
The last lighthouse keeper of Capri - MiriamWeiner
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20181005-the-last-lighthouse-keeper-of-capri
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alehul
For anyone interested in the story of lighthouses and their keepers (focused
on the Americas with a few scattered stories of elsewhere), I'd highly
recommend Brilliant Beacons by Eric Jay Dolin
([https://www.amazon.com/Brilliant-Beacons-History-American-
Li...](https://www.amazon.com/Brilliant-Beacons-History-American-Lighthouse-
ebook/dp/B00ZAT8WIS)).

He writes history books that are full of anecdotes and interesting, well-
researched primary sources. Hardly any of the information in the books are
discoverable online, and realizing that is largely what inspired me to get
into reading again.

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keiferski
Has anyone bought / rented an old lighthouse, purely to live in? I’m
fascinated by the idea - tons of time to read, draw, work on personal
projects, etc.

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ghaff
In the US, lighthouses have been sold to private individuals. There's one I
know on Cape Cod that's some sort of vacation rental. Apparently the Graves
Lighthouse in Boston Harbor is also now privately owned. [1]

A couple points of information that you may know but others may not realize:

1.) Not all lighthouses are particularly isolated. Sure, some have only boat
access and have difficult landings--see the Graves. But many are on roads on
the mainland or on large islands.

2.) Again the Graves notwithstanding, the lighthouse keeper's house is often a
cottage off to the side as opposed to the "lighthouse" itself.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graves_Light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graves_Light)

~~~
keiferski
Interesting, thanks. And I actually quite like the idea of living in a small
cottage and using the lighthouse as a studio/workshop.

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mc_fish
With every sentence, my envy of the keeper’s life grew.

~~~
trukterious
Indeed. Great view, time for reading and thinking, steps for exercise, saving
lives, few social events to attend...

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ilamont
_One stalwart sentinel remains in South Africa; three in France; a handful in
India, Myanmar (also known as Burma) and Portugal; and fewer than 50 in
Canada._

Anyone know why there are so many still in Canada?

People might be interested in the following project to turn Graves Light in
Boston Harbor into a modern, livable space. It's tough as the space is tight
and the conditions can be fierce ... last winter a storm ripped everything off
the dock.

[http://graveslightstation.com](http://graveslightstation.com)

~~~
goodcanadian
At a guess, Canada has a lot of coastline, especially compared to the others
in the list. Much of it is quite rocky.

~~~
nkrisc
No idea if it's true but it's a solid guess. Canada has far and away the most
coastline of any nation. Amounts vary depending on source but they have
roughly four times as much as the number two on the list, Norway.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_length_of...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_length_of_coastline)

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baud147258
They'll leave the lighthouse with this song:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOZqMC5SGGg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOZqMC5SGGg)

