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What's the strangest thing you ever saw in someone's house? (Original Post) debm55 Oct 27 OP
Life-sized Mannequins at my MILs house. woodsprite Oct 27 #1
Sorry , but that is funny and creepy. Thank you woodsprite. debm55 Oct 27 #2
One of my jobs in early adulthood was at a mannequin factory. WestMichRad Oct 28 #50
Jeffrey Dahmer stole a couple of those to keep as boyfriends. milestogo Oct 29 #123
ball lightning lapfog_1 Oct 27 #3
Yes that would be terrifying. Thank you lapfog_1 debm55 Oct 27 #4
Lucky no one was struck by it. wnylib Oct 27 #39
A very large bird Tweedy Oct 27 #5
Thank you Tweedy. We had small birds go through the chimney and the cats would chase them though out the house. debm55 Oct 27 #7
I needed signatures on paperwork and went to the client's home for them..he opened the door and I stepped in Deuxcents Oct 27 #6
That is sickening. I feel sorry for you having to experience that. debm55 Oct 27 #8
A baby bull... oldsoldierfadingfast Oct 27 #17
Thank you oldsoldierfadingfast. Sad post with a happy ending. Oh and welcome to DU. debm55 Oct 27 #20
I had a newborn lamb under my bed Laurelin Oct 28 #105
Best thing I've read all day Lulu KC Nov 11 #125
An authentic Suit of Armor from the Middle Ages. madaboutharry Oct 27 #9
Thank you madaboutharry. Yes very strange debm55 Oct 27 #11
A Renoir in the bathroom. The real deal. A sketch of a young woman. In a full bath. Solly Mack Oct 27 #10
Thank you Solly Mack. I see your point. debm55 Oct 27 #12
I've gone into homes with stuffed dead animals but that wasn't strange for the people involved. Solly Mack Oct 27 #19
I would be strange for me. debm55 Oct 27 #22
They let their two small dogs just go in the house Alpeduez21 Oct 27 #13
That is very gross. Were they elderely and not able to clean up? debm55 Oct 27 #15
Neither just couldn't be bothered, I guess Alpeduez21 Oct 27 #18
I house sat for a boss once Diraven Oct 28 #101
Gross Alpeduez21 Oct 28 #115
A 60mm mortar round next to the fireplace in the home of a kid I was friends with. rsdsharp Oct 27 #14
that could be dangerous. debm55 Oct 27 #16
Not if it was inert. I assume my friend's father brought it back from WWWII. rsdsharp Oct 27 #21
With some people you never know. I more than likely inert. debm55 Oct 27 #23
I used to have an inert tank round Diraven Oct 28 #102
14 ft wood sailboat from the 30s...mast included. Beautifully maintained. GP6971 Oct 27 #24
That is very strange. Which room did they keep it in? debm55 Oct 27 #25
Foyer and it was huge. GP6971 Oct 27 #26
That is very odd. Thank you. debm55 Oct 27 #27
A stuffed giraffe. mommymarine2003 Oct 27 #28
Thank you mommymarine2003, That is strange. debm55 Oct 27 #30
A bomb shelter Cartoonist Oct 27 #29
Thank you Cartoonist. Yes that is strange. debm55 Oct 27 #31
It's nice they were able to repurpose it after the Cold War ended Hekate Oct 28 #48
Michael Jackson room. Bmoboy Oct 27 #32
That sure is creepy. thank you, Bmoboy. debm55 Oct 27 #33
An acquaintance of mine had the tumor that was surgically removed from his brain.... lastlib Oct 27 #34
Thank you lastlib. that would creep me out too. debm55 Oct 28 #64
Wow. You win. Joinfortmill Oct 28 #77
A stuffed polar bear standing upright in a menacing pose in a drained fish pond in a living room Brother Buzz Oct 27 #35
Thank you Brother Buzz. That is sad and creepy. debm55 Oct 28 #65
I was just a kid and didn't understand the creepy bit yet Brother Buzz Oct 28 #88
Peyote growing in the kitchen window Runningdawg Oct 27 #36
Thank you Runningdawg. That's strange. debm55 Oct 28 #67
A bathroom with mirrors on all four walls and the ceiling, weird. You can see your self doing doc03 Oct 27 #37
Thank you doc03, that is very strange. debm55 Oct 28 #69
Rofl Joinfortmill Oct 28 #78
My brother bought a house to use as a rental. duncang Oct 27 #38
This message was self-deleted by its author doc03 Oct 27 #42
Very strange indeed. Thank you duncang. debm55 Oct 28 #70
My cousin's husband crud Oct 28 #93
Satanic altar? XanaDUer2 Oct 27 #40
Thank you XanaDUer2. I would have done the same. debm55 Oct 28 #71
Not very strange compared to some other posts here, wnylib Oct 27 #41
Thank you wnylib, That would creep me out too. debm55 Oct 28 #61
A Nazi flag about 10 feet wide hanging in someones living room. nt doc03 Oct 27 #43
Did you leave. I would have walked out. debm55 Oct 28 #60
The person had passed away, relatives were doc03 Oct 28 #95
Thank you doc03 and a Nazi lover.teacher debm55 Oct 28 #96
I have one, folded up on the top shelf of my closet. My father brought it back from the war yellowdogintexas Nov 11 #126
But you's are not on display. I don't what I would do with it either. Thank you yellowdogintexas. debm55 Nov 11 #132
