Is it me, or is there a draft in here?

January 11, 2010 6:29 PM

Other than behind false fireplaces and bookshelves, what are some clever camouflage ideas for a secret passageway?

(For a story I'm writing.)

I'm trying to come up with a less-cliche idea for a cool hidden door in a 1950's government library. (It would have to be a door leading to a staircase or a tunnel, but it could be a door in either the floor or the wall.)

However I want it to be clever, so not just a rug over a trap door, or a tapestry hiding a door. Bookshelves and false fireplaces have been done to death.

Any ideas, or places I can find some inspiration? Thanks!

posted by np312 to Grab Bag (47 answers total)

How big is the library? Would it have large marble columns, by any chance?
posted by Squid Voltaire at 6:31 PM on January 11, 2010

Best answer: If it's a 1950's government library, maybe it could be behind a big bank of Magnetic Tape reels.
posted by dantekgeek at 6:34 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

If the story is humorous, a bathroom stall would be fun.

If serious, then not.
posted by Vaike at 6:41 PM on January 11, 2010

I've seen a house with a secret passageway inside the (rather large) column supporting a large dining table.

Or you could do something in a bathroom or in/under a desk.

But the best thing would be to somehow connect it with a book drop. Like you had to drop a certain book down the book drop and then it would open up somehow.
posted by ropeladder at 6:44 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Yes, it's got loads of marble columns...
posted by np312 at 6:44 PM on January 11, 2010

Desk against the wall. A small hidden door in the leg space under the desk. Pull out the chair and crawl under the desk, open the hidden door, crawl through.

Large painting or mirror that swings open.

Upright piano that serves as a sliding door.

Secret floor via elevator, press the right combination of floors, and you get to the hidden sub-sub-basement level.
posted by fings at 6:45 PM on January 11, 2010

Hmm... if the library had space-saving moveable shelving (the crank-operated kind that slides on a track), then the very last shelf in the line could slide back to reveal a staircase underneath. As a bonus, you could set it up so it required a special cranking pattern-- like a combination lock-- to get the shelf to move.
posted by Bardolph at 6:47 PM on January 11, 2010 [5 favorites]

Telephone stall would be a good place. Lift the bench and presto! Otherwise, under one of those index card stands.
posted by furtive at 6:48 PM on January 11, 2010

(sorry, just now saw that you specifically requested no bookshelves!)
posted by Bardolph at 6:48 PM on January 11, 2010

Or better yet, a book deposit slot that worked like a door for dog/cat.
posted by furtive at 6:49 PM on January 11, 2010

Best answer: Hmmm, how about behind the card catalog? In the old days, all libraries had those, on the Dewey Decimal system I'd add. Maybe the trigger could be the "card" for a particular book.

Or maybe the passage could be somewhere around the librarian's desk/office. Maybe the person with access could be the one who had restricted access to, e.g., a door marked"Chief Librarian only" or "Restricted Access."

Or maybe behind or under a library model or display case. Maybe you could add a National Treasure type puzzle.
posted by bearwife at 6:49 PM on January 11, 2010

Best answer: 1950's library? Card catalogue. Opening and closing the correct sequence of drawers opens the door.

On preview: jinx
posted by mhum at 6:51 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Or, how about _in_ the card catalog? Perhaps a long tall bank of them could have the first two being 'locked,' but by turning two of the brass knobs at the same time the side of the catalog would lift up, revealing a stairway to a lower floor door?

Man, I have to lay off the after-dinner drinks.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 6:55 PM on January 11, 2010

I like the card catalog, movable shelving and secret desk ideas. You might also want to do something with the dumbwaiters that a lot of old libraries had. I'm thinking the dumbwaiter works like normal but if you hit the buttons in a special order the whole thing slides up revealing a staircase behind.... Similarly you might look at some weird technical equipment that the library has but rarely uses and never moves [I'm thinking microfilm machine]. You could have the whole thing on a hinged panel on the floor, flip it back, reveal staircase.
posted by jessamyn at 6:56 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

You could always put it behind a locked obvious door labelled something innocuous, like "Archival Maintenance." It's the sort of thing no one would think to look behind unless they specifically knew that it had something they needed, and in the rare event someone speculated that an "archival maintenance" -- or whatever -- room might have something they need, it would be locked anyway. It could appear from the outside to be broom-closet size but have an elevator, stairs, whatever inside it.
posted by Nattie at 6:56 PM on January 11, 2010

Or the bottom of the side of the catalog could tilt up, so as to be less conspicuous.

