Don Quixote had windmills, I have lighthouses
February 4, 2014 5:26 PM Subscribe
For an assignment due Friday - I seek examples of lighthouses that have been turned into other things. Difficulty level - they cannot be private houses or inns.
I do some travel writing, and sometimes my editor pitches ideas to us. One idea was of "ten cases where lighthouses that have been turned into other things." That sounded interesting, so I took it.
But when my initial research hit a snag because I just plain can't find many distinctly different things which lighthouses have been turned into. And all the time I was hoping to spend digging into the background info about the different lighthouses, I've been spending trying to search Google for every configuration of "former/repurposed/used-to-be lighthouse" search I can think of just to simply find a hit for something where a lighthouse wasn't turned into an inn or a restaurant or someone's summer house or whatever. I've only found a handful of different things:
a recording studio
A church
a mausoleum
a site-specific music venue
artists' studios
a castle (the tower used to be a Roman lighthouse)
a time ball tower
And then a fucking metric asston of inns, history museums, and houses.
My editor definitely wants ten different ideas FOR lighthouses, and she definitely wants ten, and she definitely does not want inns or houses. I am stumped. Lemme know if there's a lighthouse near you that's been turned into something weird. Thank you.
I do some travel writing, and sometimes my editor pitches ideas to us. One idea was of "ten cases where lighthouses that have been turned into other things." That sounded interesting, so I took it.
But when my initial research hit a snag because I just plain can't find many distinctly different things which lighthouses have been turned into. And all the time I was hoping to spend digging into the background info about the different lighthouses, I've been spending trying to search Google for every configuration of "former/repurposed/used-to-be lighthouse" search I can think of just to simply find a hit for something where a lighthouse wasn't turned into an inn or a restaurant or someone's summer house or whatever. I've only found a handful of different things:
a recording studio
A church
a mausoleum
a site-specific music venue
artists' studios
a castle (the tower used to be a Roman lighthouse)
a time ball tower
And then a fucking metric asston of inns, history museums, and houses.
My editor definitely wants ten different ideas FOR lighthouses, and she definitely wants ten, and she definitely does not want inns or houses. I am stumped. Lemme know if there's a lighthouse near you that's been turned into something weird. Thank you.
Response by poster: Cafe = restaurants. Restaurants are no good.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:38 PM on February 4, 2014
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:38 PM on February 4, 2014
Response by poster: Sorry, I realize just now that I forgot to clarify that restaurants are also not what I am looking for.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:40 PM on February 4, 2014
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:40 PM on February 4, 2014
Best answer: Can they be things that lighthouses were formerly were used as, sometime after they were lighthouses, though they may have since been renovated into something else?
This one was used as a golf pro shop
This one (Cap Moule à Chique (Vieux-Fort)) was used as "a junction for the wiring for all of the radio and signal towers" but has since been renovated
This (1982) article has a few others that I haven't looked into (see the middle paragraph in the right column especially)
posted by brainmouse at 5:55 PM on February 4, 2014
This one was used as a golf pro shop
This one (Cap Moule à Chique (Vieux-Fort)) was used as "a junction for the wiring for all of the radio and signal towers" but has since been renovated
This (1982) article has a few others that I haven't looked into (see the middle paragraph in the right column especially)
posted by brainmouse at 5:55 PM on February 4, 2014
Response by poster: Can they be things that lighthouses were formerly were used as, sometime after they were lighthouses, though they may have since been renovated into something else?
I'll take it, yes. Thank you!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:59 PM on February 4, 2014
I'll take it, yes. Thank you!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:59 PM on February 4, 2014
Best answer: The famous lighthouse at Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia Canada used to be a post office for many years until 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggys_Point_Lighthouse
posted by photoexplorer at 6:02 PM on February 4, 2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggys_Point_Lighthouse
posted by photoexplorer at 6:02 PM on February 4, 2014
Best answer: I can't link to it but google the Palacio Barolo in Buenos Aires. Not a repurposed lighthouse, but a lighthouse built on top of a 22-storey office building. The whole building is designed around the Divine Comedy and the lighthouse represents God.
posted by jontyjago at 6:02 PM on February 4, 2014
posted by jontyjago at 6:02 PM on February 4, 2014
Response by poster: Jontyjago, that's actually an edge case but it seems cool enough that it may squeak in.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:03 PM on February 4, 2014
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:03 PM on February 4, 2014
Best answer: This one "has been used as a physics laboratory and an air sampling station."
