The Secret Room

Karen Gross on Mar 12, 2009

Tags: mysteries, old houses, secrets, windows

Why were there two windows on the outside, but only one inside?

I’ve mentioned in previous postings that as a university student I lived in a big old brick house that had been divided up into eight apartment suites.

Well, this neighbourhood was full of these grand old houses, the faded relics of a once elegant part of town. Across the street from where I lived was another three and a half storied mansion that had met the same fate. My friend Kim and her roomie lived in a suite on the third floor.

One day while looking at the outside of her building, Kim noticed two small windows on the third floor. One was her bathroom window, but the other was a mystery, shrouded in shiny tin foil.

Kim looked around inside her apartment for the second window, but there was only the one small window in the bathroom. Curious now, she looked in the bathroom closet. Sure enough, there was a small door inside on the back wall of the closet. She opened the door and crawled into a room about the same size as the bathroom, obviously unused for many years. The walls were unfinished, and the window was covered in foil.

When Kim showed me this hidden room, we had a grand time imagining what its function had been. Perhaps a fugitive had been harboured here, or a loonie old aunt back in the era when loonie relatives were sequestered from polite society.

But, this is Canada. We didn’t have an underground railway here. Canada was the destination – once they got here they didn’t need to hide anymore. We don’t get many real life Nancy Drew/ Hardy Boys style mysteries here.
Kim asked her landlady if she knew anything about the hidden room. She didn’t, and neither did three former owners of the house.

The boring reality is likely that whoever divided the house into apartments just closed off half of a room to make the bathroom a normal size.

A hidden room is still a fascinating discovery.

16
Liked it

I Like It

Comments (18)

Anne McNew on Mar 12, 2009
Why were there two windows on the outside, but only one inside? Yes WHY? lol
Great story Karen. Well presented.
Christine Ramsay on Mar 12, 2009
What a strange tale. It reminds me of the hidden room in the cellar of a house I used to live in. We discovered it when we found a brick coming out of the wall and removed it. I wrote a poem about it call ‘My Favourite House’. A really well told story.

Christine
Joni Keith on Mar 12, 2009
I think it’s more fun to imagine the purpose of the room than to know it’s true purpose. I’m sure it kept you young ladies busy for awhile.
PR Mace on Mar 12, 2009
A strange story. It does make you wonder about the days gone by and what that room was or was not used for. My first apartment was an old house cut in half. It had an upstairs from my side but if was walled off. I often wondered what was up there. Like you I could see a window from the outside.
Betty Carew on Mar 12, 2009
Wonderful article and very well written though a bit spooky at first lol
OhSugar on Mar 12, 2009
I enjoy reading mystery stories, so I definitely enjoyed reading this one. Well written.
Alina Beck on Mar 12, 2009
Why would anyone do that? Why not just have a fabulously huge bathroom?! This brings back all kinds of memories of childhood stories with gangs of youngsters going round finding secret tunnels and hidden rooms behind bookcases
rutherfranc on Mar 12, 2009
No hidden treasures or pictures this time I see..
Karen Gross on Mar 12, 2009
Nope. Just an empty room, gutted to the studs. I agree with Alina, why not just a fabulously huge bathroom! In my apartment across the street, the suites had bathrooms that used to be the back stairwell. Ours was so small that there was no sink – we had to brush our teeth in the kitchen.
Melinda McQueen on Mar 12, 2009
That’s neat.
Makes the mind wander in wonderment.
kate smedley on Mar 13, 2009
Interesting story, I bet you had fun in there.
Anne Lyken Garner on Mar 13, 2009
I’m still waiting to find my own secret room. When I do, it’s mine! Not gonna share it.
skayehartman on Mar 13, 2009
Intriguing article–I agree with Jonikeith that the mystery is probably more exciting than the truth–there was one of these in the house I grew up in–It was only there because they had added an addition on to the house and there was a space between the living room and the bathroom where the bathtub was placed across that wall leaving a space behind it.It was fun to imagine though that it had some more ulterior purpose.
Athlyn Green on Mar 17, 2009
This would definitely fire the imagination. I’ve often wondered what tales walls could tell.
C LEBLANC on Mar 18, 2009
that is a mystery. how cool!
Terrie Todd on Apr 4, 2009
Oooh, I love these kinds of stories. Don’t suppose I’ll ever find a secret room in my mobile home, but I’d love to!
Marge on Apr 6, 2009
A real hide away place. Cool.
razumtina on Oct 23, 2009
Interesting…..

The Secret Room

Hi there!

Find the Spot

Categories