This Long Island Farmhouse With Antique Treasures And A Vast History Stayed Untouched For 40 Years

Others have occurrences that are buried deep down for years, desperately looking to be accessed. This particular property did wait for somebody to unearth the secret behind the walls for 40 years.

Bryan Sansivero was astonished at how the farmhouse with a long driveway that extends to the rear was so neatly hidden. This is the definition of hiding in plain sight since it was smack in the middle of a bustling community. However, the owners wanted privacy, so this single-room country house went undetected. He says the experience felt like time had stopped.

There are nine acres, with a wide range of amenities to suit every need the family had. An area to smoke meat, a garage, a milking section, a barn for the sheep, a stable for their horses, and a few extra barns. Sansivero hopes that his photos will help in some way to rehabilitate a magnificent and historically meaningful residence.

Urbanization has brought higher levels of development to the location of the Carll Ranch. The ranch has been in existence since the beginning of the 18th century, ahead of the Civil War.

There have been a vast number of precious articles of the past. These scarce photographs remind how unique the property was before it was abandoned and eventually demolished.

Education was an integral part of Carll’s life, so it was no surprise that she had chosen the Board for the Commack School Board and the District for academic and chronological purposes. This stylish pair of footwear seen in the image above were likely Ms. Carll’s own.

Due to her desire to maintain history, there are a lot of old vintage collectibles on the site. Despite being abandoned so many years back, it seemed that Marion Carll was dwelling in a completely different era.

In the book, it states “The property where the farm lies, away from Commack Road, had been occupied by the Secatougue Indian tribe. This information was obtained from 17th-century records showing the lineage connection to Walt Whitman.” Thus, the Secatougue tribe originally owned it before being transferred to Whitman’s ancestors.

The photographer notes that they only saw the basement one time, and they didn’t get any photos, unfortunately. The stairs broke as they walked back out of the basement, so trying to get more photos would have proven dangerous.

Piano and other instruments were the primary means of entertainment prior to the development of the radio. Households would gather to have karaoke or listen to their favorite tunes.

There is even a small brochure advertising the 33rd staging of the Sea Girt tournament, which involves multiple states. The American International Riflers Association organized the event in the 19th century.

Antique fortune hunters who seek to explore the property will not get a chance to do so. Following the work of Sansivero, the building was cleared up. All valuable items have been placed in safekeeping while the property has round-the-clock security.

The walls are lined with many metal crinoline frocks dangling from wall brackets. The undergrowth gained popularity across several continents after getting its patent in the mid-19th century. They seem to maintain their excellent condition despite their age.

The cloth on the furniture here did not stand well; however, you can tell it looked nice when it was new. Settings of this caliber are what compelled the photographer to state that the house felt so much like going back to the Victorian era compared to any other home he’d ever ventured into.

She encouraged schoolmates to tour the farm to gain better knowledge about life on a farm, leading to a local school named Marion E. Carll in 1957. We know that Carll donated the property to the school community.

This image shows the inside of the barn. Ancient farm tools in the facility assisted with highlighting the history of the property as a functional plantation. Caroll asked that the buildings be kept as monuments.

A name is engraved on the safe, which the research shows as a former member of staff at the Dental Department of the University of Buffalo. It has not been ascertained how secure the farm has gotten.

This would be very welcome to anyone sitting in the corner reading or talking, especially on a frigid night. Except for the peeling wallpapers, the room is perhaps a good picture of how it was when Carll was living there.

Sitting on the beautiful mantle as well is a teacup, as though someone rests it there and forgets to pick it up. It’s clear that Ms. Carll had electricity, which could be deemed a touch of modernization, as there were two lamps, one of which is still intact and the other badly torn.

There are numerous additional artifacts in this scene, such as an oil lamp and a teapot. The roof in this compartment has deteriorated and now looks set to fall apart.

The entire ceiling had collapsed, and the walls had been painted in multiple areas. In the meantime, the trash lined up the ground in that section of the house. The hallway had many reminders of history and evidence of past lifestyle occupants.

There are a few criteria to be included in the register. Properties must comply with one, including having made a significant contribution to American history, being linked to a remarkable individual, having unique architectural aspects, or being critical to history.

Well-designed mirrors (such as the one seen here) would help to accentuate the wall, adding great character to the washroom or hallway where they were mainly placed. These designs will stand the test of time and are still sought after today.

The image shows an ancient water storage container known as an ewer (or pitcher) sitting on a nicely-designed dresser. In the event no water was available, they would be the backup for potable water indoors. Mrs. Carll’s home is truly a glimpse into the past.

The items in this barn are as entrenched in history as those found in the interior. Every angle of the house is a history lesson, which explains why Ms. Carll wanted it to be preserved.

A lot of the clothing items found inside the house were not your typical store-bought items, and were designed nicely. It gives the impression that she was a stylist as much as she was an educator. The electric lamp beside her sewing machine suggests that she sewed often during the nighttime.

