Tonight I decided to do something Ive been wanting to do since the day we bought the house- Open the secret compartment on the side of the fireplace mantel:

This took some effort since it was incredibly painted shut. I was nervous and excited about what treasures might be contained in this long forgotten compartment- dead mice, love letters, gold pieces?

Of course it was just some curious pieces of Knob & Tube wiring!! My hunch is that it was a secret switch to turn on the gas the fireplace bit who knows.

This is the back of the door… And what we think the whole mantel will look like under the paint once we strip it.