RSS Feeds
Home
Rockport Paper House Is Most Ambitious Papercraft Ever
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 11:30 PM on July 27, 2008
Back in 1922, a mechanical engineer began building his summer home in Rockport, Massachusetts out of paper. Originally used just as insulation, Elis Stenman soon began to make furniture and decorations out of paper as well. What resulted was Rockport's Paper House, which is remarkably still standing after 80 years. Stenman's grandniece is now in charge of the house, which was turned into a museum in the 1930s.
The wall material, roughly an inch thick, is made out of pressed newspapers, glue and varnish--which keeps it waterproof. After finishing the walls in 1924, Stenman began using paper to build things around the house. He would roll newspapers up until they were roughly half an inch thick, and then cut them, glue them and nail them to create one-of-a-kind pieces of papercraft.
All furniture in the house is made out of paper, except for the brick fireplace and the insides of the piano. Stenman's grandniece told local reporters she had no idea why her granduncle decided to embark on the project, but quipped that it could have been because paper was cheap—everyone gave him the materials for his house for free. [The Contaminated]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
fastm3driver
Posted 1:31 AM 28/7/08
@mmplisskin: 40% green 60% varnish
It's more of a composite house.
fastm3driver
kevman90
Posted 1:04 AM 28/7/08
@mmplisskin: Wohh you lost me in your hip young lingo there champ
kevman90
beyondthetech
Posted 1:01 AM 28/7/08
Funny how I thought the title of the article said "Rock Paper Scissors..."
beyondthetech
Jamaces
Posted 1:00 AM 28/7/08
custom piano, but I do enjoy the plastic chair on the front porch.
Jamaces
Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy
Posted 12:47 AM 28/7/08
@mmplisskin: Except how nasty would the varnish and glue be from the 20-30's? I'm sure it's filled with chemical-goodness.
At least he doesn't have to worry about termites. Now bookworms...
Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy
atomx
Posted 12:02 AM 28/7/08
I don't know that I'd use that fireplace in a house full of paper and varnish...
atomx
tokiwartooth
Posted 11:58 PM 27/7/08
@rb4dv: From a single sheet, all of it.
This is really most awesome, if only because it's still standing.
@mmplisskin: ? As in environmental?
I'd love to see a whole bunch of ideas that use recycled paper in construction. It is used in furniture and some wall materials, but in a composite fashion.
tokiwartooth
rb4dv
Posted 11:43 PM 27/7/08
This would be cooler if it was origami
rb4dv
dMo
Posted 11:42 PM 27/7/08
Those first two pigs should have been introduced to stenman. They probably would have lasted longer against the wolf and been able to stop leeching off their brother with the brick home.
dMo
mmplisskin
Posted 11:35 PM 27/7/08
Green....
mmplisskin
rcast1986
Posted 2:34 AM 28/7/08
From the way most people react to this ("That thing is still standing!?") I don't know that I'd want to live in a house like that.
Still really cool, though.
rcast1986
logruszed
Posted 3:14 AM 28/7/08
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: I don't know about the varnish, but the glue probably predates the chemical glues we use now and is most likely good ol' horse hooves.
But paper is dubiously green because of all the processing it went through in the bleaching process, particularly back in the day. Making white paper or newsprint is a lot more environmentally friendly these days.
logruszed
Noobs-R-Us
Posted 4:28 AM 28/7/08
Anyone got a light?
Noobs-R-Us
underwhelm
Posted 5:49 AM 28/7/08
@logruszed: It's not like he had the paper commissioned for the house. It's the re-use that makes it green.
underwhelm
Toshie
Posted 7:45 AM 28/7/08
Having a fireplace in your paper house? Awesome!
Toshie
Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy
Posted 9:11 AM 28/7/08
People in paper houses shouldn't roast marshmallows. Or make S'mores, except w/ a USB powered S'mores maker.
Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy
miwahall
Posted 10:19 AM 28/7/08
So that's where our rain forests went!
miwahall
Bob Brown
Posted 11:26 AM 28/7/08
I remember a piece on this house from Ripley's Believe it or Not back in the early 1980's.
I can picture Jack Palance holding up a tightly rolled piece of paper from the house and saying "Believe it . . . or not."
Bob Brown
cabbageninja
Posted 1:08 PM 28/7/08
That is one fine piece of fire hazard.
cabbageninja
JDate
Posted 1:58 PM 28/7/08
What that? Rock Paper Scissors?
JDate
Fused7
Posted 3:35 PM 28/7/08
Rock Paper Scissors... ZIPPO! I Win!
Fused7
otis123
Posted 5:32 PM 28/7/08
papercraft is not cool, or gadget related, although a house made of paper is kickass.
otis123
Narual
Posted 11:14 PM 28/7/08
Lots of people have made homes mostly out of paper.
[www.livinginpaper.com]
Narual
uhm...Bob
Posted 11:25 PM 28/7/08
"Hey, we ran out of toilet paper...never mind. Btw, try not to lean against the door frame."
uhm...Bob
aec007
Posted 2:12 AM 29/7/08
Cool, Like a Spruce Goose version of a house!
aec007
EricaDemonassa
Posted 11:43 PM 27/7/08
I've been there. Nothing is really made from newspaper, things are just covered in it. Worst thing I've ever seen in my entire life. What a rip-off.
EricaDemonassa