In 1922, Elis Stenman, a Massachusetts engineer, builds a summer retreat using repurposed newspapers as structural material. He glues thousands of pages together to form sturdy panels, which make up the house’s walls. He also creates interior pieces, including furniture, using rolled and wrapped newspaper material.
More than a century later, the house—often referred to as the “Paper House”—still stands. Sources describe the construction as relying on a wooden frame that supports the newspaper panels, along with protective coatings that help preserve the material. The newspapers used retain period content, including historic headlines, ads, and other print from the 1920s.
Across the accounts, the core facts are consistent: the project begins in Rockport, Massachusetts, uses large quantities of recycled newspapers, and incorporates adhesives and varnish to bind and protect the pages. The differing emphasis is mainly on specific quantities of papers and the focus on either the architectural method or the preservation of historical snippets.
