An online community for people who love old houses.
Share your old houses' hidden treasures and artifacts
Let's hear what types of trinkets, treasures, artifacts and oddities people have found in their old houses. Whether it be in the floors, walls, ceilings, cellars or underground. Post pictures if you have them!
Views: 1336
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Andrea Csiszlak on -
this is a really fun idea!
we haven't found much: a broken button, millions of square nails, a box that once held razor blades, a playing card from a child's game and a newspaper page from 1929. The house was built in the mid-1700's. The floor in one room has a board covered in newspaper from 1941, but there's not much left to read on it as it's damaged and stuck to the floor. The one interesting point to the house is that during the Revolutionary War General William Maxwell lived in our house and owned all of the land around it. According to the local church where he's buried he left documents in the house somewhere but we haven't found them yet.
-
Permalink Reply by Lair Tienter on -
I have done so may houses, found and collected so many things I can't remember all of them at my age. I have a oak table in front of my front window that I found in a pantry. It is 3 feet long and 14" wide by about 24" high It has 2 small drawers in the front 2' high, for papers or pens. they had it setting on top of a cabinet and nailed in like it was a shelf, right above eye level. When I looked at I never dreamed it was a table. I have a collection of hand made marbles, all clay and slightly out of round colored like old porcelain door knobs. I have cans from 1880 of apple butter and short neck clams. Very nice labels but have been opened with a knife. My prize posession that I found was in an attic under a bunch of papers. I walked on it and heard some crunches. I looked and I found a window. It is a signed Tiffany Co. window. dated 1904. I enjoy it and have moved it with me where ever I go.
-
Permalink Reply by Mal & Greg on -
Also found a mangled hand forged grill from a cooking fireplace in the basement in NS. And a forged rake head. Squirrel and raccoon skulls. Some really cool pottery fragments. One half of an ox shoe. A small ceramic cow without a head. (actually that was in the stone house in ON) More clay pipe parts. We're still waiting to find the treasure trove of hoarded coins and jewels, lol. That'd come in handy.
I wish I knew where the original crane and trammel went that were in the fireplace out east, but they are long gone, along with the beehive oven door. I did find one half of a saw tooth trammel wedged between floor boards; the straight, ringed side. Maybe the other half will turn up.
-
Permalink Reply by Bill Hendrickson on -
We just found this yesterday when workinger had to remove the flooring in the bathroom. We knew the house was built 1898-1900, but here is some proof. Newpaper found in the floor was from Topeka State Journal, Kansas, August 1899, though the house is in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Las Vegas was the major railroad hub during this time frame, so the newspaper probably arrived in a timely fashion.
-
Permalink Reply by Annette K Weber on -
In process of selling my 1898 Vicctorian that I have lived in for almost 30 years. I never spent time in the loft over the garage as there are no lights up there and I thought the piles of wood up there were all shutters for the ooutside of the house, well we lit it up to do some cleaning and imagine my delight when we found the original screen doors for the front door, they are a little odd IMO as they are double doors and swing open and the front door is a single door. Oh if I had only know they were there years ago, I would have replaced the screen with glass and actually have a storm door.
- Attachments:
-
-
post 003.JPG, 5.2 MB -
front door 002.JPG, 5 MB
-
-
Permalink Reply by Jim Finley on -
those are beautiful doors! What an awesome find!
-
Permalink Reply by SarahC on -
We're thick in Civil War history in our area. Around our 1920's house we've found some old bullets or casings while cleaning up the landscaping. A neighbor a few houses down has found some cannon balls. Aside from that, a mummified cat, a temporary grave marker, lots of glass, antique handcuffs. There's still an old coal burner in the basement that is probably home to a million spiders I'll never disturb. Along with an water heater type thing. Pretty cool.
We've only been there 2 years and haven't restored a thing, so I'm anxious to see what else we'll find.
-
Permalink Reply by Jim Finley
-
Thats very cool - I would love to find cannonballs and old handcuffs! Legend has it our house was a garrison during the Revolutionary War and the militia did their drills out in the field. I've taken the metal detector out there but only find parts of old farm tools. I did find a bunch of bullets in my garden area but they are of more recent vintage.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next ›
© 2012 Created by Community Host.
Old Houses | Restoration Products | Report an Issue | Terms of Service
