Report: Living in a Lighthouse Is As Cool As You Think It Is

Perhaps maybe you’ve thought, Gosh, wish I could just get away from this horrid world and live a solitary life in a lighthouse somewhere, far, far away from men who start sentences with the word“actually,” sushi burritos, and Citibikes, just to name a few small travesties. Maybe you’ve considered a lighthouse. Wouldn’t living in a lighthouse be cool? Well, it is cool, according to a woman who lived in one for three decades.

The New York Times checks in with Margaret A. Winski, a woman who never stopped chasing her dream of living in a goddamn lighthouse. When she was 12 she imagined living in a lighthouse and then as an adult straight up joined the Coast Guard to make the dream a reality:

I went for the interview and they said, ‘Why do you want to join the Coast Guard?’ And I said, ‘I want to live in a lighthouse,’” she recalled. “They said, ‘Forget it, you’ll never live in a lighthouse.’”

Well guess what: SHE DID IT.

Winski served as the lighthouse keeper at the Montauk Lighthouse for 30 years, tending to the lighthouse at night and also handling the money from ticket sales and the gift shop, while also working at the post office in town by day. She didn’t get a TV until five years into her stay, instead choosing to read all the time and listen to the radio. Oh, and one time Nicole Kidman just casually visited her. The article reads:

Once, about a decade ago, a car drove up behind her. Normally, she would turn after-hours visitors away, but there was “something about these people.”

She invited the group in for a tour and up the 137 steps to the tower. It was the actress Nicole Kidman; the singer Keith Urban, her husband; and Ingrid Sischy, the Vanity Fair writer and critic. Leslee Dart, whose public relations firm represents Ms. Kidman, confirmed the outing.

“I sort of knew who she was, but had no idea who he was,” Ms. Winski said. “He’s like, ‘Hi, I’m Keith.’ I’m like, ‘Good. I’m Marge.’”

After 30 years of lighthouse service, at 60 years old, Marge has decided to move to Maine and a Montauk businessman named Joseph Gaviola is taking her spot, which is unfortunate since I, Hazel Cills, would love to live in a lighthouse and meet Nicole Kidman. But for anyone else who holds onto this weird, archaic fantasy, Marge is our inspiration.