13345 Cooper Ridge Rd., Germantown, MD. If you recognize that address, you're probably a PostSecret addict. And if you recognize that address, you should also know that soon it will belong to someone else: The famous PostSecret house is now for sale. So, like, who wants to send me $599,000 to buy it?
In 2005, following a prophetic dream, Frank Warren founded PostSecret, a community art project with a few simple rules: Send him a postcard with a true secret that you've never spoken aloud. Every Sunday, Warren would post 10 entries that he had received over the previous week. But what began as a Blogger experiment quickly snowballed into an international phenomenon: In 2008, Youth Trends named PostSecret the 10th most popular website among female students in the United States; five books of post cards have since been published; and Warren regularly travels across the country, speaking to the power of community and the power of art and the allure of secrets. And, after 20 years of living in Maryland, the Warren family is moving.
In a post published on June 25, Warren noted that though he and his wife have relocated to California to be closer to extended family, any residual postcards will be forwarded to the new address (apparently he has a great relationship with the local post office, which, uh, makes sense). Submissions are not closed. Nothing is ending. Panic not, you sweet secret fiends.
In that same post, Warren also posted photos of his home and invited any interested readers to attend open houses over the course of the next week. Here's why some of you may be interested: Based on the photos, it appears that you'll be able to see, in person, the sort of shrine/sculpture/pile that 11 years of secrets have created.
Yep, hundreds of thousands of secrets, stacked in a pile that appears to be taller than me, chillin' in the basement. For PostSecret super fans, I would imagine this opportunity is kind of like a pilgrimage sort of thing? It's probably uncouth to cry during a house tour, but whatever. Screw the haters. You can cry if you want to. PostSecret is a no-judgment zone.
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