Despite being exposed for so many years, the blouse exhibited a great deal of detail and elaborate embroidery work. Ms. Carll may have designed it.

Unfortunately, most of their labels are too disintegrated to read. The bottom shelf contains some maps and wooden crates, including one labeled “Kirkman’s.” The smaller bottles seen in these crates may have held spices such as salt and pepper.

Even the Milk of Magnesia which is still very popular today, was there in large size. She clearly wasn’t taking any chances and wanted to make sure there’s a treatment for anything that could arise, just in case it did.

We see a well-used dictionary, a government book, one called “Modern Europeans,” and many more. Most of them seem to be in reasonably good shape in terms of their surroundings.

Mr. Hughes and others raise funds to ensure that the property does not fall back into a state of neglect. He says this time machine should be viewed for what it is and treated accordingly.

“Rummaging through many of the pictures and paperwork strewed across the house sheds more light on the family’s history and the type of lifestyle they led,” Sansivero said. These valuable heirlooms have been spread for temporary display but have since been taken off the property for safekeeping.

The Carll family has a prosperous history on Long Island, including ties to the Sagitikos Manor, which was transferred to the Setauket Thompson family, then to the Gardiner family. Simultaneously, the Carlls continued to be distinguished members of neighborhoods in and around the Huntington area.

The team working to protect the family farm says they are working to make it a restored historic site, and recommendations include a functioning organic farm and a teaching center. Ms. Carll would undoubtedly have loved that idea.

Our next story takes us through yet another quaint, old farmhouse where quite the discovery was found.

Eric was hesitant to visit the property initially because the house was bound to elicit a cloud of nostalgia that could quickly overwhelm him. However, after putting it off for weeks, Eric decided it was time to pay a visit and give the house a thorough cleaning. Little did he know that he was about to make a life-changing discovery.

The cleaning process felt like flipping through an old photo album. Every nook and cranny brought on another rush of memories about time spent with his grandparents. Many were blurry and fragmentary, rickety from long-term disuse, just like the creaking farmhouse floors.

It was difficult to come up with a reasonable guess, though, because the house had been abandoned for over 20 years. His grandparents decided to leave in 1997, and the reason behind this move will be understandable to many elderly folks and their families.

Out of concern for his safety, they decided to leave their farmhouse and move closer to the hospital he attended for treatment. When Eric’s grandfather finally succumbed to the illness, Eric’s father and grandmother slowly cut their emotional ties to the farmhouse.

Eric was now the legal heir to the Tennessee farmhouse that had sat idle for so long. Too many painful memories haunted the place, so Eric kept postponing his planned visits. Eventually, however, he decided it was time to go.

Eric thought long and hard about what it would take to make the house ready for the real estate market. There was a lot of planning to do, so he knew he had to start as soon as possible.

He needed to restore the house to a certain standard, so it would be inviting to potential buyers. During the work, however, he was constantly reminded of his grandparent’s kind nature and of how much he missed them.

It also reminded Eric that his grandfather used to be a sailor and had a love for treasure – which might have been the reason why he chose Stevenson’s book. All this inner chatter about pirates and buried treasures piqued Eric’s interest as he cleaned.

Was he being silly? It did no harm for him to be a bit playful. If he was going to clean up an old home, he might as well make it enjoyable. He went on a mission to discover the secrets of the farmhouse, starting with the closets.

Although the closet still smelled and was filled with dust, the floorboards didn’t squeak as he walked over them. For some reason, this floor was more solid than the rickety planks of wood that made up the rest of the house.

Beneath the carpet, he found a concrete floor. Why would his grandparents only install concrete here and then deliberately hide it? It didn’t make sense to Eric at all.

Eric wondered if it was some kind of trapdoor meant to protect something important beneath. His inner child brimmed with excitement as he imagined the possible purposes of this strange door.

The circle in the middle of the slab could be a means to open it. Eric thought of ways that he could destroy it, but what if this were a safe or a vault, and the only way to unlock the thing was through a secret code?

Eric needed to get past the locked concrete first. Only then would he know what to do next. He wished his father were still alive so that he could shed light on the matter – but he wasn’t, so it was all up to Eric now.

He decided to turn to his mother for advice. Upon calling her on the phone, she told Eric that his grandparents also had a vault in their house in Florida. That was a reassuring sign. Mom was able to give Eric a lot more information than he expected.

She told Eric to key in his father’s birth date to open the safe. She thought of other possible combinations but believed this was probably their best shot.

He couldn’t even get the handle to move. He tried to force it, but it was unyielding. Nothing he did worked, so it was time to ask for help. His mind immediately went to calling in a professional locksmith. That would surely help.

He wouldn’t be able to get a professional to come to look at it for another day, at least. This was going to be a waiting game for Eric, and it nearly drove him nuts having to wait for Monday to make his next move.

