He made a creepy discovery in his attic (stock image) (Image: Getty)
While many prospective buyers have their hearts set on a new build, others prefer to settle into properties steeped in history and character.
But one man got far more than he anticipated after venturing into the attic of his historic home, which originally began life as a shop before being converted into a church.
Now serving as a family home, the owner revealed he was well aware of the building’s past before purchasing it – yet he never imagined he would discover its remnants lurking within his loft.
Upon venturing into his attic for the very first time, he encountered a crawl space – no greater than two metres in height – with a small gap in its ceiling leading upwards.
He navigated through the crawl space and unearthed an entire house concealed within his attic.
The man said in a Reddit post: “It was a store where the owners lived upstairs. But it was turned into a church – I’m guessing the church owners didn’t want to bother with knocking it down so they just built around it.”
The “creepy house” appears to comprise a living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. While largely bare, a handful of furniture and personal belongings remain inside.
“They laid insulation over the floor boards of the house,” the man added.
“But what’s more interesting is the floor to the attic – it’s not studs with insulation in between but a hardwood floor covering the whole attic with insulation on top.
“[There is] junk, an old cabinet, a tire, a hat, a toilet and sink [inside]. Dirt, lots of dirt, and spiders.
“Its kind of like it’s frozen in time up there. I saw some newspaper pieces, I’ll have to collect them and see if I can get a year off it.”
While the majority of users expressed their astonishment at the concealed room in his loft, others encouraged him to “sell the property” before the ghosts materialise.
One user said: “It’s like the past owners kept children up there for a bit. You didn’t find any scrolls or ritual figurines up there, right?”
Another user joked: “Does a clown live there by the name of Pennywise?”
In response, the man said: “No, I’d guess Satan lives there because it was over 100F up there.”
A third user said: “It’s honestly amazing you weren’t killed by some horror movie s*** when you checked out the first house in the attic, don’t press your luck by checking for a house in the attic of that house in your attic.
“Just burn it down, sell the property to some young yuppie couple and move across the country. The only way to make it out of a horror movie is to be the couple at the beginning that dumps the haunted whatever on the protagonists.”