When we first got married my husband drove his motorcycle inside our house to work on it TommieMommy Oct 27 #44
Thank you TommieMommy. That is different. debm55 Oct 28 #59
That would be him, you never knew what he would do. Made our life together interesting. I miss him. TommieMommy Oct 28 #83
Lol Joinfortmill Oct 28 #81
A camel saddle some_of_us_are_sane Oct 27 #45
Thank you some_of_us_are_sane debm55 Oct 28 #58
My aunt actually turned a camel saddle into a footstool Laurelin Oct 28 #107
A sex dungeon in the basement. LudwigPastorius Oct 28 #46
Oh my. That is strange. Thank you LudwigPastorius. debm55 Oct 28 #57
It was a toy from the Ultraman series, I think sakabatou Oct 28 #47
Thank you sakabatou. I don't blame you. debm55 Oct 28 #55
I know a real estate appraiser who's seen all kinds of stuff underpants Oct 28 #49
Thank you underpants. I wonder if they were hoarders. debm55 Oct 28 #52
Many years ago Diamond_Dog Oct 28 #51
Thank you Diamond_Dog. Yes that does sound very strange. debm55 Oct 28 #53
When we moved into my childhome home (1972) there was a detached garage with a root cellar FSogol Oct 28 #54
Thank you FSogol. Must have been brought up from Friday and former owners just left it. Sad. but creepy debm55 Oct 28 #62
Not really strange if..fish..had..wings Oct 28 #56
Thank you. I would say it was strange and dangerous debm55 Oct 28 #63
Extreme hoarding WestMichRad Oct 28 #66
Thank you WestMichRad. Sounds like there were problems with the gentleman. debm55 Oct 28 #72
We all have our problems, don't we?! WestMichRad Oct 28 #97
Well, there was a fire hydrant in one. In another, a gynecological exam table. WheelWalker Oct 28 #68
Thank you WheelWalker. Very strange and creepy. debm55 Oct 28 #73
Not going there Joinfortmill Oct 28 #84
Years ago when my wife and I were looking for a house to buy in the Midwest... hunter Oct 28 #74
Thank you hunter. Some very strange houses. What did you find behind the carpet on the walls? debm55 Oct 28 #75
We didn't buy that house. There were too many strange things about it. hunter Oct 28 #90
Thank you hunter. debm55 Oct 28 #94
A moose head, which is a bit freaky, believe me. Joinfortmill Oct 28 #76
Thank you Joinfortmill. freaky for sure. debm55 Oct 28 #79
an inground pool in the living room. the whole house reeked of chlorine. Native Oct 28 #80
Yuk that sure would. Thank you Native. debm55 Oct 28 #82
A German Nazi general's uniform. FuzzyRabbit Oct 28 #85
Thank you FuzzyRabbit. That is gross. debm55 Oct 28 #86
A real taxidermied polar bear, standing up with teeth and claws bared, in attack stance. Laffy Kat Oct 28 #87
Thank you Laffy Kat. so sorry for you and the bear. debm55 Oct 28 #89
The headstone of a living friend dlbell Oct 28 #91
Thank you dlbell. Makes sense but is so creepy. debm55 Oct 28 #92
This isn't a inside the house. duncang Oct 28 #98
Thank you duncang. Was the house in Texas? it sounds very strange. debm55 Oct 28 #99
Yep, Montgomery County Texas. duncang Oct 28 #117
A neighbor has a collection of Cookie Jars in the shape of pigs. He has about 10 of them , all the same on the top of debm55 Oct 28 #100
A stuffed whooping crane. And yes, they are a protective species. Ferrets are Cool Oct 28 #103
So sorry for that bird. I am sorry that you had to witness that. debm55 Oct 28 #108
A stripper pole BOSSHOG Oct 28 #104
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHHAH. thank you BOSSHOG That is funny. debm55 Oct 28 #106
I am a real estate photographer who has shot over 4000 homes in the last 7 years. I have seen more Ferrets are Cool Oct 28 #110
HAHAHHAHAHAH. Thank you Ferrets are Cool debm55 Oct 28 #112
We sold our home in Mississippi in 2018 BOSSHOG Oct 28 #118
It makes a world of difference Ferrets are Cool Oct 28 #119
Something that did not seem strange at the time but would now Eko Oct 28 #109
Thank you Eko. Yes that could be dangerous. debm55 Oct 28 #113
Now that I think of it, it kinda was. Eko Oct 28 #116
Not all that strange for deer hunters.... Niagara Oct 28 #111
I am so sorry about that. Niagara. I have seen them also.If you go to the Dakotas you will see gazebos made from the debm55 Oct 28 #114
I'm a pretty avid hunter Ontheboundry Nov 11 #129
Welcome to DU, Ontheboundry Niagara Nov 11 #133
A full-size airplane being built in a one bedroom apartment ZoltarSpeaks Oct 29 #120
Thank you ZoltarSpeakes. That is very strange. debm55 Oct 29 #121
Well it was both one of the strangest and one of the coolest. OldBaldy1701E Oct 29 #122
That is cool. Thank you OldBaldy1701E debm55 Oct 29 #124
It was my own house, actually. yellowdogintexas Nov 11 #127
I've been in this guy's house Polybius Nov 11 #128
My late wife and I sold our house 49jim Nov 11 #130
A coffin DemMedic Nov 11 #131

