Homeowner Shocked to Discover Secret Staircase Hidden in Plain Sight

A woman who bought an old Victorian house was shocked when she discovered a secret staircase.

Kirsty, 41, who bought the historic house in Matlock, England, was inspecting her new property and made a discovery which led to it going viral on TikTok.

In a video posted to her @peakviewhouse account, Kirsty wrote: “POV: opening a cupboard in your new house and finding a back staircase.”

The clip showed her opening a closet door and finding shelves and cans of paint in a small room. But hidden behind that was a whole secret staircase.

Kirsty zoomed in on the dusty stairs, which seemed to circle the back of the room and lead to the next floor.

Although business owner Kirsty is based in the United Kingdom, Victorian-style homes can also be found in the United States. Styles include Second Empire, Queen Anne, Stick, Shingle and Richardsonian Romanesque, according to OldHouses.com.

Kirsty’s discovery sparked a huge reaction on TikTok, where the clip has received more than 1.7 million views since it was shared on May 1, with commenters begging her to “explore” the staircase and see where it leads .

“Don’t leave us hanging like this,” one user wrote. Another insisted: “We’re going to need you to tear down this closet, lady.”

One person wrote: “Tear these shelves apart immediately, I need to know what this all looks like.” Another joked: “I’m so curious I would sneak through the shelves or rip them off right then and there.”

“Get off the shelves, you need to get on them,” said another. Kirsty responded in a comment that she suspected the stairs lead to a bathroom, “as there are lots of pipes”.

Kirsty said News week: “The stairs are on the plan, but we didn’t notice it.” She added: “Apparently they were mentioned on our second visit, but I only saw the paint cans.”

Kirsty took out the shelves and followed the stairs as far as she could before coming to a dead end with a solid brick wall, possibly leading to the loft.

But Kirsty is just as keen as the TikTok detectives to learn more about the mysteries of the Victorian house and intends to “go into the loft to see what we can find”.

“We researched the house because it is apparently linked to Joseph Whitworth, a famous engineer in the area,” she said.

Sir Joseph Whitworth was born in the United Kingdom in 1803 and is best known for designing the British Standard Whitworth system used for screw threads and for creating the Whitworth rifle, also known as the sharpshooter.

Kirsty was blown away by the huge number of views, likes and comments on her video.

She said she had “just joined TikTok and was still learning how to use it, so I was shocked by the response.”

She added: “But I love that people are as interested in these old houses as I am.”

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