Couple's shock discovery after buying 145-year-old home
Ashley Berken and her wife were on the house hunt in October when they discovered a 145-year-old Victorian property within their budget, the 39-year-old told Newsweek.
They couldn't believe their luck — the Wisconsin home offered enough space for their four children, two home offices and a whole lot of Old World character — all for $US305,000 ($A464,000), the New York Post reports.
However, the listing failed to mention that the property was formerly a two-time funeral home.
Funeral operations at the house supposedly ceased in the 1960s, according to Ms Berken.
'Never coming back': Depp reveals sad demise
Since purchasing the spooky home, Ms Berken has since taken to TikTok to share life inside the captivating property, from slide shows of the home's various vintage doorknobs to debating renovations in the embalming room.
Clearly, many are intrigued by this unusual home considering her TikTok account, @thefuneralhomehouse, has close to 28,000 followers and more than 200,000 likes.
'I feel like breathing new life into this space is the perfect intended use for it,' she said in the video.
One of her plans is to install a small gardening area next to a nearby window.
The ornamented property boasts enchanting and surprising details throughout its upper floors, including a tin ceiling in the kitchen, intricate inlaid wood floors, a 10-foot mirror, stained glass windows, a grand staircase and sculptural light fixtures.
It also has stunning millwork and original details throughout, but the real story of the home lies in the basement.
The expansive subterranean floor — Ms Berken would eventually learn — held the embalming room and casket showroom.
The latter of which she's considering turning into a hangout space for her children.
Ms Berken told Newsweek that she wasn't aware of the home's deathly history until she noticed ramps in the garage designed for transporting bodies.
A quick search of local records proved her suspicions.
Still, Berken called the home 'my absolute dream come true.'
The 39-year-old recalled her enduring love of the 1991 classic 'My Girl,' a film in which one of the young protagonists lives with her family in their funeral home.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘What happened?': Decade long reality Lena Dunham hasn't been able to escape
Lena Dunham is back in the public eye, and all these years later, her weight is still a conversation. The 39-year-old was just 24 when her critically acclaimed show Girls debuted on HBO in 2012. It instantly cemented itself as a grittier version of Sex and the City. The show followed four privileged women in their early 20s, who were often unlikeable, rarely had good sex and certainly weren't glitzy or aspirational. It wasn't just must-see television, but after every episode aired, a new cultural debate would erupt about everything from abortion to consent. Dunham was the showrunner, the star, and mastermind behind the success, but instead of her body of work being discussed, it was her body that made the most headlines. She was in her early 20s at the time and her weight and body were dissected, scrutinised and criticised throughout the show's six seasons. At some point, there was even some disturbing online discourse that Dunham wasn't attractive enough for it to be believable that she was dating the men she cast as her love interests on the show. For years, the commentary on Dunham's body was treated almost like a sport. She was too thin, or too fat, or not thin enough in the right places, or not the right body shape; it was endless. It would have been immeasurably tough on Dunham, who was just in her 20s at the time, and the ultimate irony was that she always looked great. It was also tough on any woman who read anything cruel about Dunham's body because most women look more like Dunham than a Hadid sister. It became bizarrely normal in pop culture for Dunham to be torn apart physically. After the show wrapped, and following a public breakup with producer Jack Antonoff, known for his work with Taylor Swift and Lorde, Sabrina Carpenter. Dunham took a break from the spotlight, moving to London, where she married indie musician Luis Felber and she has carved out a quieter life for herself. She has worked mostly behind the camera, including on the critically acclaimed coming-of-age film Catherine Called Birdy. At the moment, she's back in the spotlight again, promoting her new Netflix show Too Much, which she wrote and directed, and stars as a supporting character. Once again her weight is back to being a discussion. Between 2012 and 2025, we saw the rise of the body positivity movement, which then morphed into the body neutral movement. For a second there it seemed like we were getting somewhere. One of the most famous models in the world is Ashley Graham, who is plus-size, and singer Lizzo was also leading the charge of self-love. Fast-forward to now, and Lizzo's been partly cancelled and is on a weight loss journey; body neutrality has fallen by the wayside and has been replaced with the thinness epidemic. Most women in Hollywood have become so gaunt that they all kind of look the same, but we can't really say anything because that would be shaming women. For god sake even low-rise jeans are back. Just as Dunham re-emerged back into the spotlight, we're back at square one. Dunham told the New Yorker that the reason she's playing a supporting cast member instead of the star of her new show, Too Much, is because she wasn't ready to open herself up to being body-shamed. 'Physically, I was just not up for having my body dissected again. It was a hard choice,' she said. Similarly, in a profile with Variety, Dunham claimed body-shaming in Hollywood is 'pretty inevitable' in 2025, and not much has improved since she first became famous in 2012. 'Just because I've become used to it for myself. Doesn't mean that I feel comfortable about it for anyone else,' she added. 'I have been in Hollywood at every size. I have been a sample size, I have had my body change because of life, illness, ageing, menopause and it is merciless wherever you are.' So there you go. It has been over a decade since Dunham first became famous, and under a TikTok I just watched of her promoting the new show, someone commented, 'What happened to Lena Dunham?' A clear crack at her weight gain. The real question is what happened to the culture? Why are we going backwards instead of forwards, and why the hell are we still talking about Dunham's weight? It has been a decade and we've learned nothing.
