Yep, you found it. It's a matter of tracing the bell wire to find out where it goes. How old is the house? Is it possible the wire was run but never drilled through the brick mold of the door? Either that, or someone stuffed the wires back into the door casing when they replaced the brick mold. You may can pull the brick mold off the front door and see where it is.

 

That's the supply only. If you find wiring beside a door, you'll still have to figure out where the supply and the button(s) come together.

If you are not going to use the transformer, you should disconnect the 120V side in the junction box behind the cover it's mounted on.

 

I figured as much, I just shutoff my mains and am going to check out the attic space. The house was built in the 1950s, but the wiring looks as if it was redone around the 90’s. If I have any better findings I’ll grab a picture and post back. Thanks for your opinions!

Update:
So it does indeed look like the bell wire leads from that transformer, which I will end up replacing after all of this. I attempted to trace the bell wire along the pillar which unfortunately I end up losing once it goes under the rafters as you can see. I guess it’s unknown if the bell wire reaches the doorjamb?

 

I'm trying to think what else it might feed if not a doorbell....do you have the chimes mounted somewhere.

Could it feed sprinkler or burglary systems or even electronic switches /solinoids to control 120 ac switches. (I got into this system one time installed that used all electronic switches on 24V for their lighting controls that allowed them to customise all their lighting patters....actually the husband owner explained his wife wanted to light the entire home with one switch because of security...I'm sure you don't have that)

Is it 12 volt.

 

Well thats the thing, this house has no doorbell button and no chime anywhere. I also did not find a dedicated circuit breaker in the main panel which I can imagine is to be expected in most cases. When tracing the bell wire, it does tend to lead towards the front door once it goes under that rafter. Hwoever, I cant get a better view due to the AC ventilation... I will restoring power to the mains shortly, and check with my multimeter if indeed it is 12v AC.

 

Tnat looks like a 24V transformer. Do you have a multimeter? Set it to AC and check the output (after you scrape the paint off the terminals, that is... [emoji6])

Here is an idea. (I do not think those are meant to be painted because it leads to overheating or shortening the longevity of the device, I was told by the manufacturer sometime ago.) You might save yourself a long wire run if you can place your chimes closer to the transformer & still within ear shot?

Also, if you can unscrew that metal junction box cover you can possibly set up a temporary light to the box (with a pair of insulated AC-rated alligator clips and a light bulb socket) and flip each breaker to see what breaker controls that junction box.

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I’m guessing that wire is in the wall were the chime would have been installed. Also the wire from the door / doors

 

You can disconnect the transformer wires and connect a "tic" tracer.
They are most often used for tracing phone wires by Telco personnel and installers but they will work on any unenergized wire.
A cheap tone and tracer can be had for $25 and up.

 

, it looks as though the previous owner decided to camouflage it!

Not the previous owner, the builder did that when he spray textured the walls and ceiling.

 

So I have finally gotten around to testing the transformer. Upon scraping off the paint on the terminals I received barely 1-2V A/C. I think it’s okay to pronounce this transformer dead. I bought a replacement transformer however I noticed the currently dead transformer doesn’t have a ground. In this case should I wrap the ground to a screw in the receptacle box? I’ll attach a picture if anyone has an opinion?

 

Any equipment that comes with a ground should be grounded. Do you know for a fact that box is grounded?

 

I’m going to guess yes. It looks like bx?

 

Looks like cloth-covered romex to me. But the pic is not clear.

 

I think you might be correct and I am wrong...

 

I went ahead and grounded the green wire under a screw within the receptacle. Knocked out a punch-out in a steel lid to mount the new transformer as well. All looks great except when I restored power I receive no voltage like before.. I should have tested for 120v before hand but I guess I’ll have to check that when I find time again! I’ll attach a new picture tomorrow.

 

Why are you replacing it? Are you adding a doorbell?

 

I will be installing a doorbell, yes.

 

I would abandon that and use a wireless doorbell. I hope you used the proper size wire nuts and not electrical tape or whatever the last idiot used. to abandon remove the transformer, put wire nuts on the ends of the in wall wires and put a cover on the box.