Secret rooms and features hiding in plain sight
Clever covert spaces hidden from view

All is not what it seems inside these homes. From secret under stair hiding places to covert bunkers and top-secret rooms, these elusive spaces are hidden away from prying eyes. Click or scroll to see what these unusual homes are hiding behind their doors...
Jimmy Fallon's secret playroom

In March 2021, TV host, actor, singer and director Jimmy Fallon listed his family home for $15 million (£10.8m). Located in New York's Gramercy Park, the home is jam-packed with unusual features including bright artwork, a quirky pantry and a saloon bar just to name a few. However, the biggest secret is hiding under the stairs...
Jimmy Fallon's secret playroom

A country house with a secret

A country house with a secret

A clandestine safe space

A clandestine safe space

The disappearing ballroom

This six-bedroom mansion in Surrey, England, has all the trappings you'd expect in a luxury home and then some. Once on the market for $21 million (£17m), it features a supercar turntable, a wine and cigar room and a spa. However, it's the ballroom that's the real highlight.
The disappearing ballroom

Billiard room hideaway

Billiard room hideaway

The corner shelving unit of this games room is actually a secure door leading to a secret safe room. Designed by Creative Home Engineering, the bookcase door is finished in cherry wood and features an electromagnetic locking system that offers the ultimate in security. Who'd have known?
Concealed safe room

Made from cherry wood, this traditional fireplace is a nice addition to any room. A stylish focal point, this design also hides a concealed space behind it that you would never know is there.
Concealed safe room

With the touch of a secret switch, the fireplace opens up to reveal a safe room. Accessed with a magnet, that touches a button hidden on the mantel, it conceals a passage with a heavy-duty steel door backer and an electromagnetic locking system.
The secret village

This spectacular mansion with a massive secret on Florida's Gold Coast sold in2019 for a reported $10 million (£8.1m). The nine-bedroom, 17-bathroom mega-mansion has a dazzling array of exceptional features, from a water park to an ornate cinema room, plus some more unusual additions...
The secret village

Unbelievably, the sprawling mansion also hides a charming miniature village within its walls. The theme park-style entertainment wing contains a whimsical ice-cream shop, a book store that doubles up as the property's library and a vintage movie house facade that leads into the cinema room. If that wasn't enough, there's also an English pub, a poker and cigar room and a loft-style music lounge.
The covert convenience

This amazing house in Maine, built by Peter Pennoyer Architects, already has so much going for it; beautifully crafted interiors, an enviable waterfront position and gorgeous décor. But it hides a trump card up its sleeve in this teal sitting room, one that means you'll never get caught short again.
The covert convenience

Behind one of the arched bookshelves that line the room, there’s a secret door that leads to your own personal bathroom. Now that’s what we call the height of luxury! It’s even decorated with a stunning coastal theme to match the home's waterfront location.
The secret slide room

Interior design agency Ab Rogers transformed a West London townhouse in 2009, creating an array of modern, playful living spaces that the designers loaded with fun touches, including a secret slide.
The secret slide room

Incredibly, a trapdoor on the upper floor opens up to reveal a metal slide, which residents can use to access the open-plan kitchen and living room downstairs. The perfect home for the young at heart!
A concealed treasure trove

Hard Luck Castle in Nevada, USA, was constructed over a period of 12 years by craftsman Randy Johnson, who splurged a total of $3 million (£2.4m) on the secluded property. The remote four-bedroom, three-bathroom retreat is completely off-grid and has a number of unique features, including a pair of 1920s pipe organs and a glass planetarium. However, the best part of the house is hiding underground...
A concealed treasure trove

Located beneath the castle, the home's best-hidden and most alluring feature has to be the real-life gold mine, complete with a 160-foot mine shaft. According to Johnson, the mine has significant reserves of the precious metal and is still productive, though it hasn't been used for some time.
Secretive state-of-the-art cinema

Creators of luxury panic rooms, Covert Interiors can transform any space into a place of safety. The room tucked behind this reinforced door is no exception – we wonder what sits behind the cool vault-style entrance?
Secretive state-of-the-art cinema

This full basement renovation may look like a cool spot for a movie night but it is actually home to a compact, ultra-secure incredible panic room. With state-of-the-art surveillance, reinforced walls and an unbreakable vault door, this den is the ultimate emergency hangout hideaway.
A private games room

This mock-Georgian mansion in the heart of the Surrey countryside, which is on the market for $36.9 million (£30m), has all the trappings of a statement country house, and then some. There's even a luxurious sprawling games room with a stainless steel vaulted ceiling – surely the ultimate wow-factor social space.
A private games room

The room behind the mirror

This pristine newly constructed home in Eldersburg, Maryland was recently on the market for $644,990 (£520k).The five-bedroom house really has it all, including a secret room...
The room behind the mirror

A clever architectural addition, the hidden loft space concealed behind the mirror has no end of potential. It could work brilliantly as a man cave, children's playroom or even a calming retreat for relaxing and unwinding in complete privacy.
A concealed paradise

A concealed paradise

A subterranean surprise

This fantastical mega-mansion in the city of Lake Quivira, Kansas, was inspired by the Legend of King Arthur. Currently on the market for $5.8 million (£4.1m), the seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom property has a multitude of magical details, from handcrafted dragon doors to a pulpit taken from a church in Salem, Massachusetts.
A subterranean surprise

