Shh... don't tell anyone about my super-secret passage

[Dusty]

Until a few months ago, I had never built anything, even attempts at hammering in a nail usually ended poorly. However, I decided one day that my present library was inadequate and I would build a proper one. Notwithstanding the fact that I didn't know how, of course. My reasoning was that, after bringing copious amounts of wood and tools together, the outcome would eventually be a library. You wouldn't believe the grumblings of all the naysayers I told of my plans, telling me how my drawings were insanely elaborate and whimsical for someone who can't figure out a hammer.

Well, skip ahead a bit and it's nearly done. But, what I'm here to make sure noöne tells anybody about, I just put the finishing touches on today:

In the center bookcase on the wall opposite the entrance, on the third shelf down, is a strange book bound in yellow with a slightly ripped and soiled cover.

If you grasp that book and attempt to remove it, you'll find it only tilts down and that it weighs much more than you'd expect a book of that size to.

With the book in the down position, you'll find that the bookcase seems much less stable than it did before. Perhaps if you were to lean into it...

Yes, the entire bookcase slides back three feet, revealing a secret passage to a hidden storeroom containing such wonders as the fuse box, some disused window screens, and miscellaneous, mostly empty, boxes. And maybe a painting.

After marveling at those treasures, you can grasp one of the shelves and pull the bookcase back into place, watching as the seam disappears behind the trim work, and lock it in place by sliding back the curious yellow book.

Now, you must tell nobody of this most inspired deception. It's our secret. Ours and everybody who I can lure into the library long enough to show it to them. I suppose that's the downfall of most 'secret' passages.

[FairyChatMom]

One of the houses my inlaws built had a balcony in the greatroom, and at the end of the balcony was a bookshelf which was, in fact, a door into the attic over the master bedroom. I always thought that was very cool.

Wish I had a place to put a secret door in my house.

[Revenant Threshold]

My cousin's house had a deep cupboard in one of the bedrooms. At the back, there was a small hidden door that led to the attic. Very impressive for us as kids.

[Hal Briston]

I had that growing up. Behind my bookshelf was a passage that lead through the attic and joined up to a bookcase in my older brother's room. It was excellent for sneaking in and swiping his stuff.

[Spatial Rift 47]

I don't care where I live when I have a place of my own, but (barring apartments and the like) I expect it to have secret passages and secret rooms. If the house I get doesn't have any, I will plan and plan and plan and save and save and save and make some, dammit.

[NajaNivea]

You are now officially my hero. Doubly so since it leads to... a largely empty storeroom.
When we win that $100m jackpot, and build the house on the acreage I talked about in that other thread, the first thing I'm designing is a bookshelf with a secret passage.

[Man With a Cat]

I bought my first house from a serviceman who had shipped out to another location. I never met him before the sale or after, his attorney dealt with the closing.

Couple weeks after we moved in, he called me to tell me about two hidden compartments he had built beneath the floor. He used them to store his guns. I ignored them because I'd have forgotten anything I put in there.

[Lama Pacos]

That's really, really cool.

[Larry Mudd]

I demand photos.

[Greywolf73]

That's just beyond cool. I want one myself. Of course, my secret room behind the bookcase would most likely be filled with...more books.

[Amazon Floozy Goddess]

I wanna secret passage too!

I used to wish for one as a kid. Alas, no such luck.
If I had a slide-away bookcase, in behind I think I'd put one of those plastic anatomy skeletons, hidden amid a bunch of junk. Would be great for freaking out guests. They'd acccidentally lean against the lever, the wall would slide back and reveal skeleton... I'd just look mildly dismayed and say, "Uh oh, you've seen him....now I'll have to kill you."

[appleciders]

We definately need photos. That's extremely cool, and as a fellow constructionally impaired person, I want to congratulate you on making not only bookshelves, but a secret passage too!

[Mr. Goob]

As teenagers in the back of my friends closet we made a secret passage to the crawlspace to the garage. Excellent for sneaking in and out in the middle of the night.

I'm just jealous. If I made a secret passage behind my bookshelves I'd be in a bathtub.

[Dusty]

It's awfully messy, but if you want to see:

I've taken down the trim (it was only help up with a few finish nails) as I want to stain it separately, but imagine if you will two inch wide moulding running up each of the vertical members and how that would hide the seam running down the middle of the two that slide apart.

Here is the secret passage, disguised as a bookcase. It's the one with books on it, I wanted to see if you could still move it when fully loaded. There's no indication it's anything but a bookcase, since all the seams are covered and the locking mechanism doesn't betray the slightest hint of instability.