OK, that plate of beans is now done.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 6:57 PM on January 11, 2010

I like the idea of the seal, on the floor parts of it could chunk down into a staircase, or the whole thing could rise up revealing a door and staircase.
posted by yellowbinder at 7:14 PM on January 11, 2010

If it's a government library, it might be cool to have one of those giant vacuum-tube computers in there in the line of UNIVAC or ENIAC that could open up into a secret passageway. Those things were massive and could probably hide an entire passageway.
posted by ajarbaday at 7:16 PM on January 11, 2010

Through a Grandfather clock. The one I have has a key and a door and I used to love hiding in it when I was a kid. You could use the clock face as the key and have a door in the back of it or an elevator type thing. Something could be made of the chiming of the clock or the chains and weights that you use to "wind" them.
Or a large steamer trunk that opens to reveal a staircase. Either just open the top with a key to reveal stairs or with a false bottom.
Also, I was on a house tour recently where the stairs to the basement looked like just another kitchen cupboard.
Ooo and a locker would work, like the long ones in an old high school or a locker room.
posted by BoscosMom at 7:37 PM on January 11, 2010

I seem to I remember a scene from a movie where the entrance to something was through the trunk of a derelict car, I thought that was clever.
posted by BoscosMom at 7:41 PM on January 11, 2010

The lever that triggers the passageway door could be hidden in an aquarium or terrarium. Living inside, of course, is an octopus / eel / poisonous snake / tarantula which will attack most people but has developed a grudging tolerance of the one person who feeds it regularly - and only that person.
posted by ceribus peribus at 7:48 PM on January 11, 2010

There could be a 1950s vending machine like this or this, and when you put in the right coins in the right sequence, it opens up revealing the passageway. If you put in the wrong sequence you just get a soda. Maybe the hero gets into a bind as he's chasing someone down the passage, but needs change for a dollar.

You could have a big room-size computer like this and when you type a secret code at the terminal, one of the panels swings away and reveals a secret passageway.

There could be one of those giant atlases on a stand in a library, and when you flip it to the last page, it reveals a hole you can climb through.

There could be a carpet or floor with a checker pattern like this and you have to jump on the right squares in the right order and then the squares descend into the floor different amounts, turning into a staircase.

There could be a giant clock and you have to move the hands to the right positions in the right order to unlock a door behind the clock.

If the library has a marble staircase, maybe you have to jump on certain stairs in a certain order, or have people on certain positions simultaneously, then the stairs descend into a secret passage.
posted by lsemel at 8:03 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

A pilaster would work nicely for this. It would have a small gap between the base and the floor, although the other columns and pilasters in the same room could be done the same way to disguise it.

(I have actually installed something kind of like this, though not secret per se and not marble, just give access to an electrical system through the wall of a nicely paneled room where there was no other way to get to it.)
posted by nangar at 8:09 PM on January 11, 2010

Behind a mirror. A carved-out tunnel in the wall, behind an old map, á la The Shawshank Redemption. Behind a stepladder that appears to be built into a wall. False air or heating vent.
posted by blazingunicorn at 8:18 PM on January 11, 2010

An interesting thing about this is how the lock would work. A hidden door could lock from inside, but an exterior lock would have to be hidden somehow, as others have suggested. If it didn't have one, it could be discovered accidentally.

