Pictured above are the Thacher Island Twin Lights (aka the Cape Ann Light Station) located near Rockport. These are the first lighthouses built in the US to warn of danger rather than to demarcate the entrance to a port. More than 500 shipwrecks lie below the waters of Cape Ann. Thacher Island is also where the witness protection program got its start when notorious Boston hitman Joe “the Animal” Barboza, who agreed to testify against the New England mob in 1967, became the first participant along with his family. A movie entitled “Thacher Island” telling his story is being readied for release. Today, Jeanine and I took a road trip to the Cape Ann peninsula where we lunched on the patio of the Beauport Hotel before meeting up with one of our friends whose mother owns a spectacular home in the area. We also visited the Paper House and the Ten Pound Island Lighthouse.

The Rockport Paper House’s walls, doors, and furniture are made of varnished newspapers—roughly 100,000 of them. 215 layers of paper were stuck together with a homemade glue of flour, water, and apple peels to make 1-inch-thick panels for the walls.

All the furniture, including a clock, desk, and chair, is functional and made entirely of paper. The only exceptions are the piano, which is only covered in paper, and the fireplace. The house has stood intact for over 80 years, with no more upkeep than the occasional varnishing. What’s more, the walls and furniture are still readable, displaying headlines such as “LINDBERGH HOPS OFF FOR OCEAN FLIGHT TO PARIS.”