A Romanian producer has fulfilled their dream of owning a house near Paris

Romanian producers make wooden houses all over the world and are highly appreciated. People end up seeking them out because they have seen their homes or heard of their skill in making homes exactly to their taste. Such is the case with the house in Arbonne-la-Foret, built on the edge of a forest 70 km from Paris. The owners wanted it to be in harmony with nature, the spirit of the place, the people and the horses. The house of their dreams was made by Litarh, the prefab wall house builder, and the owners, Megan and Gregory, were very pleased.

Meeting

Gregory and Vlad Liteanu met through a mutual acquaintance. Gregory knew their house project wasn't simple and they needed a skilled builder. That's how he met Vlad, with whom he got on perfectly from the start and they became friends.

Megan and Gregory presented Vlad with the plan, telling him they wanted a house that would fit perfectly into that corner of the woods. That they want to use as many natural materials as possible, and that the horse stables should be similar to the house, both aesthetically and in terms of materials used.

They worked out all the conditions and details of the construction, the materials they would use, and then Vlad returned home to start the construction part of the factory.

Factory production

As I told you hereIn the case of prefabricated houses, most of them are built in factories, with only the assembly of the component parts (walls) being done on site. In this case things were a little different.

It was 2012 and the factory didn't have all the facilities it hasnow. There is no butterfly table that allows to obtain walls with all the component layers - OSB, insulation, plasterboard, panelling - and neither is there the rolling bridge. So, unlike now, work in the factory took less time and on the site more, with most of the work being done in France.

The chosen solution, with wood fibre board insulation, required a great deal of precision and could not be achieved without high-performance machinery. When the walls are made, the materials are placed on top of each other and then the butterfly mass holds them together very tightly, preventing them from moving. It is a machine that allows walls up to 12 m long to be built, and even the final panelling can be applied. The bridge crane then moves the tightly fixed walls into special stands, without the danger of the component materials moving and the structure changing.

But in 2012 they were still in their infancy and with minimal equipment they could only do the wooden structure, wall frames, beams. The "filling" of the walls had to be done on site in France. The time spent in the factory was shorter (1 month), more time (3 months) was needed on site.

Special interior fittings

At Arbonne-la-Foret they fixed the wall frames and beams and installed the other layers. Wood wool insulation was used on the inside and 60 mm thick fibreboard on the outside. The walls were well anchored and reinforced with special formaldehyde-free OSB. On the inside they were clad with fermocell membrane, a kind of environmentally friendly plasterboard made of recovered cellulose fibre.

Of the interiors that Megan and Gregory wanted, two were more special and also done by Vlad - the wooden staircase leading upstairs and the calculations for the heavy 2-ton fireplace attached to the wooden structure.

The staircase seems to float, being built only of steps attached to the wall with special connectors, each step having a spotlight mounted next to it.

The fireplace contradicts the idea that its presence in a wooden house is dangerous and that such a house cannot withstand very heavy weights trapped in the structure. The installation of the fireplace and the fact that it has been working for 6 years without any problems are the best evidence.

The fireplace, together with the chimney, weighs 2 tons. It has been very well insulated and fireproofed and remains the focal point of the living room after so long. The strength calculations and the realization of the wooden structure to withstand the weight were done by Litarh, and the installation by a company specialising in fireplace installation.

Horse stables

Everything has been designed to be uniform and that's why the horse stables were also made by Litarh. Not only were they made to look like the house, but the same environmentally friendly materials were used. Gregory asked that wood wool (an expensive natural insulator) also be used for the interior insulation of the stables, out of his desire to integrate the whole complex into nature, to avoid disturbing the forest where they chose to live. The only difference was that they no longer used exterior insulation, leaving only the panelling. But that's because they didn't need another layer of insulation, the inner one was enough.

Cas became the subject of a magazine

The house, which took a total of a year to complete, with the actual construction part completed in 4 months, turned out so well and so integrated into the landscape that in 2016 it became topic in the magazine French "Construire en bois", considered one of the most successful wooden houses in the Paris region. Mention was made of the charm of the exposed beams, the wooden steps that seem to float, the fireplace that dominates the living room, the landscaping throughout the house made with reclaimed wood, the surrounding park, and of course, the stables.

Greenery is everywhere, the trees almost come into the house. Very large, generous windows let in plenty of sunlight. It looks like a little piece of heaven resulting from the perfect collaboration between a beneficiary with love and respect for nature and a professional Romanian builder who has earned his respect through seriousness. In fact, Vlad and Gregory have remained friends.

There are many such houses built with professionalism and responsibility in many parts of the world, but also in Romania. There are houses of all kinds, large or small, with or without a floor, for large or small families. We want to present you the stories of these houses, often told by their owners. The next house will be from Arad, and its story will be told by its owner. So, stay with us, you will learn many interesting things about how you can build the house of your dreams.

Photos are property of Litarh