This one is a bird observatory.
posted by catalytics at 6:43 PM on February 4, 2014
This one is a bird observatory.
posted by catalytics at 6:43 PM on February 4, 2014
Notre Dame des Anges Church is a medieval lighthouse that was converted to a church in the 1680s.
posted by MeghanC at 6:53 PM on February 4, 2014
posted by MeghanC at 6:53 PM on February 4, 2014
Best answer: Leuchtturm Untereversand is now a cormorant sanctuary.
posted by IndigoJones at 7:10 PM on February 4, 2014
posted by IndigoJones at 7:10 PM on February 4, 2014
Schiermonnikoog - Lighthouse was transformed into a water tower for a while, now an antenna tower. Not very cool, I suppose.
posted by IndigoJones at 7:30 PM on February 4, 2014
posted by IndigoJones at 7:30 PM on February 4, 2014
Best answer: Notre Dame des Anges Church is a medieval lighthouse that was converted to a church in the 1680s.
And for symmetry, the Toren van Goedereede is a medieval Dutch church that was converted into a lighthouse in the 16th century. It's since been turned into a museum, and houses a carillon.
(The Dutch seem to have gone in for repurposing churches: the Tall Lighthouse in Westkapelle is another one.)
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 11:58 PM on February 4, 2014
And for symmetry, the Toren van Goedereede is a medieval Dutch church that was converted into a lighthouse in the 16th century. It's since been turned into a museum, and houses a carillon.
(The Dutch seem to have gone in for repurposing churches: the Tall Lighthouse in Westkapelle is another one.)
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 11:58 PM on February 4, 2014
My friend's company, D4H, is located in a converted lighthouse. Appropriately enough, they make software for search, rescue and recovery.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:37 AM on February 5, 2014
posted by DarlingBri at 2:37 AM on February 5, 2014
(I trust you are going to let us know if and where this comes to fruition....)
posted by IndigoJones at 7:48 AM on February 5, 2014
posted by IndigoJones at 7:48 AM on February 5, 2014
Response by poster: Oh heck yeah.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:16 AM on February 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:16 AM on February 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Maritime Museum
Museum and artist's retreat
Giftshop
Library
posted by the latin mouse at 12:37 PM on February 5, 2014
Museum and artist's retreat
Giftshop
Library
posted by the latin mouse at 12:37 PM on February 5, 2014
Response by poster: Quick note re MeghannC's rec: Notre Dame Des Anges IS the Church I have mentioned on my "I already have it" list, but if anyone knows of any OTHER churches that'd be fantastic. (I'll mention the Toren van Goedereede and the Tall Lighthouse in passing, just for "niftiness'" sake.)
And a lengthier answer than "heck yeah" -
(I trust you are going to let us know if and where this comes to fruition....)
No "if" about it, more like a "when". I'll post the link.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:28 AM on February 6, 2014
And a lengthier answer than "heck yeah" -
(I trust you are going to let us know if and where this comes to fruition....)
No "if" about it, more like a "when". I'll post the link.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:28 AM on February 6, 2014
Response by poster: So I'm marking this "resolved" as I turned the draft in yesterday and realized I needed to do that. Thanks to all - I didn't get to everything I marked as "best answer," but it gave me enough fodder to work with. (Like, I didn't use the Cap Moule à Chique specifically, but its use as a wiring hub made me think "signal hubs/telecommunications" in general, and that's how I found a few other things with lengthier stories about them so it still helped.
It may be a little while before the piece goes up, but I'll post a link when it's up. Thanks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:59 AM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
It may be a little while before the piece goes up, but I'll post a link when it's up. Thanks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:59 AM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Oh gosh! I just realized I never posted a link to the finished work - I'm sorry, here it is!
LIFE AFTER LIGHTS-OUT: TEN ADAPTIVE REUSES FOR LIGHTHOUSES
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:39 AM on April 18, 2014
LIFE AFTER LIGHTS-OUT: TEN ADAPTIVE REUSES FOR LIGHTHOUSES
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:39 AM on April 18, 2014
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posted by MonkeyToes at 5:38 PM on February 4, 2014