The Paper House, Pigeon Cove, MA
Built by Swedish Immigrant Ellis Stenman, He started this home in 1922 and it took 20 years to finish. The Stenmans lived in Cambridge near Boston and the family used this as a summer retreat.(Stenman was a mechanical engineer who designed machines that made things ...paper clips, hooks and eyes for the clothing of the day). It is not built entirely of paper as it has a traditional wood frame and roof. The paper worked as an insulation. its varnish coating (machine grade)giving it its longevity. He rolled the newspapers that he gathered from neighbors and the three that he read each day. The rolls were only glued on each end. Some of the items like the clock (its headlines from Europe) were collected by a neighbor who worked in Washington, DC.The walls are made of 215 thickness of paper 1/4 inch thick. The roof is normal roofing but is insulated inside.The furniture shown here is also made of paper ..piano too.
100,000 copies of newspapers were used in its construction and was an experiment to see what could be done to newspapers without distroying the print. The Desk made of the Christian Science Monitor; A cot from vintage World War 1 papers; The piano covered with paper rolls; The Radio Cabinet of Hoovers campaign; Bookshelf from foreign papers; Grandfather Clock made from newspapers from Capitol cities of the 48 states; A writing desk of Lindbergh flight; and a Fireplace manual of Boston Herald and the NY Herald,
