Couple discover lost treasures in hoarder home

A couple bought the 1894 property in 2023 were shocked by what they found inside the trash-filled dwelling.

A couple who purchased an abandoned 1894 home that had been left filled with trash have opened up about what they discovered inside it. (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

A couple who purchased a trashed hoarder home that was filled to the brim with junk (and a few hidden treasures) have lifted the lid on what it is really like to take on such a complicated renovation project—revealing all the most shocking things they discovered inside the home.

According to Realtor, husband and wife duo Drew and Becky Bidlen purchased their Midwestern home, which was built in 1894, just 12 days after the birth of their first child, daughter Aurora, in 2023.

They have since been working tirelessly to turn the ramshackle property into their dream family.

The pair have been documenting the entire process on social media, offering their followers a glimpse inside the DIY process and all the hurdles they face along the way.

When they got the keys to the property in 2023, the pair discovered it was in a shocking state of ruin. (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

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In one TikTok video, Becky Bidlen shares a few clips of what the home looked like when they bought it, revealing a derelict and decaying interior that was falling apart at the seams.

“We’re Becky and Drew, and we bought the craziest fixer-upper we found,” Bidlen explains in a time-lapse video of the clean-up process.

“We’re deep into the renovation; but here’s a flash of the before. The place was a trash out, but we saw the potential.”

Becky and Drew Bidlen describe the property as the “craziest fixer-upper". (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

She adds that the couple were determined to preserve as much of the original home as possible, but ultimately had to demolish more than they’d originally anticipated—particularly in the kitchen, which was riddled with water damage and black mould.

“We demoed only what was necessary, which ended up being a lot,” Bidlen says.

“Right now, we’re checking everything off our punch list before we can install drywall.”

The couple are currently living in the home and cleared out enough that it can serve as their kitchen, closet, and bathroom.

Drew has also set up a desk in one of the gutted rooms that he is using as a temporary office, working between the hours of 7am and 3pm, before spending the rest of his day completing renovation work around the property.

A lot of their labour shows no visible change, she notes, but they do feel that they are making real progress.

“We’re slowly chipping away at it,” Bidlen continues.

“There was some damage in the drywall at the upstairs hallway, and we saw something that looked strange, so we started investigating. We found it was the Declaration of Independence. Just kidding. It was some old wallpaper.”

The biggest task has been insulating the entire house, which she calls “kind of enjoyable.”

“Cutting insulation feels like cutting a loaf of bread, and getting the perfect press fit is so satisfying,” she says as followers watch her stuff the walls.

“It’s just an incredibly itchy and hot job no matter what you’re wearing.”

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According to Becky Bidlen, the home was decaying when they moved in—forcing them to demolish more of the place than they had originally intended. (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

By speaking to previous owners, they have learned some small snippets of information about the home’s “dark past". (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

They are residing in the property while renovating it, having managed to make a small corner of the home “liveable". (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

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Bidlen says that once the drywall is up, this place will really feel like a home instead of a construction site.

“We’re almost at the end of insulating the exterior walls,” she says.

“Then we’re going to make Drew’s office soundproof and insulate the attic.”

They also installed flooring, fixed holes in the walls, and are gutting one bathroom to remodel it.

In other videos documenting the renovation, she reveals various treasures the couple has found, like colourful planter pots and antique garden furniture that is still stuck in some mud.

“We bought this fixer-upper with everything in it. Cleaning out the hoard was quite overwhelming, but the house has been full of treasures,” Bidlen says, showing off pots and 15 folding chairs they used for a birthday celebration.

They also found a Shop-Vac wet/dry vacuum, multiple ladders, and an unused garden hose.

“The house also came with a lot of paper towels, and after all these months we still have some,” she says.

Despite its appalling condition, they believe the house has great “potential". (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

“We have four of these fans. Bundles of firewood we still haven’t used up; and after all the trash out, we still haven’t run out of garbage bags.

“We used this old Coleman cooler for my birthday party, and it kept ice for more than 24 hours. Not to mention furniture for all the rooms that I still need to clean up and show you. File it for more treasure hunted.”

Jewellery and vintage coins are among other treasures discovered in the house, with Bidlen revealing in one clip that the previous homeowners had left it filled with the majority of their belongings.

“The last owner mysteriously left everything behind,” she says in one clip.

“The home sat vacant for two years before we bought it, but the neighbours told us it looked vacant for much longer than that. They hadn’t seen the lights on for years.”

The kitchen was one of the first rooms they tackled, clearing out the trash and scrubbing every single surface, many of which were caked in grime. (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

Recently, they began installing insulation in the property, which Bidlen describes as a “satisfying” project. (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

Bidlen goes on to explain that she and Drew are slowly learning more about the woman who used to own the home by “piecing together information” they can glean from the items she left behind.

“To understand the story better, I got in contact with the owner before (the woman who most recently lived there),” she says in a clip entitled “Our home’s dark past.”

“We’ll call him Jack. Jack told me from 1975 to 1990, the home was owned by an attorney who rented it out at times.

“Later, that attorney was disbarred and left the state. In 1987, he put the home up for public auction in the newspaper with all of its contents and a ’61 Cadillac limo.

They have discovered several treasures hiding among the trash. (Picture: TikTok/Becky Bidlen)

“That same year, an arsonist set the home ablaze, nearly destroying it. Jack bought it in 1990, and he and his family moved into the little house in the backyard. While restoring it, a new job opportunity made them sell the home to the (next) owner, the one whose belongings are still here.”

As for what the couple know about her?

She “was a graduate from a prestigious all-girls school on the East Coast,” Bidlen reports. “She did something that involved a closet full of lab coats and old chemistry kits. She volunteered with organisations in this community and travelled the world.

“Because of health complications, she was brought to a care facility. She was there for a time but moved back home during the pandemic in 2020. At that point, it’s unclear what happened. She had no descendants, and we were told that her extended family was not close with her.

“The home was sold to us by a lawyer as is at a remarkably low price.”

This article first appeared in Realtor and was republished with permission.

Originally published as Couple discover lost treasures in hoarder home