woodsprite

(12,218 posts)
1. Life-sized Mannequins at my MILs house.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 12:54 PM
Oct 27

She has about 6 adults and 2 kids. Kinda creepy and you always feel like someone’s watching you.

milestogo

(17,988 posts)
123. Jeffrey Dahmer stole a couple of those to keep as boyfriends.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 07:40 PM
Oct 29

That was before he escalated to humans.

lapfog_1

(30,214 posts)
3. ball lightning
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 12:57 PM
Oct 27

just before an intense thunderstorm in Wichita KS probably 60 years ago now. The front door was open and and we all heard a hissing crackling sound and through the front door "rolled" a bright glowing sparking "ball". Rolled across the floor and blackened the carpet and hit a wall where it went pop and vanished leaving a burn mark on the wall... we were all terrified. I was a small child at the time.

Tweedy

(1,170 posts)
5. A very large bird
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:00 PM
Oct 27

that came in through the chimney and was spitting in terror and anger.

I was told it was a hawk. What kind I could not say. We backed out of there quickly. My friend’s father trapped it under a bucket (somehow? He was not bleeding) and released it outside.

It felt like to my tiny little self that that gigantic bird turned in the air and bowed to him like a thank you. I doubt it did truly; I saw it do it though with my own two eyes

debm55

(36,850 posts)
7. Thank you Tweedy. We had small birds go through the chimney and the cats would chase them though out the house.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:06 PM
Oct 27

Deuxcents

(19,862 posts)
6. I needed signatures on paperwork and went to the client's home for them..he opened the door and I stepped in
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:03 PM
Oct 27

And saw a wall to wall confederate flag displayed on his living room wall. I could not get enough oxygen to my brain to breathe as I was speechless. This was 2006-7 and I’ll never forget it.

17. A baby bull...
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:41 PM
Oct 27

1976 - We lived in a sub-division with a HO association - no farm animals allowed. The bull's owners had a farm outside town. Late one evening, after work, they went to check on mama cow and 2 day old baby; found mama dead. Had to take baby back home with them. As close friends, several neighbors took turns bull sitting while owners worked. Younger children delighted to hold the bottle to feed the baby. After 5 days, another cow-owner took the baby and placed him with his cow that had just lost her baby - she accepted him.

