If you’re ever in Rockport, MA, take a trip down Pidgin Hill and search for a sign that reads “Paper House.” Park by the curb and look more closely at this one-of-a-kind residence that resembles a modest log cabin. In fact, it’s totally made of logs.

The log home’s history begins in 1922, when a mechanical engineer named Alice Stenman began construction on a tiny vacation residence. It began like any other home, with a wood frame, roof sheathing, and flooring, but Stenman came up with an unusual design for the walls. The walls of the log home are comprised of many layers of old newspapers, approximately an inch thick, glued together and varnished.

Everything in the home is likewise made of paper. Stenman made chairs, tables, bookcases, and even curtains and clocks out of newspaper and magazine pages. Only the piano is made of wood and coated with paper for consistency, and the fireplace is made of brick for obvious reasons.

Nobody knows what inspired Stenman to employ logs in his structure. During the Great Depression, his heirs believe he sought to experiment with inexpensive and economical thermal insulation. Even the adhesive is created from scratch, using flour, water, and apple peelings.

Stenman may have dabbled in recycling, or he may just like paper. He did, however, invent machinery for the manufacturing of paperclips. He had planned to cover the outside of the walls with clapboard, but the paper held up so well the first winter that he decided it wasn’t necessary.

Stenman finished the house in two years and lived there until 1930. After that, he kept trying new ways to reuse old paper.

Nearly ninety years later, the top layers of the walls have eventually begun to peel away, exposing bits of former notes and advertising that visitors to the newspaper home liked reading.

A note about Charles Lindbergh’s journey over the Atlantic Ocean can be found on the desk, while the radio is covered with material about Herbert Hoover’s presidential campaign.

Admiral Byrd’s voyages to the North and South Poles are documented on the piano. Over time, the layers of newspapers will continue to peel away, revealing more and more old notes.