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.
Elizabeth says
I didn’t find any notes, but the previous owner of my house had let grandchildren paint all over the garage walls, drawings and such. I painted over them when I moved in, but I left the lightswitch cover which they had also painted.
On a side note…do your cotton balls get dusty when you have them in an uncovered container like that? Or do you use them quickly enough to avoid it. I swear it seems that my house has more dust than any house I ever read about on the internet!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Elizabeth,
We don’t really use those very much at all but they don’t appear or feel very dusty. Wonder if there’s dust in there but we just can’t see it. Haha.
xo,
s
Rochelle says
Haha! I haven’t found any notes in our house- but others will find tons including the graffitti we left on the old wallpaper (that would not come off even with a commercial steamer) and covered over with drywall. Plus my son recently carved “Jeff was here” into the knotty pine panelling in our office. I’m sure the kids have left more that we haven’t discovered yet!
Theresa says
What a beautiful note. I wish I had been so lucky to find such a note. The only thing left from our previous owners was a mess. lol
Caroline says
That is so cool! I haven’t found a letter in our house yet, but you never know!
Allison D says
My husband and I purchased a foreclosure a few years back that had extensive smoke damage. Needless to say the homeowner up and left leaving an attic full of junk for us to clean out. Not only did we find “Men’s Videos” etc, we found a letter from him to a girlfriend he wrote while he was in jail! The neighbor has told us all sorts of stories about him and his family. I guess the previous owners father used to use his plane to run drugs for D.B Cooper (more on him here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper) and the owner himself did not live a crime free life either it seems. How crazy is that?? There were no sentimental notes… :(
Susan says
What a wonderful surprise! Thank you for sharing this. I am enjoying seeing the progress in your beautiful home.
suzanne says
It’s the St Theresa prayer
Lauren Ashley says
You guys should frame that because it is totally precious.
Gaelle says
Well, I found a lot of drafts and not so code approved electrical connections, but no sweet note yet… I feel our previous owners weren’t as much in love with our house as you guys were!
You two are a lucky bunch.
Me and my can of Stuff It are more like… a practical bunch :-D
Nina says
We didn’t find a note but we found three empty Budweiser cans behind the drywall of our bathroom during demolition. Cheers! :)
KiM says
I wish we could find something, but instead I guess we’ll have to leave something fun behind. :)
Ashley @ sunnysideshlee.com says
my college roommate and i found hidden notes/words left all of our old dorm room from the previous year’s tenants. so we left a bunch of new ones and re-hid all the ones we found. it was kinda cool. and the girls that left them even visited us at one point that year.
Amanda says
In our house someone had written “Jeff+Lisa” inside a heart in our bathroom’s plaster. I always wondered, why THERE? Haha.
ALittleBite says
I wish I could say I found a note…
…but we found an empty whiskey bottle instead. From the builders, probably. It was hidden inside the “foot” of one of the pedestal sinks.
Aly says
I found initials etched into our stairs. I can imagine the child taking a break on that stair, waiting for a parent to get ready perhaps, and carving away. I’d like to see how old they are, our house is nearly 100.
Nicole says
What a clever idea! My parents have lived in their home for nearly 34 years. That is a LONG time. I think they need to do something like this when they move along…if that ever happens!
Tara says
We found a JM + JS scratched into a joist/floor beam (?) in the basement of my parents house (the basement ceiling is not finished). We figured it was just a teenage love… and it was! My Dad was talking to someone at work (he was in a new position and getting to know his coworkers) and when he mentioned what street he had just moved to, she said she had grown up on the street. Yup, you know where this is going: she’s the JS! They thought it was pretty cool that my parents now live in the house she grew up in, and when dad asked if her maiden name started with an M or S it all fell into place. Cute eh?
Kate says
We haven’t found any notes, but we did find the architectural plans for the bomb shelter that the first owner of our 1959 ranch added to the basement. The plans are dated 1960.
So if anyone is interested in adding a bomb shelter to your home, you now know where to go to find the plans!
Jill says
We actually took down a wall in our house this week and just last night I wrote inside the exposed wall our names and the date. I figure the house is only 30 years old so it will probably be ripped down again one day so hopefully someone will find it.
