Recurring "Old house dream"... turns out I'm not alone!

A recurring dream I've had since childhood is one involving an old house, and trying to find hidden rooms/secret passages. I love having these, and I am always disappointed when they end.

The house is always huge and victorian. I'm always excited to explore because I'm familar with the house and I can't believe that I never noticed these extra rooms before. Sometimes the mood is light, sometimes sinister, depending on what room I'm about to enter.
The most interesting version of the dream I've had was when I had rounded a corner to go up a spiral staircase I just discovered. At the bottom of the stairs was a very large antique wooden desk. It appeared to be hand carved, and as I went closer to admire the detail of it, I noticed the top of the desk was a giant touchscreen.

I went online recently to see if there was any other explanations other than the house being symbolic of the self, health, mental state, etc.
Then I found this website

dream well

It wasn't so much the article that I found fascinating, as was the comments below it. I couldn't believe the amount of other people describing the exact dream I'd been having for so long.

Has anyone here on ATS had this dream?

reply to post by casijones


Had a similar one just last night. Found a door under some wallpaper that led to a large room (think basketball cout sized) with neat old timely gadgets in it.

So weird to wake up and read your post! And yes , it has been a recurring dream theme for me for decades.

I tend to dream about the house I grew up in which was a bit haunted. And in the dreams it's usually ghosts and stuff in the dream. ahhhhh

reply to post by tjack


Ha! That is quite strange.
I get so excited sharing these dream experiences, like there's something more to them than other dreams.

I also had one where it was more of a castle setting, but I found a small room with a old loveseat looking thing in it. It was deep purple and velvet-like, on the top middle was a golden lion in a circle. Standing on 3 paws with one paw held up. I'm curious if that symbol belonged to any ancient factions?

reply to post by spartacus699


Your post made me think of the fact I've never seen a ghost in any of my dreams! Anything evil or bad usually just comes as a bad feeling or running away from something but you can't run... aahh that's frustrating!!

YES, I have also had the strange house dream that I'm exploring!! Always a very very old home. I get disappointed when, it seems, in my dream, just as I go to open a door, or find something exciting, I wake up!!!! Glad you posted this!! I have this same dream at least twice a month.....keeping in mind, in my dream state, I seem to be somewhat familiar with the strange homes, but in reality, these homes are a mystery to me....👍

reply to post by casijones

Hi there:-) I have had dreams of an old house when I was in my early 20's,three nights in a row,but this house was very ramshackle+dilapidated.In the first dream I was up in what looked like an old attic,sitting inside a circle made from rows of drawn symbols.There was a man outside the circle,and he kept shapeshifting into a cat.After all these years I could still pick that face out in a crowd,if I ever had to see "catman" in real life.He would hiss as he shrunk and became catform+back to human shape,I recall he was furious because I was inside the circle+was safe from him as long as I stayed inside it.
The second dream the next night was in the same old house though I cannot recall the content,I do recall it was not as threatening as the first night's dream.The third dream on the third night involved me picking my way through old debris as I dodged fat bulbous black spiders hanging from their web-ropes.Not nice dreams,all in all.I cannot offhand recall any other specific old-house dreams,off the top of my head-my dreams of buildings usually feature other types of structures.Interesting thread,s+f.

My girlfriend has been dealing with these types of dreams for the last 6+ months. We've been trying to figure out why the same dream keeps happening every night, but to little avail. The best resolution we found was that she needs to deal with something in her life that is bothering her. Problem is, we can't think of anything, haha. We even rearranged the room a few times.

Yes. I had a big dream about ten years ago, in which I was exploring a house, which was familiar and I understood to be mine. It had different parts to it, some were older than others, that were added on later. I was showing it to friends.
But there was ghost in it, that was harrassing me, pushing me around, throwing me into walls...

I faced this ghost (which was a female), and asked her who she was. She was mute, apparently, and could only communicate with body language. She pulled out the battered body of a young girl, and waved it in the air, with a angry face. I asked, "did you do that to her?!"

She shook her head violently no and glared at me. I asked, "you found her this way?" and she nodded.
I suddenly had understanding dawn upon me and gasped, "Oh! You are just all that fury!"

I understood that the girl was me, when i was little. I had been abused and neglected in various ways, and this "fury" was residual anger about that- that was still "haunting" me, causing me problems, causing self destructive havoc in my life. (even if I thought I was over it).

So I asked, what can I do to change this?

And a voice narrator said to return to the oldest parts, and fill them with laughter and happiness! With a bit of time this will cleanse the "house".

I understood this to be about creating new experiences and memories, which will transform my inner life.

