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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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A couple renovating their home were stunned to discover the door to a previously closed-off room hidden within the walls of their new hallway.
Home improvement projects can make or break a relationship. Earlier this year, the home improvement platform Houzz conducted a survey of more than 540 couples who had taken on a remodeling project over the previous 12 months.
The results were revealing. While the majority (59 percent) described the project as collaborative and even fulfilling (50 percent), four percent of respondents said they considered separating or divorcing during the process.
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May and her husband have only just started the process of renovating their new home. They only recently purchased the 1930s property, based in the Hague, and haven’t been able to move in yet. “We're still stripping everything back so we can redesign the floorplan,” May told Newsweek.
“The previous owners rented the house out and had covered many of the 1930s details with plasterboard. We bought it to renovate and restore as many original details as possible.”
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So far, that has proven to be a stressful process. “Unfortunately the municipal archives had no records of the original layout, so we had to open up nearly every wall to see what was structural and which walls were load-bearing,” May said.
However, it’s not been without the occasional moment of excitement, like when they were surprised to discover an entire room hidden behind the plasterboard. “While I was removing tiles and my husband was opening the drywall, he suddenly noticed something strange behind a corner,” May said. “With a flashlight we realized that it was a hidden door—we genuinely couldn’t believe our eyes.”
Ripping away at the plasterboard, they were confronted with the sight of a previously hidden door. It was a discovery May documented in a series of videos shared to her TikTok @goldenberryx. While the door itself was rotten and ultimately unsalvageable, removing it gave the couple access to something entirely unexpected. “Behind that wall and what we believed to be a cabinet was a bathroom,” May said. “We’re not sure why it was closed off, but the upstairs bathtub directly above it turned out to have almost no proper support, so perhaps they knew and avoided fixing it.”
Whatever the case, the discovery has given the property a whole new dimension. That’s not to mention the fact that, should they successfully repair and renovate, it could add substantial value to the property. The discovery has left the couple understandably stunned. “We are still absolutely shook, because it was such an unexpected find,” May said. “We’re a bit disappointed that the door isn’t salvageable in any meaningful way, but as a whole it’s quite the surprise.”
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More importantly, uncovering this new room has reinvigorated the couple as they continue to renovate and clear out the property. Now they are excited to see what else they might find. “We’re even joking that there might be more hidden discoveries waiting for us as we go,” May said.
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