VANCOUVER – Be careful when you’re tearing down an old house. You never know what you’ll find in the walls.

Recently I went with my friend Murray Bush to see an old house in Kitsilano that had been sold. Another friend had said there were a couple of old stoves in which I might be interested.

The stoves were indeed old, but they were heavy and seemed to be a little too much hassle to move. The house was a small, nondescript stucco job from the 1930s, and didn’t have any outstanding architectural features. But the interior was brimming with all sorts of stuff, partly because it had been occupied by the same family since it was built.

I wound up buying a car-load of old magazines from the 1930s to the ’70s for $10, then bought an old bicycle seat for another $10. There were so many magazines, the back end of Murray‘s Volvo sagged visibly from the weight.

On the way out the door, I asked if we could look upstairs. The homeowners said sure, and I climbed the stairs and found more cool old junk, including a couple of old wood- cabinet radios.

Alas, the radios were pretty trashed. But one of the homeowners said there was another old radio shoehorned into the rear of the attic. I climbed in and found a tall Lyric radio, probably from the 1920s.

It was wedged in pretty tight, but I managed to move it near the door to the attic. But a wooden brace got in the way, and it looked like it might be impossible to get it out.

Murray said “Let me at it.” He proceeded to rip out some insulation, then shimmied the radio into a bedroom. I offered one of the homeowners $20 for all three radios.

Murray came out of the attic and said: “I think you should give it to us for free.”

The homeowner looked at him, and Murray said: “This fell out of the insulation.”

Murray handed him a stack of money, encased in a clear plastic bag. As it turns out, the family that owned the house had found $156,000 hidden away in the house by their parents, who are now deceased.

Apparently, the parents didn’t trust banks so they kept their money hidden in the nooks and crannies of their house, which was built by their contractor dad.

The homeowner had a very happy look on his face when we left.

He gave us the radios for free.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005