Augustus "Gus" Papen is one of the many members of the Papen family, the namesake of Papen County. Gus worked with the Papen County Historical Society, and was interested in renovating the Papen County Lighthouse, overseen by the McQuoddy family. After her husband vanished at sea, Gus started a relationship with Nora McQuoddy that ended in her untimely death. Gus changed his plans for the lighthouse renovation to become a hotel and honor it as a symbol of his and Nora's love, and convinced Nora's son Elliot to go along with the idea.
Gus had had a previous lover, Annabelle Vandersloop, but only once, though she would try many times to woo him. In the end, she murdered Nora, hoping to get Gus to love her back, then tried to blow up the lighthouse, and everyone in it including Gus. She was stopped by Olive Snook.
With the opening of the new lighthouse hotel, Gus hoped to finally show his entrepreneur brothers that he too was capable,