Rebecca says
We didn’t find a note, but our biggest suprise find was the loaded WW2 U.S. Army issued handgun hidden we discovered on top of the HVAC ducts in the basement. Yikes!
kate says
When we moved into our home 2 years ago we found the word “a**hole” written on the wall inside the bedroom closet. In all caps, with a Sharpie no less.
Glad to see that you found a much more positive note than we did!!
Ashley says
My husband found a time capsule hidden under a foot of insulation in our attic last week! He was working on some wiring when he pulled up a Time Magazine and the local newspaper from 1941!!!
Very fun! There’s a comic of Superman beating the Nazis, an add for the Dodgers game admission: 10 pounds of scrap metal, cigarette adds stating “pleasure without penalty”, and the Empire State building was described as “modern”. It was way too much fun. I framed a few of the comics and fun articles around the house.
julianne says
I had a wonderful/scary closet growing up that had a door in it that lead into a “secret” room and there we found the pledge from a boy’s only club that met back there in the 50’s. We got in touch with the boy (now man) who grew up there and gave it back to him. He was very excited/touched to have that piece of childhood back.
Amanda says
We found a lot of stuff in our living room ceiling when we tore it down…BTW we were told our house was only 60 years old when we bought it. Yeah right!! We found a military dance card from a local military gala from the late 1800’s and several old toys and a little girls straw hat! After talking to neighbors who have lived in the neighborhood, the original part of our house is well over 100 years old, it is the addition that was added 60 years ago! Ohh and it is haunted, but the ghost seems to be friendly, thank goodness.
Have you guys ever heard any strange noises or seen anything move in your new home that made you wonder?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amanda,
Nothing so far! We didn’t really have any of those experiences in the last house either. Who knows though…
xo,
s
Amanda says
Just last night in my netflix dvd envelope, a note came out that read “You are AWESOME, no matter what!”, totally made my day. Rainn Wilson, Dwight, from The Office talked about doing stuff like that in his book SoulPancake! :D
Melissa says
When my parents moved a few years ago, they found several boxes of 1970’s porn magazines and videos in the attic of their new house! It felt so dirty helping them bag it all and put it out by the curb for trash pickup!
Lindsey says
When removing the orignal 1950’s white with pink and green boomerang patterend counter tops (Yuck, LOL!) in the kitchen of our first home we found one of those little tear out magazine subscription order forms for Playboy from the 70’s or 80’s. Not an actual magazine but it was amusing none-the-less.
Marissa says
In middle school, my husband and a friend wrote “so-and-so loves so-and-so” message in the concrete of a newly poured basement in their neighborhood. Either the original homeowners never noticed, or never mentioned it, but 15 years have passed without a word. Until, that is, a good friend (one of the girls written about that day) informed us recently that new neighbors moved in (her parents still live next door) and got a big kick out of the love notes to her that were written in their basement. She had never known and my husband had totally forgot. Good to know that middle school adoration will live on forever in concrete :) even if the relationship itself fizzled out before homeroom.
Emily says
Ummm…we did find a very lovely drawing in the vent of two siblings with “X”s for eyes-what a happy home it must have been!
Marah says
My grandparents recently pulled down the wallpaper in their kitchen to find a note I wrote 20 years ago, that I don’t even remember writing. I was smart enough to include the date, and the fact that I was in fourth grade and that my favorite food was spaghetti. They were so excited to find it!
Tanya says
I didn’t find any notes, but in the guest room closet there were some pencil scribbing from the previous owner’s daughters (who are probably in their 50’s now). It was the typical MK+PS stuff, surrounded by a pencil heart. When I repainted the closet, I refused to paint over. I decided it added character. :) So glad you guys got a note. I’ll be sure to leave one in my house if I ever sell it! Keep up the good work!
Sherri says
Well, we didn’t find a note, but the previous owners had a subscription to a “men’s magazine” and did not forward it on. I did not know this until my children had checked the mail and had thoroughly checked out the magazine. Thankfully, my daughter (age 12) and her 4 friends who saw it were completely disgusted! I laughed hysterically and called the previous owners. They were mortified. It made for a memorable moment….and lots of explaining to the other kids’ parents.
maggie says
this is so sweet!