Click

And here the strange yellow book with the slightly torn and soiled cover ("Le Secret de Raoul", hence my joke about "maybe a painting"). It's made from MDF wrapped in yellow cloth aged with tea. The visible pages are from an old romance paperback. I know of a place with great heaps of free discarded romances, I dug through it until I found one with nice yellow pages.

Click

The strange book when tilted down. The hinge it's on is also homemade, since I needed one that not only allowed it to tilt, but also raise up slightly so the spine can clear the shelf and not get wedged.

Click

A masterfully executed, most fluid animation worthy of Disney. The bookcase, unlocked, slides back revealing the hidden room. That's Bette Davis, if you're wondering.

Click

A side view of the passage from inside the hidden storeroom. Visible are the four lower tracks the bookcase slides on. The two outer flat ones take the weight, the inner rounds one guide it when moving. The laminate flooring stacked to the side will eventually find its way to the floors of library and adjoining screening room. A couple of the window screens I mentioned you can just see leaning on the far wall.

Click

And the passage as seen when closed from the hidden room. You can see the two upper rails it rides on. These take some of the weight, but are more to prevent the bookcase from tipping. With them, it can only move forward and backward. Also visible are two of the four additional guides on the sides of the neighbouring bookcases that ensure it slides back into the center of the opening. The mechanism towards the bottom is the latch that the yellow book operates. It locks the bookcase in firmly place on both sides. (The room is too small to get a big picture, so I had to take two. The seam is where they're stitched together.)

Click

[NurseCarmen]

The house I grew up in had a tunnel! It would have been pretty neat to make it a seceret tunnel, but my parents used it as a wine cellar, so they were never game. It just went thirtyfive or so feet to where the waterpipes fed into it from the street.

[NurseCarmen]

I love that the stop animation you have shows a giant woman's head peering out at you from the inside of the secret chamber.

[raz]

That's super cool!

I had every one of your links trying to open in a new windown, patiently waiting for my 56k to load them all and when they were all done loading...I realized that they all linked to different pictures on the same page. Curses!

[Dusty]

Yes, I should have mentioned that. They're all on one page, the links are just to anchors at each picture. You can just open the first one. My explanation is also repeated there.

[lieu]

I'm thinkin' you got that hammer thingy figured out. Very nice.

The bookshelves I built only have a secret compartment. Frankly, I'm now emabrassed by my apparent lack of imagination.

[Larry Mudd]

That's awesome!

And now, when your spouse goes mad, you'll have everything worked out. Brilliant!

[thirdname]

Very impressive, but I think I might have gone with a hidden switch instead of the Hollywood-style book. It looks like it's otherwise flawless, but someone could stumble on the book. It's great as a novelty but it looks like your were just that close to having it REALLY be secret in case you ever have a body or an evil twin son to hide.

Are there any photos of the top or bottom of the shelf?

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Dusty...

Ahem.

http://www.thegreenhead.com/cool-stu...-life-size.php

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by riker1384

Are there any photos of the top or bottom of the shelf?

At the moment, the tops and bottoms of the bookcases just end. Eventually, there'll be crown moulding linking the top to the ceiling and something I haven't yet decided on to cap off the bottom and cover the gap between the last shelf and the floor, but that can't start until the floor's in.

Unless you mean of just the sliding bookcase. It has no top, or rather, it's top doesn't move, and it's bottom is the last shelf, wheels, and tracks. Those will be covered by the same undecided on moulding.

[caveman]

Schweet! This could be the basis of a really cool Halloween gag!

My childhood home had the world's most useless un-secret passage: a sliding pocket door between the two bathrooms. The only time it came in handy was if one bathroom was out of toilet paper.

[Larry Mudd]

[quote=cavemanThe only time it came in handy was if one bathroom was out of toilet paper.[/QUOTE]You say that like it was no big thing.

[lieu]

Y'all wiped your butts with a sliding pocket door?

[Plynck]

Originally Posted by Dusty

But, what I'm here to make sure noöne tells anybody about,

Now that you've told us, you'll have to kill us.

Well, at least I know where you can hide the bodies...

[Dusty]

Stacked neatly, I could probably get a couple dozen in there. As always, the key is not to rush.

[elbows]

Very nice indeed! You should be very proud!

I also have a secret room in my house, a concealed door behind a large mirror in the master bedroom. There was no floor, just rafters, we had the floor put in when we bought the house, some of the best money we've spent. It is attic space but I've had electric and telephone added and it has small little windows that open and the yellow brick stack of the chimney. It's wicked cool, contains lots of old trunks and a futon covered in old blankets. It's the smoking room in our house and never fails to impress guests. And it leads to the actual attic space which is, of course, filled with junkola and stuff.