However, the sealed concrete and metal proved harder to crack than they had initially thought. This was going to be a long day for both of them, but they persevered. It was a test that they embraced and found themselves wholly committed to overcoming.

Soon, they felt their chances of success gradually increasing. The concrete at the surface began to chip away and reveal something beneath. Their hands were hard at work, and the two men must have felt like farmers planting seeds in a rough landscape.

Eric keyed in the combination suggested by his mother, and it worked. He was in disbelief. He forgot about the task that had originally brought him there (cleaning up the house) and allowed himself to be consumed by this new mystery.

All he could see at first were a bunch of square blue blocks. They looked like old books or medal boxes, but there was a chance that they contained his grandparents’ collectibles. It seemed unlikely that they would create an elaborate box just for some old magazines and knick-knacks.

On top of that, some of the boxes were empty and brittle. He managed to find a few coins, but they were no longer legal tender. Regardless, he studied the articles to satisfy his curiosity.

What secrets did the book contain? Eric was about to break it open, but then the other items distracted him – there were so many mysteries to solve!

It wasn’t only inside the book that he found the coins – they were scattered throughout plenty of other boxes. As Eric opened more of them, he found banknotes as well. However, many had been damaged by the flood.

He was glad his grandparents had carefully secured the old money in the safe. As soon as the dampness was gone, Eric planned on slowly separating out the bills.

He ran some quick calculations in his head, estimating that the silver coins he gathered must be worth thousands of dollars – and there were still more valuables that needed to be unearthed. He felt like he’d stumbled upon a goldmine.

Next, he came upon the silver bars pictured above. He’d never seen anything like that before and assumed (correctly) that the dates on the memorabilia were when the states were founded. These items had to be of great historical interest.

The large coin in the photo above was one of many, and nearly all of them were well-preserved inside special casings. They shone when Eric opened their boxes. It was as if they had just been polished by his grandfather earlier that day.

As he was digging through the safe, he found a strange toolbox-shaped case and brought it to the surface to get a closer look. Its surface had been oxidizing for years, and that resulted in rust. Luckily, he was able to pry it open.

If he had found nothing else inside the safe but these heirlooms, Eric would have been satisfied; his troubles would have been worth it, and his curiosity would have been satiated. He took a moment to view his discovery and imagine the necklace dangling from his grandma’s neck.

What if more treasure was waiting to be found elsewhere in the house? Eric searched for clues in all corners of the building, keeping an eye out for trapdoors and hidden passageways. Eventually, he found a wooden table in the basement.

The table also had a secret safe inside it! These two successive discoveries were almost too much to handle. Could it be that his grandparents had more hidden treasures to share?

After opening the second safe, Eric found that it contained similar items to the first one – old-looking boxes, books, and coins. Banknotes and coins were clearly of considerable importance to Eric’s grandparents.

These bore the signature of John Barr, a man who only served for a month as the Secretary of the Treasury. Issued in 1968, any collector would be delighted to have these in their possession for a price far exceeding its face value.

He posted his experience on Reddit, attached relevant photographs, and sought out information from those in the know. He was still in utter disbelief about everything that had transpired since he arrived to clean the house.

Eric wanted to understand why these things meant so much to his grandparents. Somebody suggested that he pay a visit to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to get more information about the old coins and notes.

The old coins were silver, which meant they would fetch a far higher price than their face value. Though they were worth a lot, they had a priceless history attached to them. He would be selling a piece of his family’s history if he parted with them.

At this stage, the rare coins and notes still need to be studied in more detail. This will involve taking into account how they were produced as well as their historical significance. Eric continues to be delighted by the support he’s receiving. The mysterious treasures his grandparents left behind offered an experience he’ll never forget.

Imagine uncovering a literal manhole right beneath the floorboard of your home! That is exactly what a California couple documented for all of TikTok to see.

Jennifer moved big pieces of furniture that stood over thick carpet and uncovered a manhole, much to her surprise. She immediately told her husband what she had found.

What if it was something created for illegal or even monstrous activities? The curiosity of Jennifer and her husband really began to pique.

Inside there was cobwebs, dust, and trash. They quickly realized as they moved deeper and deeper inside the room that they had discovered a bomb shelter.

There was also rainwater dripping down the walls and the steel door was filled with rust due to this. The room had been there for 50 years.

This would mean that you would have to leave the shelter to get to the storage room, which is mightily inconvenient in the event of a nuclear attack.

History buffs might remember that the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States was occurring around this time.

The rivalry between the two superpowers put many Americans on high alert during that time, fearful of a nuclear attack from the Eastern European rival.

In this booklet, they are showing how to build both basements and above ground shelters for the layman.

Some people also commented about the possibilities of what the shelter could be repurposed for. Some suggested that it could be remodeled as a mancave or used in case of a zombie apocalypse.