Laurelin

(644 posts)
105. I had a newborn lamb under my bed
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 03:21 PM
Oct 28

In my college dorm room for nearly a week once. I was bottle feeding orphaned lambs for a livestock club and this one got pneumonia. I got it antibiotics from the vet school and tried (but failed) to save it. At least it didn't die in the cold barn. Lambs are really loud and my roommate and I were terrified the advisor would hear it baaaing and we'd be thrown out of the dorm.

I thought I was weird but at least I didn't have a bull calf! 😁

madaboutharry

(41,371 posts)
9. An authentic Suit of Armor from the Middle Ages.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:25 PM
Oct 27

It was standing in front of a full pelt from a dead tiger.

It was in the house of a client of my father. I was home from school for some reason and he took me to work with him that day. One of those things you don't forget.

Solly Mack

(92,902 posts)
10. A Renoir in the bathroom. The real deal. A sketch of a young woman. In a full bath.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:28 PM
Oct 27

This was in the home of Mattie Lou O'Kelley, which, of course, was covered in art but a Renoir in a room that produces steam?

Strange.

Made me nervous just going to the bathroom. Had to find a different one to use.

Solly Mack

(92,902 posts)
19. I've gone into homes with stuffed dead animals but that wasn't strange for the people involved.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:43 PM
Oct 27

Yucky to me, just not strange for them.

Alpeduez21

(1,861 posts)
13. They let their two small dogs just go in the house
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:36 PM
Oct 27

Two years after the dogs died there was dried up poop all over the place. Super gross

Diraven

(1,064 posts)
101. I house sat for a boss once
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 03:03 PM
Oct 28

He had both his dogs trained to only poop in the guest bedroom. Needless to say I did not sleep in there.

rsdsharp

(10,190 posts)
14. A 60mm mortar round next to the fireplace in the home of a kid I was friends with.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:38 PM
Oct 27

I assume it was inert, but I’m not sure.

rsdsharp

(10,190 posts)
21. Not if it was inert. I assume my friend's father brought it back from WWWII.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 01:45 PM
Oct 27

I seriously doubt he would have put his family at risk, but one never knows.

mommymarine2003

(296 posts)
28. A stuffed giraffe.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 02:04 PM
Oct 27

We were relocating from Washington State for my husband's new job in Oregon, so we were looking for a home to purchase. One of the houses we looked at in Portland had a stuffed giraffe from the upper torso, neck, and head mounted on his living room wall, which went from the floor to the ceiling. It was wearing a top hat and bow tie. Somewhere I have the picture saved because it was so weird.

Bmoboy

(411 posts)
32. Michael Jackson room.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 02:15 PM
Oct 27

Sparkly gloves, jacket, album covers, photos, paintings all spread out on the bed.

This was in the house of a retired white couple whose house was for sale.

lastlib

(24,947 posts)
34. An acquaintance of mine had the tumor that was surgically removed from his brain....
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 02:32 PM
Oct 27

...in a jar of formaldehyde on his living room mantle. That really creeped me out.

Brother Buzz

(37,911 posts)
88. I was just a kid and didn't understand the creepy bit yet
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 11:42 AM
Oct 28

We got busted for drinking water out of a garden hose at the house up on top of the hill by a nice lady. She did not think water out of a hose was healthy, so she hauled us inside the house to have a proper drink of water. She opened her walk-in refrigerator (a walk-in refrigerator!) and pulled out a crystal pitcher of cold, cold water and we had a grand talk. Turned out, her husband was an oil tycoon galavanting around the world, making more money (and shooting more endangered animals, I guess), while she was there, mostly alone. I remember her name, Mrs Burke, but I was never able to learn anything about her oil tycoon husband.

I found out later, the house used to be a roadhouse which explains the walk-in refrigerator. It was also suspected of being a speakeasy that was off limits by the police for obvious (wink, wink) reasons, but that's another story.

Years later, Bill Graham bought the roadhouse and lived there until his death.

doc03

(36,766 posts)
37. A bathroom with mirrors on all four walls and the ceiling, weird. You can see your self doing
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 02:54 PM
Oct 27

whatever to infinity

duncang

(3,668 posts)
38. My brother bought a house to use as a rental.
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 03:13 PM
Oct 27

In the living room was a secret room. It was cleared out but can imagine what was in there. Because of his next find. The bathroom mirror was a two way mirror you could access from the closet in the bedroom.

