Unexpected bonus in new house - am beyond excited!

[weehoo]

Have lived in a tall house on a small plot for years. Very little outside space, no parking or garage.

Just bought a doer-upper - it's built on a fairly steep hillside with lovely views. We viewed it in a bit of a hurry and had a quick look at the undercroft which wasn't really mentioned on the particulars. Saw a shed-sized room full of stuff and thought it would be useful for something.

Purchase is going through so I went back to the house yesterday to have a good look and to measure windows etc. Went back into the undercroft and realised it's a bloody warren of rooms! You can't stand up properly in some of them but they're all dry and clean and have power. The main room which I saw on first viewing is also way, way bigger than I remembered. Am almost embarrassed at how excited I am at the prospect of STORAGE. Also slightly tempted to put a trapdoor in the lounge and then the kids can disappear down there with their bloody felt pens and Barbie dolls

That’s exactly what I didn’t want in our new house. I’ve obviously watched too many scary films

Ive never heard of an undercroft either. I suppose technically our house has one though it would onbly be a couple of feet high.

Our house is on a side to side slope and when I stand at the lowest end the DPM and air bricks are at chest height so there is probably 2-3 ft of void. I know if we junp in the living /dining rooms it echoes

Very jealous!
I’ve always fancied having so much space I could make a secret room. Hidden behind a bookcase with deep blue painted walls, Moroccan lighting theme and cushions and a model train running around the walls on a bookshelf with cocktail glasses on the trucks. Lots of books. maybe a daybed with loads of cushions. A curved (circular)window) alcove you could sit in. Maybe a slide entrance too. Loads of phone chargers. Magically replenishing chocolate supply...

What is holding the house up , if there is clear space all the way beneath it ?

OP, I completely get your excitement. That sounds amazing.

For years I had a recurrent dream of discovering new rooms in a house.
When we bought this one, I asked the estate agent if I could take a quick look in the loft space to check the roof. I went up and it was massive. It's now 2 double bedrooms, a bathroom and a huge (20ft) storage room. Made me so happy.Literally a dream come true

I hope you have a great time in your new home.

Wow how exciting. That is such a massive selling point, I can't understand why the owner/estate agent hadn't mentioned it.

Enjoy OP

I would love that. Very exciting.
I occasionally dream there is a secret extra staircase into a hidden loft room. But it's super creepy full of old dolls. 😱

I have (or used to have) extra house dreams. They were always vaguely troubling, a house that was mine but I'd forgotten and was problem. Now I think of it, I've not had the dream since I paid off my mortgage.:o

The storage issue plainly resonates with so many. My DD comes back home every so often, asking to store some item too big for her house share, and always comments on the storage capacity of our house, something of no interest whatsoever when she lived here. Like many Australian houses of a certain era, it's got storage galore, and that's without a cellar or attic.

I grew up in a house like this, it too was built on a slope so the rooms at the back had more headroom than the front rooms. My Dad had a workshop down there but the rest of the place was ours to play in. Me and my friends put on concerts for the neighbours in the biggest space (this was in the 60's).

Omg secret rooms to hide the kids toys it’s the dream!! We have a conservatory that is their playroom and it’s just not enough, every single room in the house is filled full of shit. Rooms plural that are hidden I wouldn’t be able to contain myself 😆 I could have the show home I dream of and just shut the crap away! You lucky thing!

All these people who've never heard of an undercroft - clearly haven't studied their medieval ecclesiastical history! Tch, what do they teach them nowadays?

Sounds fab, OP. All that I had extra in my new house was a leather sofa (which is gorgeous but won't leave the house as it doesn't fit through the door) and a huge shed (which is amazing).

I love this Op. So exciting for you. We had this when we moved into our house, a heavily extended 5 bed dormer bungalow. The previous owner had done a great job and the house was fab - dh & I had come from a ‘3 bed link detached’ house which in reality was a pokey new build 2 1/2 up 2 down with walls made of paper and postage stamp garden. No storage whatsoever and when you flushed the toilets it sounded like the entire house was about to take off! (We were ftb’s and didn’t know any better! )

So we viewed the new house (mansionesque proportions) and noted the cute little cupboard in the spare room en suite, (lavish storage compared to the old house and thought how spoilt we were!), then when we moved in dh started exploring upstairs and discovered the cute little cupboard was panelled. He attacked it with a screwdriver and literally discovered another world - loft space running the entire length of the house which then opened up into an L shaped attic room complete with power, lighting and cupboards/drawers! Nothing was ever mentioned by the estate agent or the previous owner so I’m guessing they never knew!
Fast forward 5 years and we have virtually finished converting the new space into an extension of the bedroom and playroom for the dcs, plus a generous space for storage.