If it's really secret it would have to be secret from cleaning and maintenance people too, who would usually know.
posted by nangar at 8:25 PM on January 11, 2010

Does it have to be indoors? Libraries have all kinds of public art and sculptures and the outdoors example are certainly large enough to house secret doors.
posted by oddman at 8:28 PM on January 11, 2010

Best answer: Behind the cans of Spam at the back of the basement fallout shelter.
posted by Tsuga at 8:33 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

my favorite hidden door was in louis l'amour's walking drum, where the door was a trap door that was in the bottom of a fountain. you had to drain the water from the pool below the fountain before accessing the door.
posted by lester at 8:40 PM on January 11, 2010

As a fan of library ladders, could the ladder need to slide into place to reveal the secret door? It could be a trap door to avoid needing the bookshelves to turn around...
posted by cestmoi15 at 8:50 PM on January 11, 2010

Um, not to burst your bubble but this is exactly the scene of a recent bestseller so I wouldn't do the whole sliding panel behind the librarian's desk thing.
posted by tamitang at 8:59 PM on January 11, 2010

Any large old institution has a slew of janitor's closets, storage rooms, electrical/HVAC closets, etc, usually jammed with shelves piled with unrelated junk, old cans of paint, busted furniture and the like. You could have a door hidden behind all that crap without even needing to hide it.

Plus, it wouldn't have to be a corny "secret passageway" - it could be an inconveniently located storage room that was blocked off during remodeling, disused and gradually becoming forgotten as people kept piling crap in front of the doorway.

You might be able to do something with the idea of steam tunnels - not exactly secret passageways but hard to get into, and pretty common at large institutions. Or other access routes that facilities and maintenance people might have used a long time ago which are no longer needed for their original purpose.
posted by Quietgal at 9:08 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

There could be a painting of a door, with a door behind it. Or you push the door in the painting itself and it opens.
posted by lsemel at 9:17 PM on January 11, 2010

Actually, some questions to help narrow down your choices:

How often would this door be used? Frequent use means it should be convenient, so complex to use secret doors (like a draining fountain first) would be ruled out.

Would it be expected to be used during normal business hours? If so, that would rule out public places like the card catalog, and places where someone disappearing might be noticed, especially if used by multiple people. (Hmm, five men walked into the bathroom 30 minutes ago, and never came out.)

Would high ranking government officials ever visit? That would probably rule out crawling under a desk or other undignified requirements.

Does the door require any sort of physical key? If not, what prevents a random person from accidentally opening/triggering it?

How aware are the library director and building maintenance of the secret door? If they're in on it, fine, if not, you don't want your door to be found when maintenance moves something for cleaning or the directory decides to redecorate and re-arrange the bookshelves and furniture.

Just my 2c.
posted by fings at 9:36 PM on January 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

The best place to hide a secret door is inside another door.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:59 PM on January 11, 2010

I like the obscure door rather than the elaborate and awkward. Obscure is more the gummint's style, anyhow.

I work in a state govt. building and access to both roof and attic is through a very sturdy, very nondescript, always locked door with a plaque that says "Mechanical Room." Said door is surrounded by other nondescript doors.

I remember another state govt. building that had three elevators, only one of which had an extra key-operated button. I never figured out where it led to and if that button had been hidden behind a small panel, I never would have even had my curiosity piqued.
posted by codswallop at 10:38 PM on January 11, 2010

Just thought of another more sekrit-style one. A wall of lockers, one of which when opened has a removable back wall that contains a lever. The lever, when pulled, frees up a block of lockers that swings open to reveal a passageway.....
posted by codswallop at 11:28 PM on January 11, 2010

A small platform rises ( after the correct sequence of things occur) up from the floor that your standing on, to either the ceiling or a higher part of a wall. Then either a panel, picture, ceiling fan, or light fixture swings open. You then walk, step, squeeze or climb through.
posted by Taurid at 11:35 PM on January 11, 2010

If you're going for realism, an unmarked door in a large building is plausible; just about every big old building has one door in it that nobody really has the key for and only has a half-remembered idea where it goes anyway.

