The New York Times (free registration required) is running an article on the increasing number of concealed rooms that are being added to houses. These take all forms, from your typical door secreted behind a bookcase to more elaborate contraptions hidden under staircases or behind fireplaces.
The impetus for these crypto-rooms?
When David Lee and his wife, Daphne, moved into their house in Plano, Tex., in March, they found themselves with too many unused bedrooms. Mr. Lee set up a workroom with tools, a computer and a workbench in one of the empty rooms. But it did not take long for the couple to decide to install a bookcase door, at a cost of almost $2,000, and turn the space into a secret room. “I always wanted one,” he said, “since watching Scooby-Doo way back when.”But lest you think it all fun and games, secret rooms have a way of backfiring on you. One guy forgot his remote control and couldn’t remember the “knock code” for getting out of his room, so he had to take a circuitous route back to the outside.
Forget secret rooms—I’m having air ducts big enough to crawl through put in my house.
[Thanks, Jason T.]