Interestingly I too have recurring dreams of extra rooms, not just in my house but in my dps house (the house I grew up in) too. I always wake up feeling really nostalgic but oddly unsettled and I think it’s because I’m worried we left important things in the (hidden) rooms when we moved out!
I hadn’t heard the term undercroft used with houses before - I’ve only heard it used in relation to churches or cathedrals (like a crypt I guess?) I love the word though - kind of fascinating, ancient and spooky! I’ve a feeling it was mentioned in the book The Da Vinci Code??

The concept of hidden/protected rooms is so fascinating to me - I love watching films (mostly American) where they are featured, and storm cellars, and nuclear bunkers (wanders off to browse the internet...)

Anyway please post pics if you can op - so interesting to see, wish we had done that now! x

Oh and I really want one of those spiral wine cellars as well (swoon)

Which has made me think about how you sometimes come across wells in the floors of old pubs...not going to get anything done today now whilst I google the s##t out of this...

Awesome thread op! x

I've had the extra rooms dreams too - eg. looking at a new house, then when we move in, what I thought was a cupboard turns out to be a whole attic of space...

Something - are you me in the future? We're currently buying a 5 bed converted bungalow, having been nearly killing each other in a 3 (ie. 2.5 since one room only just fits a single bed in it) bed semi, 25 years old, made of cardboard with a landlord who thinks that a coat of white paint fixes everything. I don't think there's any room in the new house for secret lofts, but I'll bare it in mind!

I love that you came back to update this! I hope you do again in another 6 months when you're a bit more settled and using it more!

Oh is that what they're called. Love houses like that they normally have amazing views.
According to debt companies we have the old tenant living here so I'm still looking for the room where hes hiding.

@TreestumpsAndTrampolines hehe I feel your pain, we spent 7 years in that house and bizarrely it never felt like ‘home’, this one however is our forever home, so much happier and settled here. They’ll have to carry me out in a box because I’m never moving house again!
Really hope the move goes smoothly for you - then you can bask in the sheer boundless storage possibilities! x

Loads of storage is the greatest thing.

It is so much easier to have a tidy house if you have loads of storage and everything has its place.

It is also so much easier to have your children tidy up after themselves.

I have always been obsessed with it, and have loads throughout the house.

I have a friend who bought a house on a really steep hill with a small undercroft. They extended the house out further at the back (involved a LOT of pilings!) and ended up with a proper ensuite bedroom and utility down there.
If there is some way to create proper internal staircase down there, it could be wonderful. Even external access would be great .

I dream of finding hidden rooms in our house at least once or twice a year. It’s never our actual house we’re living in but a fancier, ornate or period type house and then I discover a secret door which leads to extra rooms. The extra rooms are always really plain and dated though and I get excited thinking “ooh, how shall I decorate these?” Then I wake up! It’s always really vivid though. I googled this:

To dream of a secret room represents your neglected potential or realizing an undiscovered aspects of yourself. ... To dream of a forbidden room may represent actions or experiences that you are afraid to take. It may also reflect your feeling that an issue is time sensitive

It does make sense to me as I love interiors and doing renovations but rarely have the time or funds. I think it’s a result of stifled creativity!

I’ve lived overseas in houses where there are finished basements that are the same area as the upper floors. It was fantastic especially when the kids were small. British houses feel so small.

OP how about a photo? 😊

Make a utility down there.
Yeah, it will be a pain lugging all the laundry back upstairs but you could have a laundry chute down to the undercroft!

What a great post to read! I'm excited for you! But OP, we need to see pictures! 😊😊😊😊

Wow we need photos!! I too have had the hidden rooms dream. My semi is on a hill and so there must be a void under the house. You can see the area at the side but no access. I always dream that there's a whole lounge under there. In my dreams my family use the hidden room but it has a very embarrassing 1970s drinks bar that I don't ever manage to take out. This hidden rooms dream must have some psychological meaning!! One of us needs to Google it!

Wow OP, amazing space for your kids. I'm envious of everyone who's actually found a secret room (or rooms) – I also regularly dream of finding new space in our place. They're always vivid and I always wake up disappointed, another room would be useful!