Monday, August 29, 2005

Paper House for REAL!

This past weekend had beautiful weather and interesting things to see. I'm sharing pictures of
this unusual house that , except for the frame and windows, IS made of PAPER - newspapers to be exact. It is located in Pigeon Cove, Massachusetts. The house is cared for by the 3rd generation of family members of the original creator. No admission but donations on the honor system are accepted.-(put them in the mail box no less!)

This is the view from the road. It's a small little place. I don't believe anyone actually lived in it.... no bathroom..ick. Grab a piece of wall for wiping?? *giggle* Maybe someone did. (live there I mean) We were rushed for time, so in depth investigating was not an option.






The curtains were made of paper and as you can see, the brown wall is newspapers, shellacked (is that the correct spelling?) for preservation. It had a grandfather clock made of rolled newpapers too. The piano just had rolled papers glued all over it. Most of the furnishings were themed. Like papers from all capitals of the 50 states to a writing desk made up of the Christian Science Monitor newspapers exclusively. Imagine taking the time to not only roll all these, but to roll it until the phrase, title or special interest print was on top. Blows the mind! Lindbergs time was showcased as well. Even had the original stories when Babe Ruth played for the Red Sox!!!! Talk about captured history.




This is a picture of the house's
creator and his wife. They sure were young! What I can't figure out and my dictionary doesn't give me an understanding at all is....What in the world are "Rotogravure Sections" of a Sunday Newpaper??? I just don't get it.....If YOU do, can you fill me in????

If you can't read the date..it says 1896!





This was a picture of the furniture on the porch...you can see the wallpaper is newspaper and the love seat is sectioned rolled up newpapers put together like the old Lincoln Logs I used to play with as a kid.
Imagine how long it must have taken to roll, glaze, design and make the chair and table. There were so many items to look at. I tried to show you the most intriguing examples of a true recycling genius.


I hope you enjoyed seeing these most unusual fruits of an imaginative American visionary. If you are ever on the East Coast , stop by the areas of Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Pigeon Cove, Massachusetts. They are beautiful!

8 comments:

phsymom said...

So I'm thinking they had waaay too much time on their hands. Any children?

:D

Angela's Designs said...

LOL. Lots of time yeah...

When I was very young there was an old bar/restaurant in my hometown that was falling apart - abandoned and neglected. The walls were covered in old newspapers from the early 1900's. We used to go there and read the newspapers. By about 1998 the building had collapsed and is just a pile of rubble. It was kind of sad. (PS - I wanna go to New Zealand too!)

Michele said...

Phsymom,
Of Course they had lots of time!!
And that's why there is a THIRD generation of care takers....have to have lots of kids for that right? Without computers, radio, TV, Movies...besides farming..what did the ol' folks do for entertainment??? *grin*
Have to be creative! And productive...*giggling like a maniac*

Annalee! Howdy!
The loss of that building IS sad. Glad you have the memories of it though. Hey, did you know that there is a ebook romance story that takes place in New Zealand?
It's called Never Send a Dog to Do A Woman's Work. Ever hear of it?

Shesawriter said...

Very interesting find, Michele. You'd never guess it was made that way just from looking at it. WOW.

Tanya

Anonymous said...

Michele,

Wow, that's a bit of work. Just don't light a match!

Thanks for stopping by on my blog! Hope to see you back.

phsymom said...

Ok, went and checked out "Never Send a Dog to Do A Woman's Work" and it sound hilarious ... Another book to add to my TBR stack.

Thanks Michele.

Michele said...

Thanks Jason!
And thanks too for visiting me.
Yeah, I'll visit your blog, saved it to fav's actually. Like your insights. Very Cool.

Phsymom,
Really? You added it to your TBR pile? Well, gee, I guess I need to let you know that there is a book before that one called..get this..Talking Dogs, Aliens and Purple People Eaters. That's the whole title. It kind of hooked me because it was SO unusual. I liked it just because it was so different. Hope you enjoy it too! Whichever one you get. Toodles!

Brandy said...

Um, I've been bored before, but come on......At least it's something for future generations to be proud of.

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