama Llama

Posts: 5,755
Jun 25, 2014 22:49:18 GMT
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Post by azredhead on Sept 8, 2014 16:46:43 GMT
My grandparents had a fire pole and an intercome in their house.
In our house our light switches are in screwy places. Like the hall bathroom -the light switch is on the far wall behind the door and between the sink. We always have to tell people where it is. Its a small bathroom.
The kitchen switches are by the mudroom door and if i flip on the mudroom lights, we have to turn the kitchen lights on from the main switch in the family room. Fortunately its open living room kitchen concept. But it gets confusing.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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eastcoastpea
Prolific Pea
 
Posts: 9,252
Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Sept 8, 2014 17:07:34 GMT
I love that the wood came from your grandfather's farm. Tell us more about your possible ghost. We have been "strange" things happening in our addition since the day we first broke ground. When we were building it we would hear hammering at night, though no one was in there. Since it has been completed we have heard DS's drum's symbols ring themselves, several people have seen shadows, have felt their hair touched, and last week I heard a definite "hello" when I was turning out the lights for the night. Not really sure what is going on, we built the house, no deaths in the house, etc... Many of our friends are "uncomfortable" in that part of the house. We do collect antiques, so maybe something hitched a ride on one of them??? Well, if you do have an uninvited "guest" at least it sounds harmless. It sure does make you wonder about the antiques in that part of the house.
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eastcoastpea
Prolific Pea
 
Posts: 9,252
Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Sept 8, 2014 17:11:55 GMT
Yes, it was a very large house. I had 9 brothers and a sister so 11 kids, plus parents and 3 or 4 live in helpers (a married couple who lived in the finished basement. He was the gardener/handyman and his wife was the housekeeper/cook. There were also a couple of 20 something nanny types who helped with the younger kids and the housekeeping. They lived in the apartment over the garage) The house was, and still is, in California. I think the main section of the house had 8 bedrooms plus the master suite, 6 bathrooms, then the nanny's flat had 2 bdrms and a bathroom as did the housekeeper's floor. there were 2 dining rooms, 2 kitchens and a variety of dens, living rooms (formal and casual) an art studio and a what would now be called a media room. It also had a swimming pool and a tennis court. I asked my mom once and I think she said they paid $180,000 for it in the late 60s. Today I'm sure it's worth millions. It sounds like a full house with many adventures to be had.
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eastcoastpea
Prolific Pea
 
Posts: 9,252
Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Sept 8, 2014 17:15:48 GMT
What a cool find. Are you keeping both of them? No. Unfortunately the mosaic is in very poor condition. We will keep the fish spout and have it as an ornament. It weighs a ton. Is this your first renovation in this house? That spout and the mosaic makes me wonder what other neat stuff is there that you haven't found yet.
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Post by miominmio on Sept 8, 2014 17:47:39 GMT
Our home has a secret room behind the closet. I have never understood why. Priest hole?  Maybe;)
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Post by khaleesi on Sept 8, 2014 18:06:02 GMT
What a cool find. Are you keeping both of them? No. Unfortunately the mosaic is in very poor condition. We will keep the fish spout and have it as an ornament. It weighs a ton. That is too bad it isn't salvageable but what a great find! Our house was built in the late 60s and doesn't have anything unique or unusual. The house I grew up in that was built in the 40s had what I called a "secret passage". The closet was shared between the two bedrooms and was kind of an L shape. I used to play in there for hours.
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Sue
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,266
Location: SE of Portland, Oregon
Jun 26, 2014 18:42:33 GMT
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Post by Sue on Sept 8, 2014 18:06:15 GMT
Our little house was originally built in 1913 and then added onto in the '30s. Nothing too interesting about it but we have a separate garage that had a large walk-in freezer across the back, complete with a 10" thick door filled with sawdust, also sawdust filled thick walls. After doing little sleuthing we found out that our garage was once the neighborhood ice cream and egg/dairy store. And I'm not so sure that the long ago owners didn't also sell gas as we had a large underground gas tank alongside our driveway with a hand-pump above ground for pumping out the gas.
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anniebygaslight
Drama Llama

I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
Posts: 7,412
Location: Third Rock from the sun.
Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Sept 8, 2014 20:36:22 GMT
No. Unfortunately the mosaic is in very poor condition. We will keep the fish spout and have it as an ornament. It weighs a ton. Is this your first renovation in this house? That spout and the mosaic makes me wonder what other neat stuff is there that you haven't found yet. No, we are slowly working our way round it. This is the first thing of real interest that we have found.
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TankTop
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1,871
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Jun 28, 2014 1:52:46 GMT
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Post by TankTop on Sept 8, 2014 20:45:33 GMT
Love this thread!
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