This Historic Home Has a Finished Basement Like You’ve Never Seen Before

When you think “finished basement,” your mind probably goes to a low-ceilinged, beige room with recessed lighting, wall-to-wall carpeting, and a pingpong table. But the finished basement in this 1902 house located in North Carolina is far from beige and boring. Shared to TikTok by a house painter named Eric (@primepainting), this basement is part European alleyway, part NYC brownstone loft, and part castle dungeon (in a good way).

“The most interesting part is this brick staircase that wraps around the kitchen to go downstairs,” Eric says in the January video he posted. “They had to raise the house up a couple feet to put in this whole basement. And I’m sure whoever did this unloaded an absurd amount of money. He had a brick company in the ‘80s and redid it and the new owners now are just ecstatic to be in here.”

The finished basement under the house is wall-to-wall brick, with each space being portioned off by glorious archways. The ceilings are super-high, and one “room” in the basement even features an impressive brick fireplace.

Eric shares that the homeowner has his office set up in the basement, but it also looks as though there’s an entertaining space (complete with a wet bar and a stovetop) and two living areas, with room for a lot more.

As Eric’s video shows, the entire house is a marvel of design with its intricate mosaic work in the kitchen and bathroom and stenciled stair risers. But it’s the basement that really stands out as the star.

Sure, finished basements are useful, but rarely are they cool. And this finished basement is definitely as cool as it gets.