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.
erin c says
I did not find a note but I left a note by accident …here’s the story. When I was a senior in college my parents sold the house I grew up in…about 2 months later I got a letter in the mail at my parents new address…the new owners found a sealed envelope inside my bedroom closet taped above the door trim between the trim and the ceiling…she said she had a daughter in her 30s who advised them not to open the letter ..to just send it back…phew…thank god…I had completely forgotten I did this…that letter was full of 9th grade teen angst that was so ridiculous that I actually couldn’t even bring myself to open and read again….couldn’t go there..thank god they did not read it..that may have just been the embarrassment of a lifetime..I slowly ripped it up and tossed it in the trash…..so sweet you found such a nice note..I was tearing up too!
Melissa says
Aaaah. Hilarious.
Beth says
We found a deer head in our attic. My husband decided to put it up in the garage and he now has an elaborate story of how he “slaughtered the beast”…..
Alisa says
We removed a pocket door between our kitchen and dining room. Somehow a bunch of old mail had been shoved/hidden in the recess where the door slid. This mail included: unpaid phone bills, notice that the electricity was being shut off and a notice from the sheriff’s department that not showing up to court had resulted in a warrant being issued for the persons arrest! Latter found out that our home was a rental property for several years and that that crew was spotted leaving the neighborhood with garbage bags holding their belongings . . .
KT Murphy says
So so wonderful! It’s nice to know there’s good juju in your house! I love that Irish Blessing! I’m going to use it in the future!
georgia says
When we laid wood laminate flooring in our lounge, we took the skirting boards off the walls… (not sure if americans call them skirting (?) ) – stuffed under them, inbetween the walls we found Newspapers ‘Daily Telegraph’ papers that were dated 1970 …. which was the year our block of flats.. (apartments) was built, was quite interesting to carefully flatten them out and read what they were advertising…
I dont think we kept them either, which is stupid. bcoz now i want to look at them again… ha! typical
georgia says
Ooohhhh another thing!!! – when we installed our kitchen,
We drew around our hands with a marker pen on the wall behind the floor cupboard and wrote our name and date inside the print! :o)
Amy says
So Fun!!! Great idea:)
Sarah says
We found a gun buried in the back yard of my 100 year old childhood home. Thankfully my Mom was there so we didn’t have a chance to start fooling around with it. A doctor used to practice medicine in the house next door and would pitch empty bottles of medicine out his back door – we were constantly digging up empty 1920s pharmacy items in the vegetable garden. The neighbors behind us lived on what used to be a town dump for cast off items. They found all sorts of oddities like old refrigerators and stoves buried in their backyard. All round, a remarkable neighborhood…
Melanie says
We found writing on the walls of our garage, and dvd cases to some porn movies stuffed in between the walls in our basement, which was definitely good for a laugh.
Megan says
When we were cleaning out the attic of our current home, we ended up filling two rooms with the boxes of EVERYTHING the previous owners had ever owned. I guess they just liked the idea of keeping everything! We also found an old tanning sheet (y’know the ones with reflective material on one side?) MY husband thought it was a neat little keepsake. :)
Alicia says
We settled on our house a few days after returning from our honeymoon. The previous owner left us a bottle of champagne and chocolates in the refrigerator. So sweet, and made it easier to forgive a gross assortment of um, “personal items” they left in the guest bathroom medicine cabinet.
Felicity says
I wish we’d find a note from our home’s original owners, that would be so cool. Our previous owners were only here for a year and I’m pretty sure they were so overwhelmed with a new baby that they just wanted to get the heck out and back home to be near family. We’ve kept a few of the original owner’s little handy projects as momentos for the house – like the pig-shaped cutout for the house number that we retired for something a little more sophisticated, but still have hanging at the back door.
Jamie @ CherryOrchid says
I moved into my first home 7 months ago, a bank owned property, and the only thing I’ve found from the previous owners is a small footprint in the backyard. It’s just the ball of the foot, but you can see all the little toe prints perfectly. It’s right outside the door on the step, so I see it every time I open the door. It’s precious, and makes me smile every time thinking of the small memory they left with the home.
Joanna May says
When we moved into our 1949 Ranch in May, we found a note the previous owners had left for us (who lived there for 16 years) saying the home had been a wonderful place to raise their 10 kids (!). It also included a hand-drawn map of the property pointing out the different plants, fruit trees, etc and making note of things to look out for (“Make sure you keep the gutters clean, especially back by the pantry”) It was lovely, and came in very handy.
KatieQ says
When we removed the hideous tan and brown plaid wallpaper from the walls in our bathroom we found, “I love you,” written in orange paint.
