When Sommer Duran and her husband, Antonio, began renovating their family home, they expected the old house to come with a few surprises, but what they found in the cellar left them stunned. The couple moved into the 1834 Michigan home in March 2026 while they were in the process of purchasing it from a family member. The sale was finalized in July, but the home has been in Duran's family for generations, making each discovery of furniture, clothing and photographs particularly meaningful.
One of her most meaningful finds was her great-grandmother's name written in the attic. Born in 1926, her great-grandmother lived in the house until she died in 2021, Duran told Newsweek via email. "I don't know whether she wrote her name herself or if one of her siblings wrote it, but seeing her name up there after growing up knowing her made that discovery especially meaningful to me," Duran said.
But the discovery in the basement made them think it was the "most unhinged" part of the nearly 200-year-old home. Duran said she knew there were jars in the basement when they moved in, but she did not pay much attention to them originally. That changed recently after Duran began learning how to can food herself.
"A couple of days ago I got curious and decided to take a closer look at what was actually down there," she said. What she found was far more extensive than she had realized. Several cabinets contained a variety of brands and styles spanning different eras.
She said she still doesn't know exactly how many jars they found. Rather than simply throwing them away, Duran has begun researching their markings to determine when and where they may have been made. One of her favorite discoveries so far is an aqua Ball Mason jar featuring the company's old "Triple-L" logo, which she believes dates to around the late 1890s or early 1900s.
"I've also found several other brands and styles from different time periods that I had never even heard of before," she said. The jars themselves have become a historical puzzle, while their contents have raised an even bigger question: What exactly is inside? Duran still has not opened the old food jars.
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