Indiana man renovating old house

[Sara_Paris 0]

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – A man who's renovating a 120-year-old house has discovered a hidden room in its basement — a find he said shows that some old buildings definitely hold secrets. A friend of Carl Thoms was working recently on plumbing in the 1890 home's basement when he noticed that he could see around those pipes into a hidden room covered in tiles.

 

He also spotted a staircase — a discovery that led Thoms to a bedroom off of the home's kitchen, where he pried up some floorboards and accessed those stairs.

 

At the bottom of the stairs, Thoms found himself in a walled-off 10-foot-square room covered in tiles that at first made him think the room might have once been a tiled sauna.

 

But he also wonders whether it might have been a bootlegging room during Prohibition — or any number of possibilities.

 

"You never know what it could have been," Thoms said. "It's really cool to find something like that."

 

He said the room appears to have been intentionally walled off from the rest of the basement but that it's difficult to date the blocks used to wall it up because they appear old. The stairs may have once been accessed through the bedroom via a trap door that no longer exists.

 

Thoms began renovating the 886-square-foot house near the city's downtown for him, his wife and their four children after buying it in 2007.

 

The 32-year-old said he plans to do some library research his old home's history.

 

I think that is so cool! It's also sort of scary somehow though.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Fascinating, I've had a sort of recurring dream where I've bought a house that has hidden rooms. I've had it off and on since I was a kid and think it stems from a show similar to "Tales from the Darkside" that I saw once.

 

I'd love to see pictures of the hidden room if they ever publish any.

[youbroughtheryouRiker 2]

Same here. And my dream house would DEFINITELY have secret passages!

[Sara_Paris 0]

Fascinating, I've had a sort of recurring dream where I've bought a house that has hidden rooms. I've had it off and on since I was a kid and think it stems from a show similar to "Tales from the Darkside" that I saw once.

 

I'd love to see pictures of the hidden room if they ever publish any.

 

 

Wow I cant believe you said that because I've had those dreams since I was a kid as well. Except they usually take place in hotels or houses that don't belong to me. I'll be exploring and I keep finding rooms inside rooms.

[ddillard 2]

It is always fascinating to hear about things that have been found in old homes. When I was young my family used to help a local contractor with tearing down old houses and it was amazing the things that we would find. There were never any hidden rooms, but I do remember them finding a rather substantial amount of cash hidden between the floors once.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Fascinating, I've had a sort of recurring dream where I've bought a house that has hidden rooms. I've had it off and on since I was a kid and think it stems from a show similar to "Tales from the Darkside" that I saw once.

 

I'd love to see pictures of the hidden room if they ever publish any.

 

 

Wow I cant believe you said that because I've had those dreams since I was a kid as well. Except they usually take place in hotels or houses that don't belong to me. I'll be exploring and I keep finding rooms inside rooms.

Ever watch "Tales from the Dark Side" in the late 70's and early 80's? lol

[Sara_Paris 0]

Fascinating, I've had a sort of recurring dream where I've bought a house that has hidden rooms. I've had it off and on since I was a kid and think it stems from a show similar to "Tales from the Darkside" that I saw once.

 

I'd love to see pictures of the hidden room if they ever publish any.

 

 

Wow I cant believe you said that because I've had those dreams since I was a kid as well. Except they usually take place in hotels or houses that don't belong to me. I'll be exploring and I keep finding rooms inside rooms.

Ever watch "Tales from the Dark Side" in the late 70's and early 80's? lol

 

No I don't think so.

[vgrbabe 1]

that's realy cool...but it strikes me as kind of creepy too

[Chataeya 0]

I have watch shows on TV cable that have showed finds from old homes, and like the host said "You never know what you will come across in old houses." A friend of my Mothers bought a farm house that dated back to one of the original first one room homes built some (at the time) 276 years ago. When in the Basement you could see the first room door way had wood around it with some of the painting still on it. Basically pictures of things they thought would keep bad away. The next room was add to the first the a full room the size of both first and second. Then of course the first floor ,second floor and a Third Maid/butlers quarters. There was a small set of steps leading up to the top floor off the kitchen and then the main part of the house. This was when I was 13 which was a long time ago so now that same house is over 300 years old. It creep'ed me out to be in it back then, and maybe it would now know that at one time back in the 1700's there was a fire in the house to cover up a murder. A young socialite who just came of age to marry was killed because the family and girl choose someone other then the fellow that wanted her. It seems that this fellow thought that if he couldn't have her no one could. He was never caught and punished for his crime as from what the owners could find out was somehow he had connections.

As far as the homes first room it seems that it was built half in a hill and half out so they think it was a home built by Native Americans. What Tribe I am not sure. It's location is up in Pennsylvania above Philadelphia. I'd say maybe about 10 to 20 miles off the Delaware river.