I kept the images of that house to use in my daily relaxation and imagery practice, and just a couple of years ago, had another "big dream" in which I met various characters in my house, and explored different levels of it. It was extremely enlightening!

reply to post by casijones


Yeah, I have dreamed a variation of that dream...but my 'house-mansion' included a hidden garden area


i came to the conclusion that this exploring, searching the house & grounds dream is symbolic of rummaging around in your mind-brain..... remember that my thinking says that dream language is always in a metaphore and conveys ideas/answers in symbolism



your brain-mind is the victorian mansion of the dream...
the hallways & rooms, usually with ornate or unique entry doors can be normal or Alice-in-Wonderland weird or topsy-turvy. the strange spiral stairways to odd places are all representing your brains neural networks and the 'rooms' are memory locations

enjoy the explorations and learn more about yourself






from reading a few replies ...

we all may be being presented with an opportunity to do a life regression , by entering a state of deep subconscious hypnosis in exploring that 'old house' in that Dream State-----
i guess that's what i meant about learning more about your 'self'

I've had these recurring dreams as well, but I never see what the house looks like from the outside. It has rooms that seem to go on forever. I am usually in the process of renovating the kitchen.

My husband wants me to try and draw it out. However, it's way to crazy to be a real house. An interesting note to add- I'm always quite chipper after having one of these dreams.

I've also been to the strange old house many times. Ones that were mine in the dream, and ones I'd never seen before. Sometimes in normal areas, other times rundown and in the middle of woods. I'm always digging around in the bedrooms, and finding it really weird to have them so full of other people's stuff.

The worst was one time when I went into a bedroom with the windows open, curtains fluttering, and opened a musical jewelry box. As soon as the music started playing, I froze in dread and fear; it felt like the whole house was suddenly full of evil, and the windows all slammed shut at once. That was terrifying.

The most recurring theme in my dreams is being able to levitate, with extreme concentration. It seems like trying to show other people I can do it makes it a lot harder too, and it also seems like it's easier outside.

The thing that most made me question a strange dream, was one where I shifted into an alternate dimension. A 12ish boy who later told me his name was Max saw me appear, so I was just suddenly standing there by the sidewalk with this kid staring at me like I was a ghost or alien. He asked me how I did that like 20 times, I just kept saying "I don't know", then commented about my "weird brown eyes"..his were orange, like a cats.
That my brain came up with this small seemingly random difference, and was able to process his reaction to me, and my reaction to him at the same time is what is so weird to me. Why does my brain think it knows how someone would react to me appearing out of thin air, and why did he notice my eyes and react to them before I did to his? I'll probably never know, but it really made me think about the nature of dreams...

Yes, I have had the old house dream many times - I love that dream! It's always a house I have just bought, and I'm going through it, and finding all kinds of cool rooms I didn't know were there when I bought it. I never knew it was a common dream.

Another recurring dream I have had is a little embarrassing, but... in this dream, I am desperate to go to the bathroom, so I have to go to a public restroom. When I go into the restroom, it is this horrible, nasty, disgusting place, with no doors on the stalls, and there is all kinds of nasty "stuff" on the floors and in the toilets. But, I am forced to use it because I have to go soooo bad. It's horrible - I hate that dream. What's weird is that when I wake up from those dreams, I don't have to go to the bathroom, which is what you would think would be causing a dream like that. Well, one day my mom and I were travelling together on a road trip, and we both had to stop at a convenience store restroom. This restroom was pretty nasty, and I mentioned to my mom that it reminded me of a recurring dream of mine. She told me she has the exact same recurring dream. I never knew. Anyone else have this disgusting dream?

I have reoccurring dreams about an old house in disrepair, but I have come to understand it's meaning in my life.

When I was growing up, the whole family would head out to my grand parents farm during the summer. The farm house is not that big really, it's an old (over a hundred years old now), sturdy, cement block house with a gabled roof. Most of my Dad's relatives lived in that county and the family reunion used to be held every year at a park in a neighboring town. I always saw my cousins, aunts and uncles, along with my grandmother, grandfather and little old great-grandma while we were up there.

When my parents retired, they moved into to the town up by the family farm into a similar old house. Even when I was living at home with my parents and our immediate family, we lived in an old farm house that was built before the surrounding suburbs were we lived.

When I have this reoccurring dream of the old house in disrepair, I understand it has to do with my family and how disfunctional it has become compared to when I was growing up.

In the most recent old house dream, I found hidden rooms in an extra 3rd floor that didn't exist in reality. The rooms were like time capsules, left undisturbed for years. I noticed that in one room, there was one wall of shelves, totally filled with old pairs of shoes. All different pairs from kids to adult sizes, with the oldest styles on or near the floor. The styles became more recent as the shoes went up the wall.

