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By Rachael O'Connor
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A woman bought her dream "time capsule" home, only to discover an incredible relic from the time installed in the house.
Antiques dealer Sarah Hidalgo recently bought a 1978 ranch home in the Chicago suburbs, having always dreamed of a "mid-century 'time capsule' home," retaining its original layout and features. But, as she told Newsweek, "it proved incredibly hard to find."
That is, until Hidalgo toured her now-home, and was so blown away by the "flow and design" that she "even asked my realtor if it had been designed by an architect."
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Her realtor wasn't sure, so Hidalgo went digging herself—and quickly realized the house was "something special."
It turns out that her home was built to the layout of an award-winning floor plan, popularized by the "go-to magazine for all things home decor" back in the day: Better Homes & Gardens.
"BH & G hired architects to create original floor plans for readers to purchase if they wanted an 'expert-designed home,' and, in 1972, let the public vote on their favorite," Hidalgo said. "The winning plan was 3709-A, designed by architect Henry Dole Norris. 3709-A is the exact floor plan of the home I purchased."
Now, Hidalgo is working with a contractor to help bring the home up to 2025 code while still retaining its old-style charm—and it was during one of these visits that they made a discovery that has led Hidalgo to go viral.
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In a video to her Instagram account @herstoryretold on November 14, Hidalgo showed what appeared to be a tiny trap door in one of the walls, and had "no idea" what it was—until her contractor revealed all.
When opened, the trap door made a suction sound—and a long vacuum hose, which Hidalgo had assumed was left behind by the previous owners, even though there was "no vacuum for it to hook up to," was supposed to attach to it.
In the video, Hidalgo attached the vacuum to the wall and got to work—and it worked perfectly.
"It's in a bunch of the rooms," Hidalgo wrote over the clip, and added in the caption: "No one told us we would be living in the lap of luxury after buying a time-capsule 1978 home. What a neat find!"
Hidalgo told Newsweek that device works "perfectly," and it "doesn’t shock me that a BH & G-featured home included a feature designed to make housekeeping more modern and convenient for the time."
Hidalgo said: "Central vacuum systems are still installed today, but now the hose is typically concealed inside the wall. I had never encountered one before; after living in a Chicago condo for 20 years, it’s definitely not something you see in city buildings.
"We plan to keep it because it’s such a charming, unexpected piece of the home’s history!" Hidalgo added.
Instagram users loved it, awarding the video close to 6,000 likes, as one commenter shared: "Never get rid of it! I promise it comes in handy. Grew up in a 1996 home that had this and it really helped with chores!"
"Never did I think I would be jealous over a vacuum and yet here we are," another posted.
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And one wrote: "As a lover of both vintage homes and vacuums, I am incredibly happy to see such a home being actually appreciated and not gutted, and I'm not jealous at all, no not me, I'm definitely not really really jealous!"
Hidalgo isn't the only one appreciative of her iconic home. She said she is part of a Facebook group "dedicated to owners of this floor plan," where "people share nostalgic stories about growing up in these houses, while newer owners like me connect over how to update and preserve them."
"Since many of us are making repairs and renovations due to the age of the homes, the group has been incredibly helpful for seeing how others have approached updates while keeping the original charm."
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