A young couple received a surprise after getting a letter revealing hidden secrets in their home.
The couple, Courtney and Matt, are restoring a 130-year-old Victorian home that they bought from a historical society, according to the New York Post.
Courtney explained in a TikTok video that the letter, simply addressed to “purchaser,” came from someone in Canada who claimed to be the “last surviving member” of the family that once owned the house.
“I would like to … tell you about the secret rooms and a few things you may not have been told when you bought the house,” the letter read.
@living_in_history We have secret rooms!?!? #secretroom #secretroomcheck #historichome #livinginhistory #hiddencompartment ♬ original sound – Courtney & Matt
The first hidden compartment was a secret liquor cabinet above the fireplace in the parlor. By lifting a heavy mirrored panel, they found bottles of wine and an assortment of other drinks such as beer and sherry.
The caption to the video includes “#prohibition,” suggesting that the secret cabinet may have been used to hide liquor during the Prohibition era.
@living_in_history Part 2! #secretroom #secretcompartments #prohibition #hiddenbar #historichome #livinginhistory #thewatcherhouse ♬ original sound – Courtney & Matt
Moving on to the next secret room, Courtney followed the letter’s instructions to a bathroom upstairs.
Courtney described that bathroom as the “scariest room” in the house, but, showing an old photo of what it used to look like, she hopes to restore it to its former glory.
Some panels had already been removed from the wall across from the door, and Courtney explained that “really this is just like a kind of creepy attic space.”
The couple was already aware of the third secret area: an “old-school trunk room” directly across from the toilet.
Opening a small door, Courtney revealed a decent-sized room — not big enough to stand up in, but one that you could sit in comfortably or use for storage.
“We’re going to try and figure out how to use this space, but for right now it’s just kind of a cool, cool room,” Courtney said.
@living_in_history Part 3! #secretroomcheck #historichome #oldhousetiktok #historichomes #wegotaletter ♬ original sound – Courtney & Matt
The videos of the letter and the secret compartments have gone viral, with the first one garnering 2 million views, the second 1.5 million and the third 715,000 as of Saturday.
In another video, Courtney said she and Matt had gained tens of thousands of followers on TikTok in a matter of hours.
“We woke up this morning with 12,000 followers … but today we have over 50,000 and we’re completely overwhelmed,” she said. As of Saturday, the couple had over 90,000 followers.
Courtney added that there is another secret room in the house, but they couldn’t reach it because it was full of furniture.
In other videos, she has shown followers other discoveries in the home, such as an old music box and a trunk containing a parasol, boots and even a vintage bra.
