Timothy Mount and Lynne Macco live in the Adirondack region of New York, but they have spent a good part of their lives going back to 2008 serving as volunteer caretakers at lighthouses in far flung corners of the earth. Lynne is a retired physician, and Tim is a professor emeritus of music at Stony Brook University. Both of them are also experienced boat captains.

Lynne Macco and Timothy Mount at Seguin Island Light Station in Maine

Their caretaking experience began with three months at Maine’s Seguin Island Light Station in the summer of 2008. In 2009 they became the first caretakers of Bakers Island Light Station in Salem, Massachusetts for the Essex National Heritage Commission. In the summer of 2013 Lynne and Tim were caretakers at remote Five Finger Lighthouse in Frederick Sound, Alaska. In 2018, they spent a summer as caretakers at the Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge in Washington, working on conservation projects and educating the public about the refuge. In between other caretaking gigs, Tim and Lynne spent three separate stretches as the caretakers at Deal Island Lighthouse in Tasmania, Australia. There they greeted visitors and maintained buildings including a museum, and looked after 10 miles of trails.

Bakers Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont

In the winter of 2020, the couple served as campus hosts at the Schoodic Institute in the Schoodic Peninsula section at Maine’s Acadia National Park. Then, this past summer, they were the first-ever volunteer caretakers at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, also in Acadia National Park.

Bass Harbor Head Light Station, Maine. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont