When Brian and his family moved into a spooky old house, they expected remodeling to be their biggest problem. And for a long time, it was, which made it so much more unbelievable when their renovations revealed something crazy that had been there all along, sitting right under their noses for years and years. One day, however, when they finally broke down one wall, in particular, their lives were forever changed. Read on to find out what went down...
A New House
When Brian, 35, bought the beautiful old house on Cedar Lane in Cleveland, Ohio, he was ecstatic. Sure, the place would definitely need a few tweaks (okay, a lot of tweaks) but it was finally his! He and his wife were happy just to have a place of their own, where they could live for years, and raise their children. First, though, they had to put in the work...
Going Down
They started renovations on the second floor. After a year of renovations, they finally moved to the first floor. This one took a little longer, a few years to really make perfect. After about five years, they finally finished and moved to their final project: the unfinished and kind of terrifying basement. They started with the walls…
Wall Art
The walls were covered in white chalk drawings, presumably by kids living there before or by squatters (the house had been abandoned for a few years before his move). While he began to scrub off the walls, he noticed that the ceiling was in an absolutely abysmal state. Brian decided to skip the walls for now and come back to them. He wouldn’t remember the walls in just a few minutes though…
Sky Falling
The ceiling pieces weren’t hard to take down. In fact, they were so old that they practically fell down around him. Most of it would have to come down if he wanted this place to reflect his vision. Soon enough, the ceiling was mostly down, and Brian spied something off in the corner. It didn’t look like it belonged in there at all. He decided to get a better look…
Mystery Suitcase
Back in the corner, there was something wedged in the rafters. Brian got on the ladder and pulled out the mysterious green box. Except it wasn’t a box at all, it was a small metal suitcase! The box was metal with a single shoelace tied around it. It was green but covered with a thick layer of dust. Clearly it had been hiding up there for a while, but how long? And more importantly, what was hiding inside?
History Talks
The family had bought the house in 2015, but it was originally built back in the 1940s, meaning 75 years separated them from the contents of the box. Who had lived here? What were they hiding in the secret suitcase? What secrets were left untold? Those were questions they might never find the answers to, but still, they had a piece of history in their hands. They grabbed a camera and got to work unveiling their treasure...
Open Up
When they cracked open the suitcase, Brian and his wife realized just what they were dealing with. They grabbed a camera so that they could document the unboxing. Inside they saw a few packages wrapped in wax paper. The bottom of the box was lined with an old newspaper that was meant to keep the packages safe. The paper was from 1951. This piece of history had a lot more in store for them...
Wax and Wane
In the first wax wrapped package, they found a large stack of $20 bills. That’s when they knew they had something truly wonderful on their hands. It became clear to Brian and his wife that this mystery box was going to be filled with cold, hard, antique cash like this. They could barely understand what was going on, but they were thrilled to keep going and find out…
The Next Package
Package number two did not come packed with 20 dollar bills, but something even better. It was stacked with fifties! The money in the third package could be less or more, but one thing was for certain, this money would be enough to change their life forever. It felt like it couldn’t be real, but as they cracked open the third wax paper wrapping, they knew it was very, very real and very, very unrealistic…
Dollar Bills
The last package didn’t have twenties, it didn’t have fifties... It had a stack of several hundred dollar bills. Altogether, they realized they had a couple of thousand dollars in their hands. The things they could do with this money...it was unfathomable. Their lives would never be the same, but would that be for better or for worse? That was something they'd have to find out for themselves...
Double or Nothing
The thing is, since the bills were so old, there was potential that they could be worth more than what they were labeled. Because of the historical significance, they assumed that the bills were probably worth more, as they increased in value over time. Some were brown notes, others were uncirculated, even a few gold certificates. There was some big money in this suitcase...
No Name
They were ecstatic with the find, but Brian and his wife couldn’t help but wonder who all this money really belonged to. Though they found it, they wouldn’t be allowed to legally keep it if it belonged to the previous owners. They looked over the newspaper clippings in the box for clues as to the history of the cash, but nothing ever came up. They decided it was time to go forward...
Praise and Appraisal
They took the cash to be appraised as well as speak to a lawyer. They felt like they had accidentally won the lottery without even entering. When all was said and done the cash added up to about $23,000! That was certainly a lot of money, and the couple was ecstatic! That joy didn’t last for long though, because things were about to get a little more involved than they had planned…
Spending the Money
So how would they decide to spend the found fortune? Maybe an expensive vacation? Paying off expensive loans? Pay off all those renovation costs they amassed? Well, they decided to go on Reddit and let the public know their story and maybe find out a way to spend their large amounts of cash. They wanted to be young and fun, but also make responsible choices. From there, the story blew up and they made yet ANOTHER discovery...
The Excitement Continues
Amidst the craziness, they didn’t even think to check around the rest of the area for more items. When it had all died down and Brian returned to work on the ceiling, he found something the couple never expected. It was… another box! Almost identical to the first but pushed slightly farther back was another green suitcase. They were thrilled! What treasure would this one hold?
Box Number Two
Just like the box before, the suitcase was lined with newspapers from the era, and there was also obviously more cash inside. The only difference was that the cash wasn’t wrapped in individual wax paper bundles. Instead, it was organized and stacked. This was a complete and total shock. They thought they already had the best luck of their life, and this was just getting better and better…
Counting Up
This one was packed with more twenties, fifties, and only a few hundred dollar bills, but it was still a large sum of cash. After everything was counted up, the final amount was around $45,000 dollars. They didn’t mess around with this stack of cash though, it went directly into their savings account. They were so thrilled, but there was an idea in their head. What other secrets lied in the walls?
Not Just a Water Heater
They decided to look around other areas of their house. Maybe there was something they had missed or something that slipped their minds. After digging around, they came to the door that allegedly led to the water heater. They were informed by the real estate agent that there wasn’t anything inside, but they had thought the same thing about the basement, so they decided to check it out...
Open Up
They opened the door, but it was rather difficult. When they were finally inside, the couple discovered that the room did have a water heater, but it was also completely soundproofed and even covered with plastic tarps. Pretty unsettling to see in a spooky old house...but even weirder was seeing another door farther back…what could be hiding out back there?
Behind Door #2
They crawled to the second mystery door. Behind that? Wouldn’t you guess it, it was another suitcase! This place was filled with them! They eagerly grabbed the suitcase and dragged it back to the hallway to find out which fortune was inside this one. Would it have even more cash than before? They couldn’t believe their luck, but it was about to run out…
Unlucky Number 3
They were eager for more cash, but their financial luck had run out. Instead, the suitcase held a history of the former house residents. They uncovered jewelry, rings, watches, silver ingots, envelopes of cash from around the world, and an antique engraved wooden box. These possessions once belonged to someone who probably owned all that cash. But there was one more secret item…
Staying Safe
Across from the suitcase was a safety box that the couple didn’t know the combination for, obviously. This one would be a little more difficult to crack open, but they were sort of afraid of the contents. After all, the safe had “Do Not Open!” written on the outside, as well as “Save Yourself!” Can you imagine finding anything scarier in the back of your old house? Maybe they had unsettled some spirits…
Unlocking the Combination
They were wary about the contents of the safe, worried it might be something sinister. However, inside they just found a collection of old videotapes. What’s more, the videotapes were pretty much useless and worth almost nothing. It certainly didn’t have a massive payout from their other discoveries. They decided to check out what was on the tapes, but they didn’t like what they saw…
Calling the Authorities
The couple never revealed exactly what was on those old videotapes, but whatever it was, it had been enough to have the FBI show up and confiscate the tapes. Reporters could only theorize and assume the worst from the mystery videos. From there, the FBI launched a full investigation on the couple and their home, as well as all the secrets it held…
Moving On
The couple was thankfully permitted to keep the cash and move on with their life. Though they never found any more secret cash stashes, they were grateful for all the luck they received. They were able to fully renovate their dream home and change their lives for the better. Their home was filled with secrets, but now, it’s their picture-perfect vision!
Laughing Stock
Not everyone finds suitcases full of cash in their ceiling, but some people come across some cool artifacts. For example, one lucky man in 2012 found his uncle’s comic book collection in his attic. It was fairly well preserved, so the man was able to sell the collection at a great price! He included Detective Comics #27, the first Batman comic, and Action Comics #1. A good find, but not as cool as the next one...
Violin Thief
Another man uncovered an old violin that his father kept in the attic. The man’s father had passed away years prior so the man wanted it gone. As it turns out, his father had stolen the violin from the famous violinist Roman Totenberg. He had nabbed it when Totenberg was greeting visitors at the Longy School of Music and had been searching ever since…
Record Scratch
Another house find was from a woman living in Moscow in 1991. She was looking through an old box left by her parents and found a box of records once owned by Adolf Hitler. Her father was a member of the Soviet Army and had stolen them as a souvenir. The woman was very uncomfortable having the contents in her house and instead donated them to a local World War II museum.
Work of Art
In 2015, a man named Dominic Currie found a painting in a suitcase stored in his attic. It had belonged to his mother, so he asked her about the artwork. As it turns out, it was an original Pablo Picasso painting! She had gotten it as a gift from a Russian soldier lover during World War II. The painting was priceless…
Lost Love
In 2014, one family in Lubbock, Texas found something truly priceless in their attic. Shoved in the back corner of the room was a pillowcase filled with letters. The letters detailed a passionate love affair between a World War II soldier and his wife. Though they wanted to return the contents, the couple had passed away. Luckily, they were able to give the letters to the couple’s children.