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Jessica Simpson wows in sparkling see-through dress at birthday bash: ‘Fancy dive into 45'
Jessica Simpson turned heads in a completely see-through, sparkling dress to celebrate her 45th birthday with a bang. In photos shared on Saturday, the fashion designer modelled a sheer dress with a sparkling silver overlay at a lavish birthday soiree at legendary Hollywood hotspot Chateau Marmont. The mum of three layered the jaw-dropping look over a pair of dark briefs and accessorised with silver platform heels and a sparkling choker. In several snaps, she wore a black satin tuxedo-style coat over the shimmering ensemble. Mum Tina Ann, 65, posed alongside her daughter for a celebratory snap in an animal-print cocktail dress, and Jessica playfully showed off a two-tiered cake topped with a party hat in another pic. In yet another, she posed alongside her all-girl gang of guests. The Dukes of Hazzard actress styled her iconic blond locks in loose waves and opted for a smoky eye and glossy lip at the birthday bash on Thursday. 'Fancy dive into 45,' the pop star captioned the pics. 'Guurllll 45 never looked so good,' wrote a fan, while another exclaimed, 'Your Mum looks gorgeous too!' A third quipped, 'forty fine,' while a fourth gushed, 'you are BODY GOALS and that hair wow.' The Take My Breath Away singer, who split from Eric Johnson after ten years of marriage back in January, previously took to the platform to mark her milestone birthday in a leather bodysuit and animal-print coat. In a video clip, the singer teased her upcoming single Fade while enjoying a bowl of cherries and writing 'fade' in red lipstick on a bathtub wall. 'To start off my 45th year'round the sun, Imma gonna bright side the journey of life by choosin' to be the HAPPY part of my BIRTHDAY,' she captioned the seductive footage on Thursday. 'I've been patiently waitin' for y'all to get a dose of #FADE from the upcomin' journey through #NashvilleCanyon, Part 2.' The hitmaker, who famously shed almost 100 pounds (45kg) a few years ago, also showed off her svelte figure in a red bikini while celebrating the Fourth of July last weekend.
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Freaks me out': Accessories men spot as dating red flags
Men are apparently terrified of pearl earrings, and the revelation is seemingly sending single women into a mild crisis. The bizarre theory, which was spawned by a handful of blokes (aka the known gatekeepers of female fashion) and was recently unpacked by the New York Post, suggests that the expensive jewellery item gives off 'high-maintenance vibes'. Pearls are also majorly 'intimidating' the men said, meaning women who wear them are walking red flags for potential suitors. Popular content creator Morgan McGuire shared her bewildered reaction to the classic piece of jewellery on TikTok in June, joking, 'No wonder I'm single.' Her video clocked 500,000 views and sparked 230 comments, all asking the same thing: what in the pearl-powered madness is this? Curious as to whether the pearl earring panic was just the beginning, I turned to several group chats to investigate what other accessories send Gen Z and Millennial men running for cover. 'Tiny bags. If it's so small that my car keys won't fit, what's the point? And if a woman has a lanyard for their phone I assume they're a little careless and used to losing things.' 'Insanely long nails. Can't type on a keyboard length.' 'Yeah long nails freak me out,' another Aussie male agreed. 'They're on their phone and it's like clicky click clack f**k.' 'The necklace with the girl's name. It irks me. I feel it's slightly unsafe and similar to when guys have tattoos on themselves with their last name.' 'Yeah that's a weird one,' replied a Kiwi in his 30s. 'Why do you need to wear your own name?' 'Excessive amounts of rings and gold, gaudy jewellery. Wearing that much bling is ridiculous.' 'I know this will insult everyone, but Oodies are dumb as. Why are you wearing them in public?' 'Those bikinis that are essentially floss, scrunch bum tights, and high heels for all the short kings out there.' 'Big gold nose rings make me think of cows. And I don't like full sleeve tattoos.' Ouch, what happened to grunge is the new glam? 'My girlfriend has a fluffy pink jacket from Costco that has grey Mickey Mouse shapes all over it. I have suggested more than once that we should burn it.' Said girlfriend was in the chat – someone is sleeping on the couch tonight. Other answers included ribbed jeans, fake lashes, eyeshadow up to the brows, toe socks, big fly eye sunglasses, leopard print, animal fur and Madonna/Monroe lip piercings. Meanwhile, some clearly didn't understand the meaning of 'accessory'. 'Do lip fillers count?' 'A knife. Unless it's a personal cheese knife, then I'd be down on one knee.' 'A gun holster.' Okay mate, we don't live in America. And since when wasn't Lara Croft a universal hall pass? And one message from my brother-in-law felt a little too personal. 'Bulldogs footy shorts. Straight up hate crime.' But fear not – because here's the groundbreaking truth: if a guy's swiping left over any of this, there's a good chance he's rocking Crocs and still proudly owns a Ben 10: Alien Force velcro wallet. Male edition coming soon. Stay mad girlies.
