A woman who purchased a home for $97,000 was met with an unexpected surprise—the entire property came fully furnished with the previous owner’s belongings, including what she now dubs the “Narnia dresser”—a basement chest of drawers filled with strange and nostalgic items.
The viral moment was shared by YouTuber @chloeisag on June 10, and has since garnered more than 610,000 views. In the video, the woman cheerfully announces: “I bought this house for $97,000 with everything in it. I’m calling it the treasure house and today we are back in the basement guys.”
The clip features a bewildering inventory session as she sorts through the “mystery Narnia dresser,” a reference to the wardrobe from The Chronicles of Narnia series that concealed a magical world.
“Today we are going to go through the mystery Narnia dresser,” the woman says. “So I found this dresser when I was going through the basement. Let’s see what is in it.”
Americans face soaring housing costs. The 2024 report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University outlines a grim national backdrop: soaring home prices; rent hikes during the COVID-19 pandemic; and widespread affordability struggles. The report found home prices rose in 97 of the top 100 markets, with sharper increases in the Northeast and Midwest.
Around 12.1 million households in the U.S. are now considered “severely cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than half their income on housing, according to the report. As traditional paths to homeownership grow increasingly out of reach, viral moments like this one—of a seemingly affordable and unexpectedly enchanting home—offer a glimpse into a rarer reality.
‘Who Knows What This Is’
The drawers in the viral video reveal a curious mix of household items. “We got some utensils going on, we also have lots of chopsticks … we have some scissors and a whisk … and then this is fun … an ice-cream scoop, how long has this been there?” the homeowner asks.
A subsequent drawer yields even more oddities, including some beeswax, some silverware and a pair of “Charli XCX glasses from 1994,” and some containers of glitter, the woman says, lifting the items.
The contents of the next drawer escalate the intrigue, featuring a couple of doorknobs and “a baby watch that’s literally the size of my pinkie finger,” she says. The woman also uncovers a box marked with a warning from the United States Treasury that reads, “store in a cool dry place … penalty for private use $300.”
The woman said: “I didn’t end up opening this actually because it’s sealed, it’s from 1991. Who knows what this is, I’m so curious,” she adds, noting that the drawer contained other boxes with addresses. “I need to figure out how to be sensitive with that info.”
The video wraps up with the woman showcasing more items, including aged Bacardi liquor and cotton bandannas. In a follow-up clip, the poster reveals that she also discovered a meticulously preserved scrapbook, complete with every card that a couple received on their wedding day.
Viewers on YouTube were amazed by the poster’s finds, as well as the dresser itself.
User @cherylemaybury9967 wrote: “Those sealed boxes are mint sets of coins. They might be worth a lot of money.”
User @JudyWiggins-k2z said: “That’s my favorite ice cream scoop. I have one !! I found it at an antique store. My process at any antique store is don’t buy anything to collect dust. Buy to use!!!”
User @JHS-n3r posted: “That would be a gorgeous dresser if it was refinished, absolutely love it.”
User @melaniehickman5389 commented: “You must refinish that dresser. It’s amazing.”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via YouTube. This video has not been independently verified.
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