Man Discovers Secret Bedroom in New House With a Window and Built-In Closet

A man was shocked to discover a secret room hidden in his new house, which even has a window and a built-in closet.

Tyler Clark snapped up the two-bedroom home in Lansing, Michigan, a few months ago, in the depths of winter.

Clark first spotted something amiss when he noticed an out-of-place window on one side of the building.

Photos of Tyler Clark's house.
Photos of Tyler Clark's house. Clark bought a home in Lansing, Michigan. Tyler Clark

Explaining how it escaped his mind, he told Newsweek: "It was in the middle of winter so it was hard to get around outside so the inspector just said we'd check out this hard to reach window from the inside once we went in, however once inside we didn't come across that window so it slipped our minds.

"Fast forward three months I'm outside doing some yard work and low and behold I realize we never checked out that window and as I'm looking at it I think to myself... there's no windows on the top floor on that side."

He decided to do some investigative work, which included mounting a camera on a broom, as he tried to see inside the mysterious room from the outside.

Clark continued: "So I look closely and sure enough I can see there's a room behind it..."

After using his makeshift camera, he was shocked to see the videos revealed "a whole room and partial hallway just walled off!"

He recalled being told of possible space between rooms when buying the property, but didn't think he'd find anything to the extent of what he uncovered.

Photos of Tyler Clark's house.
Photos of Tyler Clark's house. Clark cut a hole in the wall to gain access to the bedroom. Tyler Clark

Clark continued: "When we bought the house they said there was some dead space between rooms for heating reasons, making it more cost effective, so we didn't think much of the space difference in the rooms at the time, but never even fathomed a whole room would be hidden away.

"That weekend I cut a hole in the wall and climbed into the room, it was full of supplies like drywall and trim that we can now use to open it up, but the most terrifying thing I found was turning a corner to find an old mirror hanging on a door with a cross painted on the top.

"I was so shocked I just stood there and stared at it for a good while before mustering up the courage to open it, and inside to my relief I found just more supplies."

The door led to a built-in closet, with carpet, and a rack at the back. The bedroom itself is pretty spacious, as Clark revealed the plans for the extra space.

Photos of Tyler Clark's house.
Photos of Tyler Clark's house. Clark first noticed something was amiss after seeing a window on the outside which he couldn't find inside. Tyler Clark

He said: "It is certainly enough room for a bed, our plans are to partially expand our bathroom so we can fit a large tub and then extend my office into the closet area so it would be large enough to be considered an actual bedroom and take our two bedroom home and make it a three bedroom home."

According to Zillow, the average cost of a house in Michigan in $228,120, up 16 percent since last year, when it was $196,000, and Clark's extra bedroom is likely to add value to his home.

The bedroom wasn't the only unusual thing he uncovered, as he came across a cavalcade of unusual items, dating back decades.

He summarized the finds, adding: "As for the items they were all found under the insulation in my attic and just in the back corner, I haven't touched the other parts of the attic yet, but we do plan to add flooring up there at some point and make a private coffee lounge.

"The items that we pulled out were a magazine from the 1910s advertising political proponents, a meet and greet with Teddy Roosevelt, and a plethora of other events throughout Lansing.

"The other object were an old rubber ball, marbles, dominos, an ad for shotgun shells from 1920, a still intact pouch of chewing tobacco, several letters of which one was a rejection letter to 'the big dance,' meter readings from the local homes in the area throughout the '20s and a toy cap gun.

"I hope to find more interesting things hidden up there in the distant future, but in the mean time we're planning on putting our findings in a glass frame and keeping them part of the home."

Clark has been sharing his findings to Reddit in various posts over the last few weeks, with his most viral post amassing more than 18,000 upvotes.

Items Tyler Clark found in his house.
Items Tyler Clark found in his house. Clark found mementos and treasures in the attic dating back decades. Tyler Clark

Captioned: "so there's a window with a room behind it I just noticed in my house I bought 3 months ago... there's no windows on that side of the house you can access from the inside...," people were blown away by the extra bedroom, as LumberJesus said: "There's a visible room behind there? I've lived in places that just walled off a window but never a whole room. I'm subbing for some updates."

CashCow4u joked: "Hope you don't find any skeletons in that closet."

Bananaland420 said: "I've seen and heard about people hanging drywall forgetting to cut out sockets, windows, vents etc. Most likely what happened here."

Yodas_sidekick asked: "Like they forgot to cut the door to the rest of the house?"

Babeek007 commented: "Sounds insane but I've actually heard of that happening, it always gets caught eventually but you may have it drywalled, taped and mudded, trimmed and painted then realize ur missing a room hahaha."

Pau1t theorized: "There's a vent on the same wall so I'm guessing it was closed up to make a bathroom."

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Rebecca Flood is Newsweek's Audience Editor (Trends) and joined in 2021 as a senior reporter.

Rebecca specializes in lifestyle and viral ... Read more

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