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Deuce Cities Henhouse

Attic Find


When we first bought our house I had dreams of finding all this cool old stuff. You know the stuff people just leave when they move out, and it stays in the house homeowner after homeowner. I was gonna find all sorts of cool old doors, hardware, remnants of wood flooring, pictures, notes, and love letters.

Then, this did not happen :(

Unfortunately, the previous owners, and the owners before them were the type of people that liked to take all their stuff with them when they moved, what jerks.

I haven’t found any good treasures in this house except for an old hammer and a really old hot plate.

I’m so curious to know who lived here before me. The 1940 census came out earlier this year and I poured over pages and pages of Minneapolis addresses looking for my home. It wasn’t there, It doesn’t exist, I couldn’t find it. My neighbors were there, I could see who lived in their houses, but no record of mine. Total major bummer, man.

I’ve had such bad luck learning about this house.

Then, when I was opening the windows to the attic for the house painters to access, I found a mirror hiding behind an old screen window! I knew this house was keeping something from me. I brought it down ever so carefully. It’s round and has this cool art nouveau-ish pattern around the edge. It’s got glue marks on the back, so I imagine it must have hung somewhere. It’s driving me nuts not knowing where it used to live, maybe in the entry way or bathroom? I imagine it’s original to the house as it’s in keeping with the style popular around the turn of the century, but I am no expert on that.


I cleaned it up, sat it on top of the bookshelf, and propped it against the wall in our bedroom. I’m not sure if this is where it will stay but it makes a good home for now. Maybe I can hang it in the bathroom after we do a quick re-vamp in the fall.


So, if anyone has a good hunch as to where a mirror like this might have hung you’ve got to let me know. I’ve got to solve this mirror mystery!

13 comments
in Around the House, Awesomeness, Bedroom, Decor, Inspiration
12 comments… add one
  • Breanna July 3, 2012

    Love it! Congrats on the find. I may have some ideas to help you research the history house. My family research nerdery is paying off as we try to learn about our new /old house. Let me know if you ever want to look through some old documents!

    • Breanna July 3, 2012

      Oops. I meant “history OF THE house”… lemme know!

      • Scoops July 3, 2012

        Hell yeah, I’d love to. I’m pretty sure your 1940’s enumerator was the same as ours too, so I can point you in the right direction for your new house :)

  • Sam July 3, 2012

    Way to clean up that mirror – it looks AWESOME!
    I’m not a big fan of that “shabby chic” look where people leave these mirrors crusty and grody looking. Love that it’s both functional, beautiful, and a piece of your house history. I think you should keep it in the bedroom it looks so cool and sleek against your black wall!

    • Scoops July 3, 2012

      Thanks for encouragement. I just might keep it in the bedroom, we will see…

  • Mari, smallforbig.com July 3, 2012

    oooh, that’s such an amazing find. I’m with you – I’d want lots of old hidden treasures! Like Harry Potter’s Room of Requirement.

  • liz July 4, 2012

    MJ n I also found a circular mirror similar to that when we moved into our place! Weird. I’ll have to show you next time you’re over!

    • Scoops July 4, 2012

      Yes, I need to see this. That is super weird. I wonder what the heck these mirrors were used for… What year was your guyses house built?

  • Meg@ourwaytoeat.com July 9, 2012

    I am also very interested in the story of the previous owners of my house who lived there for 50+ years before we bought it. I’ve had some luck getting little tidbits from neighbours. I’ve also found little pieces of tin toys in the cracks in the attic (which looks a lot like yours), marbles, and plastic army men and cowboys and several old license plates buried in the back yard, and empty liquor bottles in the rafters of the garage (hmmm…?). I fairly certain their favorite way to store things was to hang it on a hook, their mode of home improvement was to cover it up with fake paneling, and their mode of dispelling anger was to go pound a nail into the basement or attic ceiling or wall…Hooks, paneling and random nails are everywhere! Having a sense of the history helps balance out the constant falling off of door handles and removal thousands of nails and miles of paneling. I should blog about this some time, since I’ve written half a post here ;)

    • Scoops July 10, 2012

      Oh that sounds so exciting! What awesome finds you have found. You should blog about this, with pictures of course, I would love to see.

  • Connor August 22, 2017

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    it on the topic off blogging. thanks.

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