Lisa says
At camp one year, in junior high, the boys found a vintage men’s magazine in their cabin. It was from the 70s I believe, when “styles” were a bit different, and of all the people to find it, it was a group of 13 year old boys! ;)
Our hall bathroom vanity has scratches right above the toilet paper roll and I swear I see “Good God” in the scratches every time I go in there. I don’t know if that was the intention…
kelly says
No notes per se, but while unpacking boxes in the basement scrawled on the wall was my sister’s name… I mean how weird is that! While researching the history of the house we found that a previous owner (like four removed from us) last name was the same as my maiden name and they had a daughter who shared the same name as my sister. Made me feel like we had made the right choice when buying this house…
donya says
No, notes, but a Playboy from the 1980’s did drop out of the ceiling panels in the downstairs bathroom one day!
Cristy @ DoubleKnotted says
We found a prison summons on the top shelf of one of the closets and two computer hard drives tucked away behind the gas furnace. Wonder if the two were related?
Nichole@40daysof says
One of our doors has a growth chart (on the side) for the previous owner’s kids. We’ve left it alone so far. :)
http://40daysof.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/7-quick-takes-friday-12/
Amy says
When we closed on our condo, one of the lawyers shared a story of how when they bought their house, the previous owners left them a bottle of champagne in the fridge that said “we hope you’ll love this place as much as we have”…it wasn’t hidden, but a note nonetheless with such a sweet message.
Eva says
My house was built in 1921 and when I was renovating in 2003 I found pages from old newspaper and a receipt. It is a amazing how low the prices were back then!
hwar says
When we remodeled our kitchen this year, we pulled out a large (ugly) homemade pantry cabinet. Behind it on the drywall was a penciled diagram of the cabinet, with measurements and instructions for building. I guess someone got some help with their DIY project.
Julie says
Maybe it IS the pregnancy hormones – I totally teared up too! I LOVE that! Do the previous owners know about the blog? I’d wondered before if they knew and would be able to watch all of the changes, now I wonder again!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Julie,
Yes, they know about our blog and seem to drop in to see what we’re up to from time to time. Love it!
xo,
s
Katy says
Our neighbors in our condo building found a box of pictures from the previous owners that included some VERY personal pictures of the couple on their honeymoon!
LJ says
When we were renovating our upstairs bathroom a couple years ago we found a note from the previous family hidden in the floor. They had put up a popcorn ceiling in the kitchen directly below and it must have been terrible work–they told whoever found the note never to put one up. I know it was a lot of hard work and was a horrible experience for them, but I hate that kitchen ceiling and would love to redo it.
I also remembered when my grandparents sold their Tudor-style house in the early 90s, my cousins and I put a note to the next owners under a loose floorboard in a bedroom. Unfortunately the surprise was ruined for future owners of that house as some people who came by for an open house found it and gave it back to my grandparents. Boo!
Brianne says
How sweet!
Never found a note from a previous renter – and in the event my husband and I finally buy a house, I’ll be sure to scour nooks and crannies just in case. =)
Julie says
Also… in the house we just left we wrote on the subfloor when we replaced the flooring – I wonder how long it will take the new owners to find that???
Riane says
My parents had the two homes I lived in with them built, so no sweet little nothings for us to find. However, when my sister and I were younger, she got upset with me. Inside the linen closet in the bathroom we shared, she wrote “she is not fune”. It was still there when we moved out. I like to think it gave the new owners a little giggle right before they painted over it with fresh paint! :o)
Jade says
we haven’t found a note yet, but in our previous house when we painted the kitchen, we decided not to paint behind the fridge. Instead, we wrote our initials. JC + SC and put a heart around it and the date. I too wonder if the new owners have found what we left. It’s nothing too extravagant, but I know I would love it if we found something like that.
Clara says
The only thing we’ve found in our house so far is a George Foreman grill, but last night, as we were preparing to start putting the polyurethane over our hardwood floors we’re refinishing, my husband carved, “I love you, Clara 2011” in the floor. I’m so sentimental that I just love this and I imagine someone finding it some day. :)
Jennifer B. says
My parents bought their house from some shirttail relatives(my mom’s brother’s parents-in-law), so my aunt lived in their house growing up. When I finally decided I was tired of the wallpaper in my bedroom, I ripped it down so I could start painting. I discovered my aunt’s signature scrawled in huge penciled letters “Jenifer age 8”. So I signed my name next to hers “Jennifer age 16” and painted over it. It was fun to discover that!
Jennifer B.
MelissaG says
That’s sweet! I haven’t really found anything but we have written things…simple things like names etc. This is a funny thing. My husband and kids, mom and dad and brother looked at our childhood home when it was for sale. It was a 2 family in terrible shape. In the basement, written on one of the wooden beams was a message “I Love Brent”…from me! I am 32 and I wrote that in 5th grade. In chalk. And the piece of chalk was still there! In this icky, damp old basement still there after all these years. I saved the chalk but have since lost it. I think I took a picture of the writing, it must have been on somebody’s cell phone because I haven’t seen the picture. Anyway, thought I’d share!
heather j. says
all I’ve found is mouse skeletons in our walls! Gross…
BUT, I remember that there was this house that my family lived in for about two years when I was a kid. All I remember was that my brother and I found dirty magazines shoved into a heating vent.
