Couple Who Bought 140-Year-Old Home Uncover Hidden Rooms, Civil War Artifacts, Classic Novels

A 140-year-old home in Kansas is revealing its secrets one at a time.

When Thad and Robin Krasnesky bought the Victorian manor in Leavenworth two years ago, they were astounded by the home's riches - stained glass windows, sweeping open staircases and original woodwork. 

Then they uncovered the hidden treasures.

“In my mind, if you have an old house, there should be skeletons and hidden treasure,” Thad Krasnesky told KCTV 5.

“We find stuff everywhere,” he said. “The stuff that we’ve found is just crazy.”

The first discovery came when he was dusting the top of a 12-foot-tall bookshelf and found a Civil War presentation cane and pocket watch.

He managed to track down the owner's heirs and return the items.

Then, after someone noticed that one of the home's transoms was not working,  Krasnesky removed the painting covering it and found a nook behind it that contained a number of books from 1907.

"'The Scarlet Letter, ' 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,' and 'Ben-Hur,'” Krasnesky told the station as he flipped through the books.

In the attic he noticed a loose floorboard.

“I pulled the carpet up, pulled the board up, and -- back in the corner, right here against the fireplace -- I saw a little shiny thing in the back,” Krasnesky remembered. “I stuck my hand back in there and pulled it out, and there were two jars of silver coins.”

Under another floorboard, he found a satchel that contained more coins - including a 1916 quarter and a dime from the 1890s.

“I’m like a little kid when I get these,” he said, turning the coins over in his hand. “I just want to sit here and play with them because they sound different than clad coins, you know?”

He encountered another mystery in the basement - one that he is still trying to solve.

Removing old shelving, he pulled some metal off that was bolted into the stone and discovered the entrance to a hidden room.

Krasensky recruited some friends, and they are removing the dirt bucket-by-bucket to see what secrets the room will reveal.

Krasensky said owning the 9,000-square-foot house is like being a steward to its history.

“The house is like, ‘Dude, I was here for 140 years before you were here. I’m gonna be here 140 years after you’re gone,’” Krasnesky said.

The mansion's first owner died three months after buying it in 1885. It went to his daughter and then his granddaughters, who died in the 1970s. Krasensky chronicles his search on his Facebook page, the Krasnesky Manor for Wayward Cats.

“Since I do not plan on ever moving ever again, I will stop probably sometime around the time I die,” he said.