Another had something in the backyard that was strange. Way back some people built concrete boats from a plan. There was one almost completed there. It just sat there until the house was sold and the boat was demolished in place. It was bigger than a large shrimp trawler.

Went to a mansion to work on the elevator. They had zebra skin rugs throughout the hallway to the dining room. There they had a massive antique crystal chandelier from a Tennessee ballroom. Kind of an odd combination. But in the master bedroom the wallpaper was giant metallic silver anacondas, a Chinese lacquered dresser, and an antique German fireplace. The master bath was what I would call rustic Scandinavian bath house with an antique leaded glass knight in armor window. About 6 by 8 foot. Seemed more like someone couldn’t control themselves at auctions.

Response to duncang (Reply #38)

crud

(823 posts)
93. My cousin's husband
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 12:06 PM
Oct 28

started building a concrete sail boat in his backyard in Long Beach CA. this was probably in the 70's. He passed away from an aneurysm, with the hull completed. Could this be the same boat?

XanaDUer2

(14,123 posts)
40. Satanic altar?
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 03:40 PM
Oct 27

Pentagram, deer skull, black candles...not sure what it was. Interesting conversation piece. I just shut up and got out of there. To each their own...

wnylib

(24,490 posts)
41. Not very strange compared to some other posts here,
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 03:58 PM
Oct 27

but it was strange to me.

My mother's cousin's house had a rec room in the basement where all of us kids (my siblings and me along with our cousins) were sent to play when we visited during Christmas holiday gatherings. There was a little train set and miniature village, which is not the strange part. It was fascinating for us to watch the train run through the village, which only my cousins' father was permitted to operate.

But, over the train set and village, mounted on the wall, was a real moosehead - neck and head with a very large set of antlers. As a child, it looked both scary and just plain weird to me, hovering over the village like some sort of animal god. It felt like the eyes were watching us. I could not understand why anyone would preserve the head of a dead animal to hang on their wall.

I learned later that some people do that, but they were the only ones that I ever knew who did.


doc03

(36,766 posts)
95. The person had passed away, relatives were
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 12:24 PM
Oct 28

having a yard sale. He was a true believer, he had lots of Nazi stuff. He was a high school machine shop teacher.

yellowdogintexas

(22,753 posts)
126. I have one, folded up on the top shelf of my closet. My father brought it back from the war
Mon Nov 11, 2024, 01:27 AM
Nov 11

He may have pulled it down in Paris when the Allies liberated it.

I would like to do something productive with it. I sure as hell won't put it on ebay and let some American Nazi buy it and put it to nefarious use.

The thing is large and is actually a banner. Interestingly it is made of lightweight wool.

He also brought home 2 German bayonets, one of them has the 2 lightening bolts of the SS.

45. A camel saddle
Sun Oct 27, 2024, 07:11 PM
Oct 27

Caroling at Christmas time, I was in 6th grade and the group I sang with visited a weathier family in a posh part of town. They had a camel saddle sitting on their Oriental rug and asked if any one knew what it was. (I thoight it was a foot stool.)

LudwigPastorius

(10,891 posts)
46. A sex dungeon in the basement.
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 12:07 AM
Oct 28

A band I was in was flown out to LA to play a private party for a Hollywood power couple.

...and yep, they showed us around their place...including the dungeon with whips, chains, bondage gear, and other assorted weirdness. They were very open about it.

underpants

(186,861 posts)
49. I know a real estate appraiser who's seen all kinds of stuff
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 09:26 AM
Oct 28

One was a painting of someone’s new born prominently displayed by the front room. It looked like a demon child ready to attack. I don’t think I still have the pic he sent.

A couple who were planning on divorcing. She took every days newspaper and stood them up in a big sort of hall/dining room. Years of them. He had to measure the room but couldn’t touch any of them or they’d all fall down. He had maybe a foot between the papers and the wall to slide through.

Lots of messy houses. Everyone claimed “oh I’ve been meaning to get to that” or “I’m just putting those there for now” when it was clear the pile of clothes had been there for quite a while. He had one lady’s bedroom that had so much clothes in it you could barely squeeze into the door and there was a path to the bed. That was the only part of the floor that didn’t have 2-3 feet of stuff covering it.