When I was 12 my family bought a new house and my parents purchased the furniture in my bedroom from the old owners. One day the draw got stuck and I found 5 playgirl magazines from 1970’s (im 23). haha My moms face was pretty funny when I brought them to her!
Andrea T says
We haven’t found anything in our house (yet), but when we were renovating my parents house we found newspaper clippings from the 1890s.
I love the idea of leaving a message in a college dormroom. I totally wish I had done that.
Laura says
this totally reminds me of an inspirational message from Operational Beautiful (operationbeautiful.com) except those notes are usually taped on mirror in plain sight. But still positive notes left for strangers – love it! :)
Stephanie says
We just demolished a set of built in shelves at our house and found the name of one of the previous owners’ children, “Ronnie,” carved on a shelf. It was such a neat little blast from the past!
Jessica says
We kind of did! When our house was being built, we’d come check out the progress over the weekend, and one week scrawled over the front door was a declaration of love to one of the workmen! It also had this girl’s phone number, which made it seem a little more slutty then lovey, but it was still a fun memory!
Melody says
I didn’t find a note, but I did find an old growth chart on the way down to the basement. One of the measurements was from 1951! I’m not touching it!
kelley says
We are actually renting the house next door to the house I grew up in, so not only does the house and neighborhood speak to me, but also the concrete in the garage which was poured when I was about 7. The owner at the time carved his initials and his wife’s initials in the thresh hold. So everytime I see them I think of that family and the little kids that I used to babysit.
Kari S. says
How sweet! Such good people! At my in-laws house you can still see my husbands name and his brothers name carved into the door molding to what used to be their old bedroom.
Amy says
Not only did we find a “men’s magazine,” but we found a … hmmm, how can I put this nicely? A “toy” with a very phallic shape. It was under a bathroom vanity we were replacing.
Lisa in Seattle says
The original owner of the house kept meticulous track of tune-up information (timing, etc.) for his cars by writing it all the way down one of the support posts in the garage. Not quite a sweet hidden note, but my husband likes it!
Emily @ Merrypad says
CUTE! What a nice thing to find.
Lauren says
Okay I am totally not making this up because you suggested it. When we moved into my second childhood house (I was 9) the previous owners left behind some furniture, including a nightstand that at some point ended up in my bedroom.
One day I had pulled out the drawers and shoved in the back was what appeared to be newspaper. I pulled it out and it turned out to be vintage(y) looking “mens magazines” that were NOT for the eyes of a 9 or 10 year old. BLECH!!
Amanda says
Behind a bathroom cabinet I found a bunch of pregnancy test wrappers! my conclusion is someone was being sneaky about trying to get preggo? I was not surprised to find out the previous owners got divorced soon after…wish I had your story instead!
Megan says
When we tore back the wallpaper in my parents bathroom a few years back we found me and my siblings signatures from like 12 years ago. It was pretty hilarious what we had written.
Kristina Strain says
In my parents’ 1857 farmhouse, we found shoes when we tore out lath + plaster downstairs. Shoes are one of those old-world things that supposedly brought good luck to the homeowners.
My husband and I have owned our new house (an 1850 farmhouse; sensing a trend?) for not quite three months. The previous owners’ grandson carved his name in a post in the basement; I met him a few weeks later at the local bar, all grown up.
Kristen says
When my parents had to redo their basement, they had about a million miles of most excellent 60’s paneling to remove. Under it all, the drywall was covered with drawings that had been done by the previous owner’s children. Stick people, names, flowers…so of course we added our own to the collection!
Lauren says
I painted our initials on the plant ledge when we moved in and the date. I figure at some point someone is going to re-paint, and will discover it. We just got married recently, and I went in and wrote the wedding date as well. I think you always need to leave a little bit of yourself in the house – it gives it a soul.
Jodi says
That’s awesome!
We found a note in our house when we first moved in & were demo’ing the bathroom. It had been left there by the couple we bought the house from. They introduced themselves, when they bought the house, how much they paid for it, etc.
We in turn wrote our own note with the same information, rolled it back up with the original note, put it in the same beer bottle & closed it up between the studs. Hopefully the next couple that live here find it & enjoy it as much as we did.