You’ve chosen to knock down your bedroom closet to create a bit more room. And it should be a fairly routine bit of DIY. But pretty soon you’ll have more square footage than you could ever have imagined. For that closet door is actually a Narnia-like entrance to a whole new secret space.
That’s the scenario that one shocked American family faced in 2020. The Cristels had been living in their home for three years when the mom of the house asked her boyfriend to move in with them. She subsequently tasked him with breaking down her bedroom closet wall. Though little did anyone know that he would inadvertently open up a previously hidden portal!
Daughter Abriana revealed her discovery to the entire world with a series of videos on the phenomenon that is TikTok. The clips soon racked up more than half a million likes and hundreds of comments. And the response from social media users ranged from jealousy to spooky conspiracy theories.
For example, one follower commented, “I wish I could find another whole part of my house. I’m never lucky.” Another joked, “The walk-in closet that every mom always wanted.” Then there was the quip, “[The] room was sealed off so that the country would only tax them for a three bedroom and not for a four.”
Some followers remarked that they’d dreamt about finding a previously hidden area in their home that looked remarkably similar to the Cristels’. Though for some it was more of a nightmare. One spooked viewer admitted, “… One of my worst fears is discovering something like this in my house and then realizing someone has been living in it.”
Others were more intrigued as to why the room had been boarded up in the first place. One TikTok user remarked, “Anyone else thinking the old homeowners trapped a spirit in the room and built the wall to hide it in there… or is it just me?” Another compared the discovery to the creepy one made in Netflix horror The Haunting of Hill House.
Yet Abriana was more than happy to respond to some of the queries about her family’s discovery. When asked how no one had ever noticed two windows which didn’t appear to lead anywhere, she replied, “Lol we gave up on trying to find where the windows led. And eventually and randomly we found this.”
Judging by Abriana’s TikTok, the Cristels’ household appears to be a lively place on an everyday basis. Her profile is filled with clips of several cute kids playing games, eating donuts and posing for selfies. And there’s also an adorable dog named Stax who’s now learned how to shake a paw.
Abriana and her family’s viral fame began when she uploaded a TikTok video captioned, “My mom broke her closet wall down and it turned out to be a whole new room that the people never finished. We’ve been at this house for three years.” Abriana can also be heard saying in the clip, “This is so weird.”
The first video begins with a family member crouching down to enter the new space. Abriana then gives TikTok viewers a quick glimpse of the hidden area, which appears to consist of not just one but two separate rooms. As previously mentioned, both also have windows and both are entirely empty.
Abriana later uploaded another video which showed that the family had started work on their surprise new rooms. Firstly, she highlights some of the existing drywall that had been taken down. Then, Abriana reveals some of the writing and measurements that had been left on the wooden framework by the previous owners.
TikTok viewers are then taken into the space which Abriana confirms was intended to be a bathroom. She points out the extractor fan positioned in the ceiling, as well as several plug points and a light. Abriana’s camera also picks up several bits of loose wiring and all the exposed floorboards.
The third video Abriana uploaded to TikTok begins in the place where all the drama started: her mom’s bedroom. She reminds viewers how the discovery was made before opening that now famous closet door. Abriana remarks, “It turned out to be a whole new other side of the house, bro.”
Abriana goes on to explain, “There was a wall right here: drywall.” She then moves directly into the newly discovered space. For the first time, TikTok users can see that alongside a bedroom and bathroom, the previously hidden area also boasts another feature. Abriana’s mother now has a walk-in closet to replace the one her boyfriend tore down.
The Cristel family still have their work cut out making the space habitable, of course. But the previous owners had at least done some of the legwork. Before abandoning the space for reasons that we will perhaps never know, the former occupants had apparently installed some lights and sheetrock panels.
Though there’s another feature of the area that also remains a mystery. Why was its hidden entrance so small? According to Fox News, the doorway stands no more than 5-feet-tall. It’s why you see one of the Cristels crouching down in the first clip to avoid banging their head.
So, how far along have the Cristel family got with the renovation project that none of them could have foreseen? Well, the third clip that Abriana uploaded was captioned, “Stay tuned while we make it a whole different area.” But sadly for all us intrigued viewers on TikTok, there hasn’t been an update since.
The Cristels aren’t the only people who have gone viral after discovering an unusual property feature, though. London-based actor Jamie Wilkes left his Twitter followers open-mouthed after posting a video from a flat viewing with a magical kitchen. Yes, one of its countertops also doubled up as a doorway to a hidden staircase once opened up.
Then there’s YouTuber John Reynolds, who discovered that the backyard dump he’d acquired after purchasing a $20,000 house was hiding a swimming pool. The new homeowner initially believed there was nothing but junk and dirt at the rear of his property. It was only when heavy rainfall washed most of it away that he noticed its surprise additional feature.
But the most surprising house find must surely go to Khandu Patel and his wife. The pair had resided at the same property for four decades in Wolverhampton, England. And one day they finally decided to investigate its backyard manhole cover. After opening it up, the shocked couple found that they’d been living all this time above a secret air raid shelter!