The unordinary design of the house would have been conceived by an American architect in the last century. In the distant 1920s, Ellis Stenman decided to try old newspapers as an insulating material. However, his hobby turned into serious construction and eventually he built himself a small summer house in Rockport, almost entirely consisting of old and unnecessary newspapers. Both outside and inside the unusual building is made from newspapers. They were folded into a tube in several layers, treated with a special paste made from water, flour and apple peel, and varnished. Newspapers are as hard as wood but very light and easy to handle.
Having begun work on the cladding of the building, the architect continued his project, making tables and shelves, ordinary wardrobes, armchairs and sofas, chairs and a bed from old newspapers. Even the antique clock and piano in this house are made from recycled and varnished newspapers. Until now, the amazing newspaper house attracts tourists. Even today, the unique house has not lost its own charm. The architect’s great-granddaughter Edna Stenman has turned the house into a museum and it is visited daily by many tourists. Stenman himself lived in this house during the summer until 1930. It’s amazing that the house stood for so many years.
Stenman assumed that its structure would not withstand the winter cold and moisture. But paper was stronger than wood. Edna suggests that Stenman wanted to clapboard the outside, but didn’t. He wanted to see what would happen to the paper. As a result, the house has been standing for almost 100 years. No one knows where he got the idea to build a house out of paper. The glue that Stenman used was also invented by him. It was mostly flour and water, but he added some sticky stuff like apple peel. All the furniture is still fit, quite heavy. All were made from paper, except for the piano, which he topped with paper to match the furniture. There is also a fireplace in the house. The fireplace can be used because it is made of bricks. In all, it is estimated that Stenman used over 100,000 newspapers to build the house. Perhaps this experiment will form the basis of other modern inventions in the field of architecture.