Also, if you're looking for an explanation as to where a "secret" room might be located or would have been originally constructed for, many old buildings (in the East and Midwest) were originally heated with coal. This required fairly large coal bunkers, typically in the basement levels, but generally separate from the rest of the basement (due to coal dust and the resultant fire risk). They're also dirty and tend to not be used for storage unless a concerted effort is put into cleaning them. I've been in several buildings that have disused coal bunkers in them, and although they weren't really "secret", they were cool in that quasi-abandoned urban exploration sort of way.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:14 AM on January 12, 2010

Oooh, I love this game! Please tell us which one you choose!
posted by widdershins at 5:45 AM on January 12, 2010

A lot of large old buildings had plenums between floors and between the basement and the first floor. They function like ducts, but are built in and large enough to crawl through comfortably. They formed part of a passive ventilation system. (I'm not sure how these old ventilation systems worked. I assume in pre-air-conditioning times they were designed to draw air from the basement up through the building. Nowadays they're useful for running cabling.) They're not secret exactly, just practically invisible. There would be maintenance access at several points in the building, but they would almost never be used - unless wiring or plumbing is run through them, there's almost nothing to maintain.

In theory and old plenum could give access a to disused or completely closed off section of basement.
posted by nangar at 7:41 AM on January 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

I lived in a house in college that had a room hidden behind a coke machine. Also, I'd suggest the back of a closet, but it's been done.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 8:26 AM on January 12, 2010

The public library in the town I grew up in had a courtyard or greenhouse of some sort in the very middle of it, surrounded by glass on all sides. There were a couple trees and lots of smaller plants growing in there. As far as I could tell, there was no way into the area; it was off-limits for patrons and contained no seating or anything. It was just for looks, I guess. I used to speculate about how the staff got into there to maintain the plants, through a secret door or something. That would be an awesome place for a hollowed-out tree containing a spiral staircase leading underground.

But maybe a '50s government library would not be interesting enough to have one of those sun room things. *shrug*
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 8:43 AM on January 12, 2010

The house my childhood best friend lived in an incredible house, which had several secret passages. His bed room and his younger brother's bedroom were at opposite ends of the house. There was a large portrait above both their beds. The portraits swung open to reveal a secret passage between the two bedrooms. There was also a secret staircase that ran between several floors; in the basement it ended near the furnace, behind a door made out of a false heating duct.
posted by paulg at 8:52 AM on January 12, 2010 [2 favorites]

Best answer: codswallop writes "I remember another state govt. building that had three elevators, only one of which had an extra key-operated button. I never figured out where it led to and if that button had been hidden behind a small panel, I never would have even had my curiosity piqued."

You could use a magnet to activate a switch in an elevator and there would be zero external clues the existence of the secret stop. It would also be tough but doable to have a set of hidden rear doors on an elevator that would allow access to a secret room on potentially each floor. Either of these solves the why do people keep disappearing in the coat closet problem.

Rather than requiring everyone to have a token (the magnet) to enter, one of the knobs/pegs that hold protective blankets when contractors/movers are using the elevator could contain the magnet.
posted by Mitheral at 8:53 AM on January 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Paternoster. You have to have good timing and the place you step into looks like you'll be crushed or mangled but there's room to slip by safely, or a seemingly hard wall moves away when you step into the seemingly dangerous spot, so you can just step through what looks like a solid wall. People step into the paternoster and, to all appearances for anyone following them, they somehow disappear upstairs even though the pursuer was just a car or two behind. And part of the plot could be that someone rigs the mechanism to fail, so that someone else really is mangled in the paternoster.
posted by pracowity at 10:55 AM on January 12, 2010

Response by poster: Wow, so many great ideas in here! Thank you all. Some of them are great but don't quite fit my particular story (for some of the reasons fings pointed out) but I've marked the ones I'm going to seriously consider.

Thank you again for your help!
posted by np312 at 11:15 AM on January 12, 2010

False back in the refrigerator in the staff break room.
posted by chairface at 3:40 PM on January 12, 2010