Diamond_Dog

(34,889 posts)
51. Many years ago
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 09:46 AM
Oct 28

My sister and I double-dated with her boyfriend at the time and the boyfriend’s buddy. We went over to the buddy’s house first before going out for whatever reason I forget now. But his buddy had a “Mickey Mouse” room. He had an entire room with floor to ceiling shelves with hundreds of statues of all manner of Mickey Mouse. Plus posters, framed art, anything with Mickey Mouse on it like coffee mugs, shirts, neon signs, etc. I thought it was kind of strange for a young guy to be so obsessed with Mickey Mouse. This was in the 70s.

FSogol

(46,571 posts)
54. When we moved into my childhome home (1972) there was a detached garage with a root cellar
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 09:49 AM
Oct 28

Down in the root cellar was a little alligator (released pet?) that would snap at anyone getting close. Took most of a day for my Dad and his friends to catch it.

This was suburban DC.

debm55

(36,850 posts)
62. Thank you FSogol. Must have been brought up from Friday and former owners just left it. Sad. but creepy
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 10:02 AM
Oct 28
56. Not really strange
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 09:51 AM
Oct 28

A single mother and her three kids were living in this house my friend rented out. Apparently the sewer line backed up and began filling the basement with, well, sewage. She did not report this.

The "water" in the basement continued to rise until it extinguished the pilot light on the furnace. This caused the house to become quite chilly (winter in Michigan). She still did not report this. The furnace kept turning on, because of the temperature, but did not light.

Her ex-husband came around to visit his children and noticed that the house was freezing cold and that she was heating it with the burners on the gas stove in the kitchen. He reported this.

When we got there to help you could smell the gas from the unlit furnace from the street, in the car, with the windows up! When we entered the house and noticed the open flames on the stove top we freaked out. How that house didn't explode I will never know.
We turned the stove off and headed down to the basement.

Ugh, 4 feet deep sewage and you could hear the gas from the furnace bubbling out under water, unable to light because no pilot and UNDER WATER. To say the clean up job was disgusting is way to polite of a term. It took many of us many days.

She moved out.

So, not really strange, but wow...

WestMichRad

(1,830 posts)
66. Extreme hoarding
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 10:33 AM
Oct 28

Volunteered to help clean out an elderly gentleman’s house. He had saved and stacked up so many books and magazines that we literally had to squeeze between them to move around in the house (and I was a skinny one back then! )
He was a WWII survivor from Eastern Europe. Much of the printed material was in Polish, I think. We recycled everything we could… filled more than one dumpster's worth with just printed material.

hunter

(38,974 posts)
74. Years ago when my wife and I were looking for a house to buy in the Midwest...
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 10:59 AM
Oct 28

... we saw one with carpeted walls in the living room, the same shag carpet that covered the floor. It was a very quiet room and sort of cozy but we wondered what structural problems the carpet might be covering up.

The house I grew up in was full of strange things and strange people. My parents were artists with day jobs with very eclectic tastes in art and some very eccentric friends. Some of the neighborhood children had been forbidden by their parents from visiting our house, probably not so much for any nude photography they'd see, but because they might meet a gay person.

My dad's parents also had an interesting house. My grandfather was an aerospace engineer by day and a mad scientist nights and weekends. My grandmother constantly struggled to keep his experiments confined to his front room "den" or the garage. At one time I remember a heavy cable snaking out from some machine he was building in his den, through the house, out the milk box in the kitchen, to another machine in the garage.

hunter

(38,974 posts)
90. We didn't buy that house. There were too many strange things about it.
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 11:49 AM
Oct 28

This house had a small kitchen, evidently too small for the large stove some owner had wanted so they put the stove in the dining room. We'd seen refrigerators in dining rooms but not full-size ranges. A refrigerator occupied the space where the home's original small stove had been.

The real estate agent offered to show us the basement but we peeked down the creaky stairs into the darkness and declined. I could see it had an old "octopus furnace" and the octopus arms were asbestos.

The house we eventually bought had an octopus furnace too. This had originally burned coal, then it had been converted to burn oil, and by the time we bought it, had been converted to burn gas. More importantly its octopus arms were not asbestos.

https://www.oldhouseguy.com/heating-old-octopus-furnace/



FuzzyRabbit

(2,085 posts)
85. A German Nazi general's uniform.
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 11:30 AM
Oct 28

The uniform was the one worn by the general when he surrendered to the allies during WW2. It was displayed on a mannequin in one of the bedrooms. Included was his pistol and hat.

