House Made Of Newspaper Lasts For 88 Years

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Follow me Sebrina Smith

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by LiteGreen House Made Of Newspaper Lasts For 88 Years

What began as a hobby-project for a weekend retreat soon turned into an obsession.

Elis Stenman, an engineer who invented the paper clip machine, began work on this unique building in 1922. He was curious about whether rolled newspaper could be used as an effective insulation.

Neighbors and friends donated used papers to help Stenman, and soon he had collected enough to cover almost every inch of the structure, including furniture.
And even lamps. He held his masterpiece together with his own homemade glue.

Stemnan covered his house in over 100,000 rolled newspapers. He coated it with varnish to protect it from the harsh weather. On the outside, where the varnish has worn away...

...you can see headlines and snippets from articles almost a century old.
Was it thrift or compulsion that drove Stenman to cover an entire house–including a piano–with old newspapers? No one knows for sure.

We do know that his hobby-turned-obsession has stood the test of time. About eighty-eight years, in fact.

I think Mr. Stenman has proven his point, whatever it might have actually been.