The most intriguing aspect of this home, however, lies underground. The free-flowing house has a network of hidden subterranean scuba-diving tunnels located beneath the mega-mansion that connect to the outdoor pool. Accessed by a number of pop-up holes and grottos, the tunnels are filled with sunken treasures, faux fossils and exotic fish.
The concealed cellar

The concealed cellar

Simply pull up the hatch to reveal a custom-built wine cellar. Designed by Spiral Cellars, the space-saving wine store is a solid concrete construction and even features built-in natural ventilation to ensure your tipple stays at the optimum temperature.
A covert casino

A covert casino

The spacious home is hiding a miniature casino complete with slot machines and a cinema ticket booth staffed by a creepy-looking mechanical usher. Delving deeper below the property, you'll also find a 150-foot secret underground tunnel that's strong enough to withstand a bomb blast.
An escape tunnel

This intriguing three-storey wood, steel and reinforced concrete home overlooks Lake Hamama on Japan's Pacific coast and was completed in 2016 by architecture firm Yukiharu Suzuki & Associates. The jaw-dropping home doubles up as a workshop for its owners and features clever wooden slats, plus steel and glass walls that flood the interior with natural light during the day and make the house glow after dark.
An escape tunnel

The home's most jaw-dropping feature though is its secret concrete tunnel to nowhere, which protrudes out from the basement, offering a fantastic spot to soak up the surrounding views. As well as providing a viewing platform, the tunnel has a practical, environmentally friendly purpose, enabling plenty of fresh air circulation and no doubt saving the owners a fortune on their air-conditioning bills.
The bogus bookcase

The bogus bookcase

A soundproofed secret

Nestled among 17 acres in the desert just outside Scottsdale, Arizona, this palatial Spanish Colonial-style property offers eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and a whole lot more besides. Sold for $24 million (£17m) in October 2020, it has a luxe home cinema, a full-sized basketball court and a yoga studio, as well as a secret hiding in the basement.
A soundproofed secret

A house within a house

The ultimate ultra-discreet bolthole, the exterior of this incredible property in Las Vegas resembles a run-of-the-mill home that you wouldn't look twice at. Yet the Sin City house, which is on the market for a hefty $5.9 million (£4.2m), is harbouring a jaw-dropping secret. The above-ground home has a lift and staircase leading 26 feet below the earth to an amazing underground bunker, spanning 15,000 square feet.
A house within a house

The Batcave

For any millionaire who has always dreamed of having their own personal version of the Batcave, this clandestine entrance is hard to beat. The spy-worthy home has a tennis court that lifts up hydraulically to reveal a ramp down to a luxury garage with enough room for an expansive car collection.
The Batcave

The visionaries at architecture firm Molecule were inspired by Batman's Batcave, digging down nearly 20 feet beneath this Melbourne mansion, dubbed the ‘Wayne Residence’. Inside, the garage boasts tiled floors, LED-lit parking bays, mirrored walls and an illuminated ceiling, while a staircase leads up to the living room.
A secret getaway

A secret getaway

An underground secret

An underground secret

Dubbed 'the safest home in America', the zombie-proof house is built like a fortress and includes concealed entries and exits along with a secret 100-foot tunnel that connects to a subterranean bank vault room, indoor gun range, a large car vault and an underground bunker stretching over 15,000 square feet. The bunker even has a military-style command centre as well as remote-controlled ballistic walls and doors that are strong enough to protect against even a missile strike.
The camouflaged garage

It's no secret that the city of San Fransisco is short of car parking spaces, and paired with city codes that prevent the alteration of building facades, it makes it nearly impossible to add a garage to the front of a home.
The camouflaged garage

However, Corey McMills of McMills Construction came up with the ideal solution. Teaming up with Beau Soleil Architects, he created a garage door disguised as a bay window that blends in seamlessly with the facade of this heritage building. The multitasking window panes are fitted to panels that open at the flick of a switch.
Hidden hideouts

Hidden hideouts

Speakeasy strong room

Speakeasy strong room

A secret office

When information security expert and founder of Counter Hack Ed Skoudis designed his new office, he wanted something more than just a typical workspace. Tucked away above a garage in a nondescript house, entrance to the office is through two doors. Inspired by the Steampunk look of high Victoriana with an industrial edge, the second panelled door, manned by a suit of armour, leads through to the ultimate business bolthole.
A secret office

The bookcase splits in two and turns outward on hidden pivots to reveal this cool concealed workspace. The room features a beautiful, engraved tin ceiling, long bespoke wooden desks and a stunning stained-glass window in the gable.
A concealed cocktail room

A concealed cocktail room

Hidden behind a bookshelf

Concealed upstairs in this seemingly average four-bedroom, four-bathroom house in Oklahoma is this cosy nook, perfect for enjoying a good book. But the curious home has a secret room hidden inside it, can you spot it?
Hidden behind a bookshelf

Hidden behind this ordinary-looking bookshelf is a whole new world. The secret den is the perfect place to hide away from it all, with a safe, seating area, hunting gear and a TV, it would be a perfect panic room to shelter in, should the worst happen.
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