Meet the Man Who Lights Up Main Street: The Heart and History of the Chandelier House

November 17, 2025 by Hingham Anchor Community Editor, Erin Elefante

Even if you don’t know the name Charlie Yourell, you most certainly know his home. Everyone who has driven down Main Street after dark knows the twinkling lights at the “Chandelier House” in Hingham.

We had the opportunity to meet with Charlie and his longtime partner, Paula Robinson, to learn more about their lives and the story behind the infamous chandelier house. While we suspected it would be an interesting story, we didn’t expect to learn so much about Hingham’s history and the surprising reason behind his stunning array of chandeliers.

Charlie grew up in the house, built by his ancestors over 200 years ago, and surrounded by family who owned neighboring homes and land. He recalls his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who lived nearby with a twinkle in his eye. His house is full of memories, the kind shared in stories and the kind you can see in his carefully preserved family heirlooms and historical artifacts. It was hard not to get lost in hearing the family history and how the house and surrounding land changed over the years, with many of the changes to the home done with his own two hands. Charlie and his family’s roots run deep in Hingham, and his impact continues today.

Paula describes Charlie as “The King of His Castle”, and it feels quite fitting. Charlie is a builder, and spent much of his early life helping with projects around the house and working for his Uncle’s construction company during the summers. After returning from serving in Vietnam with the Air Force, Charlie graduated from UMass with plans to go into business, before realizing his passion was building. He ran his business, Yourell Construction, for many years with a specialty in historic homes. “I can drive up Main Street and every third house I see I’ve worked on,” recalls Charlie. In the early 1980s he restored Old Ordinary and has done work for the Hingham Historical Society too. Charlie is a bit of a self-described perfectionist, and inside the house the love he puts into his work is apparent in the reclaimed wood floors gleaming with good care, handmade, restored, and repurposed furniture, the beautifully preserved original framework and careful additions to match, family and town artifacts carefully tucked away in stunning frames he built himself with scrap lumber, and the beautiful transom windows and doors throughout the house (“each door has a story,” adds Paula). It is clear he is a hard worker and one who finds beauty in history, and his answer to our final question of the day left us with a lot to think about.

“And so … the chandeliers”, Charlie says. “My grandfather built a custom house a few doors down, and I remember a big glass chandelier in the dining room, and it was my job every Spring to clean it. I had to take all the little pieces off and I’d have to clean them in vinegar.” And so began his intrigue with chandeliers.

In the 1980s, in an effort to make amends with his parents after “surprising” them with a big addition he put on the house that they initially weren’t fond of, he gave his beloved mother two chandeliers for Mother’s Day. More years passed by, and 3 years ago Charlie found himself at the metal pile at the Transfer Station and saw a beautiful chandelier he couldn’t believe someone was throwing away. So home it went with Charlie, who learned about and then quickly mastered the art of solar powered lighting. To date, he has restored and rewired over 200 chandeliers which can be seen twinkling in the daytime sun and glowing with solar lights in the evening, enchanting passersby. It is a hobby for Charlie, “or really more of an obsession,” he laughs.

And now to answer some burning questions. First and foremost, no, they are not for sale, as many who have tried know! During the winter and storms, he moves many of them behind the house under a shelter and disables the batteries to protect them. His garage is a big workshop with 50 years of supplies where he painstakingly takes apart the chandeliers, removes the electrical wiring and refits them with solar lights. Do people stop by? All the time! Among his favorite surprise visitors was a bus from The Residence at Penniman Hill full of interested woman – including a 102 year old who left with a gifted chandelier because Charlie was so impressed by her extensive knowledge of solar power! While he doesn’t have a favorite, he did show me a few that he is currently enamored with, pictured below. Where does he get the chandeliers? At the transfer station, through friends and clients, and occasionally he’ll return home and find some that were anonymously left at his door. He works away on them, “I just use my imagination,” says Charlie, and then deals with his biggest problem – where to put them!

And finally, the Why. When asked “what do you hope people feel think and feel when they drive by your house?” Charlie gave a surprising answer. “Think about the waste. We’re such a throwaway society. Too much money spent on the wrong things. If it works, leave it alone.”

While we can all appreciate the wonder of the “Chandelier House”, we think the message behind it resonates even more. Find beauty in what we already have. Look at how we can take ordinary things and reuse them in new ways. Less waste, and as Charlie says, “the idea is not to buy anything.”  You would be hard pressed to find someone who embodies that philosophy more than Charlie, who has no cell phone and a home full of things that he has painstakingly restored to their original splendor. We were so inspired meeting Charlie and Paula and seeing what they have done to make the world a better place, bringing joy to those who pass by, and lighting up our community with a message about finding beauty and contentment in what we already have.