Excavation of the basement continued this week at 500 Capp Street. The work continues to be painstaking, with the crews carefully working around the edges of the house revealing the original brick and mortar foundation. Upon completion of this phase of excavation, structural steel will be put in place next week to shore up the house.
As our team continues to ensure the structural stability of the home, the opportunity to explore the edges of the house further presents itself. This includes the “mystery” staircase at 500 Capp Street. For those of you who do not know, there is a hidden staircase at 500 Capp Street which remains one of the homes most popular mysteries. Underneath a wooden trap door in the second story light-well is a set of steep stairs that lead to a dead space underneath the main staircase of the house. The stairs are dark and the space is tight, but one of our crew members descended them to survey the foundation underneath. We have heard theories of the stairs being used as a storage space during prohibition or a place for some kind of illegal activity, but all we found was a wood cane, with a Salvador Dali-esque face carved into the handle. While we did not find any new answers regarding the stairs this week, it was a wonderful reminder that 500 Capp Street is full of mysteries waiting for scholars and visitors to explore.