The Paper House is a historic house museum in Rockport, Massachusetts, United States. It was constructed between 1922 and 1924 by Swedish engineer Elis F. Stenman as a summer house. The home is built with a traditional wood frame and roof, but the walls and insulation are made entirely of varnished newspapers. The home is furnished with a table, chairs, lamps, a settee, a desk, a cot, a radio cabinet, curtains, a bookshelf, a fireplace, and a grandfather clock—all of which are made from rolled newspapers.
He made glue from flour, water, and sticky materials such as apple peel. This was mixed with newspapers and pressed to form a 1-inch (25 mm) thick material consisting of around 215 sheets of paper which was used to fill the walls between the timber frame. This wall was then varnished.
The house was provided with electricity and running water, though it had no bathrooms – a conventional wooden outhouse was provided outside. Although for practical reasons the fireplace and chimney are brick, the mantlepiece is made of paper.
Stenman’s engineering mind wanted to test not only the sturdiness of paper as a building material but its ability to retain its print. A visit to the house nearly 100 years later proves that his experiment was successful. Headlines, advertisements, and even fine body copy is still very much readable.
By 1927, the Paper House had become a tourist attraction, postcards were sold featuring it, and contributions from visitors were sufficient to pay Stenman’s running costs. Stenman and his wife occupied the property until 1930, since which it has been solely used for display purposes. A porch extending all around the house was added in the 1930s, helping to protect the paper walls from the weather.
It has been re-varnished on occasion, though care has been taken not to obscure the original newsprint. The house remains privately owned by the Stenman family and is run as a museum. It is open to the public daily between April and October, with entry priced at $2.
According to en.wikipedia.org; roadtrippers.com. Source of photos: Internet