I have determined that the shoes represent the family members and their individual lives throughout time, from the past until the present. I came to that conclusion from that old saying, "You never know a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes".

Dreams like these need close study into one's waking life to understand what the symbolic meanings are.

reply to post by casijones


I've also had these dreams many times. My house, or the house that it seems I'm looking at to buy in the dream, is always a very old and very large mansion of a house. I can't believe in the dream that I am able to own such a house.

The lower rooms are always designed in a conventional way and I walk around and think of many things that I will renovate in this room and that. Sometimes I have even looked at the foundation and thought of ways to improve that as well.

I always end up venturing up the stairs to places that are impossibly intertwining and I feel lost but still have a sense of knowing the place anyway. I always seem to find new passages and hidden spaces in these dreams.

I agree with St Udio about the mind symbolism of these dreams and something Lolliek said about feeling peppy or something like that after these dreams - I never thought about it before, but I always feel refreshed and good too. I think it's a kind of therapy.

reply to post by casijones


I used to have the old house dream, and it was always the same house except there was always new stuff, like going up to another floor, or rooms I've never explored, or a roof patio I remember now. Haven't had his dream in awhile, and the last time was when I opened a door and there was a huge gymnasium atrium space which I went out into.

When I was younger I used to have a recurring dream that ended as well. I'd go down the next block from where I lived, and in the middle of the block (in my dream, not in "real life") there was a pet shop which I liked to go into and play in. I had this dream for a long time. Then one dream I went and it had a "closed" sign on it, and I never dreamed of it again (as far as I remember)!

This has always been my favorite dream! Sometimes I'm finding rooms of neat and odd things, like the show Oddities or I'm finding rooms that seem to keep opening up into never ending rooms. Another version of this dream I'm going up to the attic and when I get there and move through it I find myself walking down a path that's in the attic that takes me outside to a pIace do not know and in my dream this seems to be the most natural thing to be doing. As though all attics had portals to unknown places.

I've had this dream in one form or another all of my life. Now seeing so many other people having the same dream I think I have to agree with Coquine and St Udio, that this house represents the self. I have always thought of myself as the odd one in the family and they would be quick to agree with that too. LOL Perhaps the rooms of oddities are nothing more then aspects of my own pesonality which to many that know me, I'm quirky and a bit odd. As far as the portal? I've always entertained the thought that dreams take us to a different demension or maybe a different aspect of ourselves in another reality.

In all honesty I have no idea, but dreams are fun, exciting and sometimes horribly frightening. I've had prophetic dreams many times, not of the earth shattering sort, but prophetic nonetheless. I only wish I would remember more of my dreams they seem to vanish far too quickly.

SnF OP I too never knew so many people shared this same dream. I look forward to reading more accounts.

I dream of houses too, but my dreams seem to be different from yours.

Mine are Nightmares.
I've got a collection of about 5 houses, none that I've ever lived in, that I've been
dreaming about for years.

I don't have feelings of curious excitement, but instead absolute terror and fear.

Unlike most of you who find new rooms to explore, my houses are exactly the
same every single time, and I know what awaits me behind each and every door of
all 5 houses.
It's like a horror flick being replayed over and over again only I'm not watching
it, I'm living it and the amount of terror never diminishes, it only seems to
get stronger. I cannot change a thing, I must go through the motions exactly the same
every time. And even though I know everything before hand, it all seems NEW, if
that makes any sense.

The moment I lay down and see one of my dream houses I know I am in for a terrible
night.

kaylaluv
~snip~

Anyone else have this disgusting (bathroom) dream?

OK, enough now, you guys are really weirding me out. I have the "nasty bathroom" dream too, more or less exactly as you described.

The "house in disrepair" dream too. Mine usually involves leaky plumbing or roof that I can't figure out how to fix.

Also the "undisturbed rooms as time capsules" dream, this one is usually the same house dream to dream, and there's a wall that I can move to access another unused part of the house which is fully furnished but with old outdated furniture and appliances. It has its own kitchen and windows and I'm always surprised that I don't notice this area from outside the house. I also often wonder why I don't "use" this part of the house for living in along with the rest of the house.

It's totally nuts how certain elements of the dreams being described in this thread are not just close, but EXACTLY the same.

Mind = Blown!

Thanks for this thread, OP!

Yes I have this recurring dream too! I've never thought to look it up before but it seems it is quite a common one!

In mine it is not always the same house and not always an old house, but I know it is my house. I usually find a whole extra bunch of rooms, passageways and stairs. The rooms are not well decorated and a bit tatty and I find myself excited by the potential. I wonder if it means I feel I should be pushing myself further in life? I have never really thought about meaning.