While a lot of people are drawn to older houses due to the character it can bring to a home, they can also come with some unsual or ‘weird’ features.
Old houses often feature design elements and construction techniques that are no longer the standard. These include details like milk doors, coal chutes, laundry chutes, servant bells, and Dutch doors, as well as architectural details like crown molding and picture rails.
While cellars or basements aren’t very common in houses in the UK, they are more common in other European and Western countries.
They’re often used for extra storage or can be renovated to be an extended part of your living areas.
However, some older homes still have outdated features in the cellars, often making it confusing for new home owners as they struggle to figure out the purpose behind them.
This was the case for one home owner, who took to Reddit to ask others about a ‘creepy’ room they had in their cellar.
They couldn’t figure out what it was made for, asking the forum: “What is this creepy room in my basement?”
The resident added: “I’ve lived here for a few years and we’ve come up with so many theories. But what could the purpose of this room have been, and what could it be going forward?”
They went on to add photos of the room in question, which featured white brick walls with a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.
The floor was covered in gravel – and a big wooden door with a lock kept it closed off from the rest of the cellar.
Several people quickly took to the comment section to discuss possible usages for the room.
While some took inspiration from horror or crime movies about the possible sinister usages, many seemed to agree the room was created for storage.
“That latch gives me cooler/freezer vibes so maybe an old, upgraded root cellar?” one person suggested.
A root cellar is a structure, typically underground or partially underground, used for storing food items like vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
It’s a natural way to preserve food by utilising the cool, stable temperatures found at a certain depth in the soil. This was a common feature on older houses that were built before electricity or refridgerators became a staple in homes.
Another person wrote: “If your house is built in the 40s/50s it may be an ice room. Basically back before freezers, you get it. Old beer distributor in my home town has a very similar door in their cold room.
“That or if there looks to have a oddball mortar patch in the wall it might be a coal room. Coal chute would have been the patched area.”
As for what the current home owner could use the room for now, one user said: “I’m guessing would probably be a perfect dry meats curing room assuming it is able to stay cool enough.”
Another person also said it’d be a perfect room to store homemade jam and other canned goods.
One other user than pointed out: “It’s written on [the door]: Jamison Doors is a company making doors since 1906 and had a some models for walk-in coolers/freezers.”