No one expected the house to give anything back.
—
## **The First Sign That Something Was Different**
It started with a sound.
While removing old wooden panels in a hallway closet, one of the workers noticed that a section of the wall didn’t sound solid. Instead of the dull thud of plaster and lath, it produced a hollow echo—too hollow for comfort.
At first, the assumption was obvious: poor craftsmanship, a forgotten air pocket, or damage from years of settling. Older homes are full of quirks, and contractors encounter strange wall cavities all the time.
Still, curiosity took over.
Carefully, they removed more of the paneling. Behind it was another wall—older, rougher, and clearly not part of the house’s current layout. This inner wall had been sealed off deliberately, not accidentally.
And behind that wall was empty space.
Not a crawl space. Not insulation.