I love your installation, the book thing is a real nice touch but I have a suggestion for you. As you mentioned once you've constructed a secret area it's almost irresistable to show it to everyone, so it loses some of it's secretness. I would humbly submit that an alternate book sleeve be prepared so you can show everyone the yellow, and then, voila, you could switch it out just to confuse. Just a thought!

[Love Rhombus]

Also, fill up the other shelves, just so it doesn't stand out. Very nice, though. I applaud you!

My second house growing up had a door under the stairs, sliding doors hidden in al the doorways, and a laundry chute. No secret passages, though. If I built a house, ALL the doors and rooms would be secret!

[StarvingButStrong]

How does the bookcase move? Springs? Electric motor? Muscles?


BTW, I think your next project should be a secret exit from your house. Probably this would mean a tunnel that leads to ....dunno. An outbuilding? Just a exit door set in the ground and disguised somehow?

Okay, a lot of work, but think of the neat possibilities.

And how invaluable it will be for escaping when the hordes of rampaging zombies have you surrounded in your house and are slowly battering through your door.


Unless, what if they find the OTHER door, and use the tunnel to sneak into your house?


Best have good strong locks on the doors at BOTH ends, I guess.

[KJ]

Well, that's the coolest thing I've seen today. Now I want to make one! Too bad I live in an apartment.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by StarvingButStrong

How does the bookcase move? Springs? Electric motor? Muscles?

After unlocking it, you push. It rolls pretty easily, so it doesn't take much force.

My next project (after the current batch are done) is an elevator--one of those exposed birdcage-type affairs like you see in old movies, with a lever that makes it go up and down (but not side to side or back in time). I figure two pulleys, a cable, wench, a whole bunch of dowels, and an iron-inspired faux finish are all I need. I'll demolish the stairs down to the basement and put it there. It'll free up room to add a concession stand to my screening room.

One novel thing I have every intent of one day having whenever I can build my own house are two identical rooms, side by side with a very thin common wall, furnished, decorated, and lit exactly the same but in mirror image, and on that thin wall between them have a decoratively framed window. It's dual use:
1) If your guests are in the room with you, you can step in front of the 'mirror' and they'll see no reflection and think you're a vampire.
2) If you're in the mirror room, your guests will see your reflection but no you, and think you're a ghost.
Either way, great fun.

Also, tiny doors, like in Alice in Wonderland. I toured a house once with one. Perfect little 19th century paneled door, standing all of two feet tall, right in the hallway in line with the other boring big doors. I love it. My dream house must have at least one.

Originally Posted by Love Rhombus

Also, fill up the other shelves, just so it doesn't stand out.

Oh, that will be easy enough. I fear once it's done, my new library will already be too small.

Originally Posted by lieu

I'm thinking' you got that hammer thingy figured out.

Not really, but I have discovered the screw.

[Chronos]

I've long known then whenever I have my own house, I'm going to need a full room as a dedicated library. Somehow, I did not know that said library would need a secret passage. I do now know, however, that I do need one, and in fact always have needed one. Thank you!

The only secret passage with which I've ever had any personal connection is at my gramma's house. Two of the bedrooms have closets which are connected together, sort of side-by-side. I'd forgotten untill a couple of years ago just how shallow those closets were (and hence, how narrow the passage was): I'd have a hard time fitting through it as an adult.

As for my eventual secret library chamber, I don't know exactly what features it would have, but it would probably include a comfy chair, a lamp, and sufficient lightproofing, so I could hide back there and read without anyone knowing.

Or, wait! I've got it! Two separate chambers, activated by different switches! One would be from an obvious fake book, and lead to a junk room to show off to everyone, and the other would be a more hidden switch, and lead to my private secret sanctum!

[thirdname]

Originally Posted by Dusty

My next project (after the current batch are done) is an elevator--one of those exposed birdcage-type affairs like you see in old movies, with a lever that makes it go up and down (but not side to side or back in time). I figure two pulleys, a cable, wench, a whole bunch of dowels, and an iron-inspired faux finish are all I need. I'll demolish the stairs down to the basement and put it there.

If those are the only stairs I'd be worried about fire codes, moving washing machines down there and things like that.

Good luck on the mirror room. In Terminator 2 when they are working on Arnold's head in the garage, instead of a mirror it's a mirror room with Linda Hamilton's tiwn sister.

[Savannah]

I am awestruck by your secret-making-abilities, and madly jealous of anyone who has/had a secret room or passageway in their house. 'Tis the stuff that dreams are made of!

[What Exit?]

This is absolutely awesome. Dusty, "We are not worthy".

My library is split up into 5 locations in the house. I would love a dedicated room with a secret passage. In fact the secret room would make an ideal place for gaming.

I am green with Envy.

Jim