this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2025
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Load Bearing Wisdom

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What is this weird feature? (infosec.pub)
submitted 2 weeks ago by agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works to c/loadbearingwisdom@sh.itjust.works
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Not actually my house, it was an AirBnB outside Seattle, but it's mysterious and I'm hoping someone here might know the function.

Inside the main closet in the master bedroom is a weird giant staircase leading to a square hole that looks into the area outside the bedroom. Here's the other side:

The inside of that cupboard beneath is just a small empty space, much smaller than the staircase, tiled at the bottom and possibly sized for an electric fireplace or something.

My friends and I could not figure out what it was supposed to be, and it's driving us a bit crazy.

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[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Are we sure the floor inside the cupboard doesn't lift up? Could this be where the sump pump pit is for the house, and the weird stairstep closet is the compromise to use the otherwise unusable space?

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago

Positive, it's tile and I checked. Maybe it's a staircase to a basement access that's been sealed? But that doesn't explain the window.

[–] SanctimoniousApe@lemmings.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

First shot had me thinking private prayer space, but i dunno about the rest.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That would likely be where I'd keep security camera recording boxes and my home network router/switches/media server if I lived there and ran ethernet outlets to all the rooms.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

That just seems so excessive for that to be the intended use

[–] Pupschism@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Is that like a weird lil mattress? Maybe it was a storage room and a cat/dog's room

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Out of frame are various baby things: high chair, toys, disassembled crib. I assume that's just a baby mattress sitting there in storage

[–] fraksken 5 points 2 weeks ago

Looks like a convenient baby storage place to me

[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's a weird spot for an electrical outlet to, so I imagine whatever use it it for involves equipment or a device of some kind.

If the room the window leads to like a living room / sitting room? Could it be support for a projector of some kind for watching movies?

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

If the room the window leads to like a living room / sitting room?

Nope, in fact to the left of the bedroom door is a washer/dryer and this perplexing little closet:

[–] onslaught545@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago

Laundry chute maybe?

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Photo development lab with ventilation system and outside "don't open door" light?

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Maybe? That's not a horrible explanation

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago

Doesn't explain the mirror. Could have been they were keeping someone kidnapped there.

[–] notabot@piefed.social 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The outlet is definitely a newer feature, you can see the plaster has been redone but not painted, so it's probably a red-herring. From the photo, the window looks a bit bodged in too, so it may not be an original feature.

This is a bit of wild speculation, but with the external cubby hole, the large platform-like steps and a small window, could it be that someone tried to build a small sauna room? The heater would go in the cubby as they're not allowed/don't want a traditional type setup, and the room would have been lined with the traditional sort of cladding, with vents to let the steam in. You could sit on the steps as normal, and have a washroom right outside. If it was later decommisioned, the cladding removed and redecorated and the heater taken out, you'd end up with something that looked like that.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

The materials of the walls and "steps" makes sauna seem unlikely. There wasn't any distortion in the thin wood panels, which I would expect in a steam room.

[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

I can't point to anything specifically, other than that the cupboard door and frame seems janky and recent, but I suspect an old wood or even coal powered furnace used to be housed there. The window may have been where a pipe may have been.

[–] Bonus@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

Winchester Mystery House

[–] massive_bereavement@fedia.io 3 points 2 weeks ago

Oh cool, Barbarian II coming up nicely.