3 Homes With Secret Rooms Hidden Inside: How Much House

ACROSS AMERICA — Hiding in plain sight, secret rooms have enduring intrigue. A bookcase may reveal behind it a whimsical make-believe world for children, or it may provide a secret passageway to more adult pleasures, like the speakeasies hidden in houses during Prohibition.

Secret rooms and passageways may have served a loftier purpose, too, as a save haven along the Underground Railroad, the route used by escaped slaves seeking freedom in the North.

This week in How Much House, we look at homes in Connecticut, Maryland and New Hampshire with secret rooms.

Connecticut | $1,825,000

16 Furnace Brook Road, Cornwell
Listed by: Melinda Dubow | Klemm Real Estate
Square feet: 3,889
Acreage: 14.32 acres
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 4 (3 full)
Year built: 1760

This 1760 farmhouse combines the period charm with modern convenience. A secret room on the top story has “amazing renovation possibility,” according to the real estate listing.

Period details such as the original wide-board floors, beams, original fireplaces (six of them), mill work and uncharacteristically high ceilings are retained throughout the home.

The home opens to a spacious center hall flanked on one side by a parlor with a large fireplace and a den with a fireplace on the other. The main floor also has an open and airy eat-in chef’s kitchen and dining room, a pantry and laundry room.

A breathtaking light-filled great room with walls of windows and French doors leads to a private terraced stone patio overlooking the gardens. Also on the main floor is a spacious bedroom with a fireplace, a study with the original Beehive oven, and a full bath and powder room.

The elegant primary suite on the second level has a fireplace and dressing room. Two more bedrooms, each with a full bath, are found on the second floor as well.

The home sits on a 14-and-a-half-acre lot with beautifully landscaped lawns and gardens, a vegetable garden and fruit-producing trees overlooking the natural woodland and pines of the Ballyhack Preserve. A two-car garage/barn and garden shed complete the property, which has a full-house generator. Peek inside for more photos.

Maryland | $1,300,000

4319 Federal Hill Road, Street
Listed by: Annie Eaton | Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Square feet: 7,317
Acreage: 7.15 acres
Bedrooms: 6
Bathrooms: 7 (5 full)
Year built: 2005

One of the bedrooms in this home has a trap door built into a bookshelf opening to a hidden space that makes for a perfect craft or play room. This custom-built home at the end of a private cul-de-sac is special from the moment you step into a two-story foyer with gleaming hardwoods and a grand staircase.

A cozy sunroom off the chef’s kitchen leads to a sprawling deck with expansive views of the property during every season. The primary suite is off the two-story living room with coffered ceilings and a dining room. It has a private deck, an ensuite bathroom with a soaking tub and walk-in shower, dual sinks, and a walk-in closet.

The second level has a Juliet balcony overlooking the property and three more bedrooms, two with full baths. Off the garage, a staircase leads to a guest suite with a private entrance and full bathroom.

Tucked in the finished basement are a workout/ game room, full and half bath, an open living space, a spacious bedroom with barn doors, a custom-built bar space made from reclaimed wood with a sink and mini fridge, and another hidden room off the large storage and utility space to house anything that needs to be secured.

Walk out to a screened porch and a ground-level deck that’s wired for a hot tub. Behind the home is an oversized woodworking shop with a wood-burning stove and ample storage space.

An oasis awaits outside with wide, open spaces shaded by a canopy of trees leading to a wooden bridge over a crystal clear spring-fed stream. There’s so much more to this house. Peek inside for more photos.

New Hampshire | $425,000

90 Elm St., Lancaster
Listed by: Peter Powell | Peter W. Powell Real Estate
Square feet: 3,898
Acreage: 4.40 acres
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 4 (3 full)
Year built: 1799

This 1799 Colonial has a fascinating brick space behind one of its four fireplaces, lending credibility to the story that the home was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Many of the historic details of this three-story home remain intact nearly 225 years after it was built, including the original post-and-beam construction, chair rails, trimmed corner posts, woodwork with raised panels, period doors and trim, built-in shelving, arched china cabinets, and hardwood and pumpkin pine floors.

“It is a wonderful example of period architecture with the warm, rich character one would expect,” according to the Realtors’ description of the property.

The home has a large eat-in kitchen with two pantries and a mud room, a wonderful den with a wood stove, formal dining and living rooms, and a screened porch and a side porch. Outbuildings need some work based on the intended use, but complement the home. Peek inside for more photos.

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