Laffy Kat

(16,528 posts)
87. A real taxidermied polar bear, standing up with teeth and claws bared, in attack stance.
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 11:41 AM
Oct 28

One of our neighbors whom we didn't know very well had it in their living room. I was probably about five-years-old and it made quite the impression.

dlbell

(26 posts)
91. The headstone of a living friend
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 11:53 AM
Oct 28

Went to an old school friend’s house and sitting in his living room was his headstone. Date of birth carved on it but no date of death. I asked him about it and he said that he’d been the executor of his Dad’s estate and it was such a mess that he vowed he would have every dot and T crossed so his own son wouldn’t have to go through the same ordeal.

duncang

(3,668 posts)
98. This isn't a inside the house.
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 02:31 PM
Oct 28

But the whole house. I went to an estate sale. The house was a 3 story. The thing that set it apart was the shape. The entire second floor was in the shape of Texas.

It did have a few other things that set it apart. A glass greenhouse, a full size basketball court, a monster garage that would fit their cars and monster rv with a vehicle lift.

duncang

(3,668 posts)
117. Yep, Montgomery County Texas.
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 06:02 PM
Oct 28

It was tricked out also. Master closet with one of those laundry hanging conveyor. Evidently the person was a collector/hoarder. The basketball court was completely filled with stuff from storage. About 10 sets of silverware there. Then add the silverware in the house. All sorts of antiques. They only had a few days to sell what they could then the auction company would be moving it to their warehouse to sell later. They wanted to sell as much as possible before that. Didn’t pick up much because we already have enough stuff around the house. But did get a 3 piece set of Murano glass goblets for $15. A small brass bird sculpture on a malachite base for 10$. Found out it was from a decent sculptor and sold it locally for $200. A couple Stiffel lamps for $20. Sold local for $500. We used to love going to estate sales.

Biggest hit I ever made was buying a picture of the shuttle with 56 signatures around the edge of it. The owner worked on the shuttle and got a bunch of signatures on it while he worked there. It has 4 of the Columbia shuttle disaster astronauts on it. Several other well known astronauts also. Estimated value around $2,600. Thinking about getting it auctioned off at one of the major auctioneers.

debm55

(36,850 posts)
100. A neighbor has a collection of Cookie Jars in the shape of pigs. He has about 10 of them , all the same on the top of
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 02:57 PM
Oct 28

his kitchen cabinets. He gets them at estate sales. I went to an estate sale with him and in the kitchen of that house everything had strawberries on it or was in the shape of strawberries.

BOSSHOG

(40,004 posts)
104. A stripper pole
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 03:15 PM
Oct 28

Our neighbor in Mississippi Bought his Wife a stripper pole. They set it up in the bedroom. This was about ten years ago. They were WILD and CRAZY, but very good neighbors.

What do you buy the woman who has everything?

Ferrets are Cool

(21,961 posts)
110. I am a real estate photographer who has shot over 4000 homes in the last 7 years. I have seen more
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 03:35 PM
Oct 28

stripper poles then you can shake a stick at.
The agents usually ask me to photoshop them out.

BOSSHOG

(40,004 posts)
118. We sold our home in Mississippi in 2018
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 06:54 PM
Oct 28

The agent took a few pics with his phone and posted online. We got a few nibbles. After about a month he hired a real estate photographer. When I saw the pics I wanted to by the house myself. Our home never looked so good. We kept copies of his pics. But now I’m on to you guys. I’m pretty sure we are in our last home but if we do sell I’ll insist on the agent hiring a photographer.

Eko

(8,520 posts)
109. Something that did not seem strange at the time but would now
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 03:31 PM
Oct 28

When I was a kid in Idaho my buddys house had a coal broiler in the basement that we had to fill up in the winter to keep the house warm. Think of shoveling coal into a huger broiler like in a train.

Eko

(8,520 posts)
116. Now that I think of it, it kinda was.
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 04:27 PM
Oct 28

I was prob only 7 or 8 and the opening was without a doubt big enough by far for me to fall in to. It was a roaring inferno as well so if you did it would be really really bad.