When I brought it up to my mom a few years back, she said, “Yes! They were transvestite dirty magazines!” Turns out she had a big fight with my dad because she thought they were his…
They were, however, left by the previous owner!
sofie says
Just a couple of days ago I discovered my grandpa(who died before I was born)has written his name on the inside of both my bed stands! I always knew they had been my grandparent’s, but seeing his name in his handwriting just made it more real.
Jamie B says
No notes or anything special like that at our house. But in a floor vent in our living room, we found an old Folger’s tin with the ex-owner’s “stash”. That’s right…we found pot.
They apparently decided to stop using that vent and just left the small amount of duct work that was attached to the floor. So he smoked in the basement, then put the tin up in the vent duct. Classy…
Sabrina says
What a great find with an awesome message. We just bought our first home and all we found was mold in 3 of the 4 bathroom walls!
Kathy Z says
When I was moving out of my old apartment, I found a note tucked in the base board of the spare room closet. It said, “That thing you really wanted to do, the time is now. Go for it.”
Min says
Awww, what a sweet message! I haven’t found anything myself, though my parents have. They live in an hundred year old Victorian; one day my dad had to tear out a wall for plumbing issues, and he discovered an old, old coat, with wooden buttons, stuffed into a corner. One of the men who had built the house used it to block a draft!
Next door, our neighbors have scribbles on the back of a cupboard that date back to the civil war. They describe how the two trees on their front lawn were planted the day the war ended. :)
Wait, I actually *have* found something rather unusual…when I reupholstered an old chair, I found a plastic toy monkey wrench under the cushion. The previous owner had probably been sitting on it for twenty years!
jess says
Thats so fun! When I was a kid I did something similar at my parents house. I was always so intrigued with mystery. It would be so cool to find a note like that now!
Candice says
We found something quite lovely as well; a drawing and letter by a little girl. The letter was written by a very young child just practicing her writing and alphabet, so we have no idea what it says! Judging by the flowers and hearts drawn around it, plus the picture of a happy family, we think that it’s only “good things” :)
Angela says
In the first apartment I shared with my husband, we found a note scratched inside the fireplace that said, “a happy lesbian loved here.” So sweet!
Rabbit says
I found a cup.
Not a drinking cup.
The previous owners had two teenaged boys.
Who played sports.
Yup, that kind of cup.
I found it while cleaning up some of the previous owners’ “debris” that was left under the deck and in the bushes at the edge of the property. The cup was under the deck stairs. Good times!
Sarai McDowell says
We found some interesting bizz just last night actually! My hurbs and I just pulled up the 80s carpet of our new house and found “John” and “Scottie” carved into the concrete of the master bedroom… Definitely doesn’t even compare to that little jewel you guys found but it is always neat to be reminded that someone enjoyed the house just like we are and will :)
Nikki Kelly says
We have only been in our house for a year and a half, but while tearing out a built-in in our bedroom there was a picture of the triplets that were born while their parents lived there.
But there is a safe in the basement that we don’t know the combo to and haven’t called a locksmith yet. We’re hoping for some money or something fun. We even have ideas of having a safe cracking party. Even if there’s nothing in it, it’s still a fun story.
Claire says
When we were renovating our bathroom we found a stash of stuff that spanned over 4 decades. There was a little cubby in a narrow connecting space between two small closets in our old guest room. We tore down the wall between that room and the bathroom to make the bathroom bigger and in the process found the stash.
Included were many many old straight razor blade refills (like thin metal blades), a 1943 penny, a Bell Atlantic bill from some theatre in Philadelphia dated 1940, a paper doll cut out, an invitation to a holiday party dated in the 1970s, a 1980 Phillies World Series Championship bumper sticker, a few church-related pamphlets, a flyer from the Presidential election in the 1950s that said “Save America! Vote Straight Republican!” (funny because we are both liberals).
We meant to put the stuff back along with some contributions of our own before we sealed up the walls but we (he!) forgot before the deed was done. Oops! Now we have everything with us in our new apartment.
Margaret says
We found a plaque on the attic wall that said “Watch and Pray”. Neither one of us would touch it, so we insulated right over it.
Melanie says
When we redid our bathroom and were taking down the walls we found a lot of Tennesseans stuffed into the wall. They were from the ’50s and it was really interesting to see! It was funny to laugh at the ads in the paper that were talking about a sale on men’s shirts, 3 for $5.
Then we were in another closet and found a hole and inside were the original blueprints to our house! That was cool to find as well.
Molly P-H says
We found pictures of the dog who lived here in the 1970s and it looks EXACTLY like our little 10-pound chihuahua terrier mix (who’s living here in 2010). Kind of spooky. Molly in Florida