Buildings get torn down all the time, either to be renovated or to make room for something else. And in the process, they may accidentally reveal some interesting things hidden inside their walls. In fact, from old currency notes to women’s footwear, there is no end to the things people have discovered inside walls. So, in view of that, here are some of the most interesting things found inside walls.

1 A man bought a house for about $10,100 and while renovating it, found a rare comic book inside the walls. This comic was the first appearance of Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster’s Superman. It later sold for $175,000.

A contractor named David Gonzalez purchased a house in Minnesota for $10,100. Then, while renovating the 1938 house, he found a copy of a rare comic book inside its walls, among newspapers used as insulation.

This was a copy of Action Comics No. 1 from 1938 that debuted Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster’s Superman. There are about 100 copies of this comic left today, but very few of those are in decent condition. In fact, this comic is so rare that in 2011, a near-mint copy of it sold for $2.16 million.

However, since Gonzales’ copy was not in such great condition, it only fetched $175,000. It could have sold for more had his copy’s cover not been ripped during an exchange between him and his wife’s aunt. According to experts, this rip cost Gonzalez about $75,000. (1, 2)

2 Artist Norman Rockwell’s painting, Breaking Home Ties, is one of his most well-known artworks. The original version of this painting was discovered in a secret compartment behind the walls of a cartoonist’s house. It had stayed hidden there for about 35 years.

Breaking Home Ties is a famous artwork by the American painter, Norman Rockwell. In 2006, the original of this painting was recovered from behind a wall in cartoonist Don Trachte’s house.

Initially, the original painting was thought to be on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. But this discovery proved that the one in the museum was a fake.

It turns out, Trachte had bought the original painting from Rockwell in the 1960s, for just $900. Then, probably in the 1970s, he forged the painting and hid the original. It then remained hidden for about 35 years.

According to Trachte’s son, the cartoonist probably wanted to prevent the painting from being taken away from the family. But his exact motives are still not clear.

A museum eventually decided to display both the original and the fake versions side-by-side. Then, in November 2006, Sotheby’s Auction House sold the original painting for $15.4 million. (1, 2, 3)

3 In 2012, a man discovered a neon light glowing behind a wall in his building. The light, having been left on for about 77 years, had likely racked up more than $17,000 in electricity bills.

In 2012, Andrew Meieran, the new owner of Clifton’s Cafeteria in Los Angeles, found a neon light glowing behind a wall in the building. He was in the process of renovating the building when he made this discovery.

The light had likely been installed in 1935 when the building was a forest-themed restaurant. At that time, it displayed murals that were backlit by neon lights. Then, in 1949, one such light in a nook of a basement restroom was walled over. But for some reason, no one remembered to disconnect it.

Years later, Meieran saw it glowing from behind the wall and peeled away the covering to reveal six rows of neon tubing. Since it was left on for so long, the light is estimated to have racked up more than $17,000 in electricity bills.

Furthermore, given that most neon lights only last 20 to 40 years, this light is an even rarer find. (1, 2)

4 A beach house in Florida was found to have a beehive inside its walls with about 80,000 bees. The homeowners discovered it after they had the shower wall in the bathroom torn away. The beehive, about seven feet tall, stretched all the way from the floor to the ceiling.

When thinking of all the potential objects hidden inside walls, a humongous beehive is the last thing anyone would want to imagine. However, an unfortunate Florida family didn’t have much of a choice in this regard.

The family managed to cohabit with their unwanted guests for a while, despite the occasional bee stings. But they soon got tired of the constant buzzing noises and decided to get rid of the “nice” bees. For this, they enlisted the help of a professional beekeeper, Elisha Bixler.

However, the family’s prior experiences had not prepared them for what they were about to see. When Bixler tore down the family’s shower wall, it revealed a seven-foot-tall beehive inside. This hive was so big that it stretched all the way from the floor to the ceiling and had about 80,000 busy bees.

Thankfully, Bixler was able to capture the bees and safely relocate them to her farm. (1, 2)

5 A woman in New York City discovered an entire apartment through a hole in the wall, behind her bathroom mirror. This uninhabited apartment had three bedrooms and heaps of trash in it. The woman was trying to find the source of a cold draft in her bathroom when she stumbled upon this find.

Had Samantha Hartsoe been in a horror movie, her story would have ended a lot differently. But thankfully, when she decided to explore a strange opening in her bathroom wall, all she found was a secret three-bedroom apartment.

The entire ordeal began when Hartsoe noticed a cold draft in her Manhattan home’s bathroom. But in trying to locate this draft, she ended up finding a gaping hole in the wall, behind the bathroom mirror. Hartsoe then armed herself with a makeshift headlamp, a mask, and a hammer, and climbed through the opening.

The spooky secret space didn’t have much in it except a heap of trash and some open windows. Hartsoe later stated that she was expecting to find somebody there, especially since she found an empty water bottle. However, after a thorough investigation, she concluded that the space was uninhabitable.

Nevertheless, Hartsoe was said to be steering clear of her bathroom for as long as she could. (1, 2)