Niagara

(9,705 posts)
111. Not all that strange for deer hunters....
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 03:56 PM
Oct 28

but when deer hunters have the neck mounts of dead deer displayed on the walls of their home. This has always been an unpleasant sight for me. I realize that the deer population needs to be controlled due to deer overpopulation and deer diseases but damn.



It took me awhile to remember this but I'm going to tell a story about Tree House Axel (not his real name). Tree House Axel and his wife built a tree house out in the boonies and sold their regular house to live in their "tree house" that they build themselves. It's all politically motivated of course because those "Dems are evil and blah blah blah". Tree House Axel attempted to get political with me one day and asked me if I knew what was going on. I said, "Yes, I know exactly what's going on." and I walked away.

I've never been to their tree house and don't plan on visiting, but they've showed me photos. The sad thing is, this couple would give someone the shirt off their backs if anyone ever needed it , they're just conspiracy theory orientated.

debm55

(36,850 posts)
114. I am so sorry about that. Niagara. I have seen them also.If you go to the Dakotas you will see gazebos made from the
Mon Oct 28, 2024, 04:10 PM
Oct 28

antlers of elk and deer. The gazebos are all over the place.It's very say. I glad you stayed away from your neighbors. They sound like they are MAGA Take care honey.

Ontheboundry

(292 posts)
129. I'm a pretty avid hunter
Mon Nov 11, 2024, 04:42 AM
Nov 11

As was my father. One thing he said was "don't even insult the deer by mounting his head in your home. He died so we could eat, you at least respect him for that and bury his body".

We were poor Appalachian farmers/coal miners, so hunting was an absolute requirement

Niagara

(9,705 posts)
133. Welcome to DU, Ontheboundry
Mon Nov 11, 2024, 11:24 AM
Nov 11



I understand that necessity for deer hunting.

I'm glad that not all hunters mount the heads. It's just something that's always freaked me out.

ZoltarSpeaks

(100 posts)
120. A full-size airplane being built in a one bedroom apartment
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 04:08 AM
Oct 29


One day without warning a group of prospective buyers for the apartment complex were inspecting units and they came across this sight. At first they freaked out, but there had never been any complaints and by the time they left they decided it was pretty cool.

OldBaldy1701E

(6,409 posts)
122. Well it was both one of the strangest and one of the coolest.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 05:43 PM
Oct 29

I once visited a friend of a friend who worked in the film business as a prop person. I have no idea how he got it, but when one walked into his living room, the first thing you notice is the fact that he had The Necronomicon sitting on his television. It was one of the ones used for the film. (I feel it was from 'Evil Dead 2' rather than the first one, owing to the budget of the first one.) It was just surreal to see the Book of the Dead sitting on a television in a normal living room.

https://i.postimg.cc/Prh8vdn4/Necronomicon-Evil-Dead-Book-Leather-Notebook-Hardcover-Journal-Decoration-Evil-Dead-Book-Horror-Movi.avif

yellowdogintexas

(22,753 posts)
127. It was my own house, actually.
Mon Nov 11, 2024, 01:32 AM
Nov 11

My ex built an experimental aircraft and he suspended the wings from our ceiling.

49jim

(572 posts)
130. My late wife and I sold our house
Mon Nov 11, 2024, 05:13 AM
Nov 11

in 2021 that we lived in and raised our two sons for 35 years. It was time to "downsize." It was a traditional tri-level house built in 1970.It had four bedrooms, eat in kitchen 2.5 bathrooms large living room, dining room and large family room
/fireplace.The new owner was a big game hunter (reminded me of the pictures we've seen of the Trump boys).
After about a year I had to go back to settle a small financial issue with the owner. He had made an agreement to purchase some furniture which he hadn't paid yet.
I walked into the family room from the garage and gasped to myself, there mounted on the walls we mounted headed of the animals he had hunted. I saw deer heads, tiger heads, bears heads lined up around the perimeter of the room. Along with a leopard skin prominently displayed on the way to the kitchen. We settled the debt and I left.
I was sad to see the room that housed so many parts of our lives...birthdays, HS/college graduations, weddings, grandchildren, holiday gatherings.....to be desiccated like that. It's hard to un-see that.
Anyway it his house to now and that's how he chose to decorate it. I have a lovely smaller house that we downsized to......
It's now two years this month that my wife of 51 years passed away. I took care of her in our new home until I couldn't. She was in a hospice house at the end. I still have the memories and lots of pictures to remind me of the good times we shared together during our 51 years together.

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