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

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

Meeting

Gregory and Vlad Liteanu met through a mutual acquaintance. Gregory knew that their house project was not simple and that they needed a skilled builder. That's how he met Vlad, with whom he hit it off from the start and they became friends.

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

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

Factory production

As I told you herePrefabricated wall houses are mostly factory-built, with only the assembly of the component parts (walls) done on site. In this case, things were a bit different.

It was in 2012 and the factory didn't have all the facilities it has now. There was no such thing as a butterfly table, which makes it possible to obtain walls with all the component layers - OSB, insulation, plasterboard, wainscoting - and no such thing as a bridge crane. So unlike now, the factory work took less time and the site work took longer, with most of the work being done in France.

The chosen solution, with wood fiber 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 table holds them together very tightly, preventing them from moving. It's a machine that can build walls up to 12 m long, and even the final paneling 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 facilities they were only able to make the wooden structure, the wall frames, the beams. The "filling" of the walls was to be done in France, on site. The time spent in the factory was shorter (1 month), more time (3 months) was needed on site.

Special interiors

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 wood fiberboard on the outside. The walls were well anchored and reinforced with special formaldehyde-free OSB. On the inside, they were boarded with fermocell membrane, a kind of ecologically friendly regips made of recovered cellulose fiber.

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

The staircase looks like it's floating as it's made only of rungs attached to the wall with special connectors, each rung having a spotlight mounted next to it.

The fireplace disproves 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 proof.

The fireplace, along with the chimney, is 2 tons. It was very well insulated and secured against fire and remains the focal point of the living room even now, after all this time. The strength calculations and the realization of the wooden structures to withstand the weight were made by Litarh, and installation by a company that specializes in fireplace installation.

Horse stables

Everything has been designed to be unified, which is why the horse stables were also made by Litarh. Not only were they made to resemble the house, but the same eco-friendly, environmentally friendly materials were used. Gregory also asked for wood wool (an expensive natural insulator) to be used for the interior insulation of the stables, out of his desire to integrate the whole complex into nature, to do nothing to disturb the forest in which they chose to live. The only difference was that they no longer used exterior insulation, leaving only the paneling. But that's because they didn't need another layer of insulation, as the inner layer was enough.

Cas became the subject of a magazine

The house, which took a total of one year to complete, with the actual construction part being finished in 4 months, turned out so well and so well 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. The charm of the exposed beams, the floating wooden steps, the fireplace that dominates the living room, the reclaimed wood furnishings throughout the house, the surrounding park, and of course, the stables, were mentioned.

The greenery is everywhere, the trees almost come into the house. The very large, generous windows let in plenty of sunlight. It feels like a little piece of heaven, the result of a perfect collaboration between a beneficiary with a love and respect for nature and a professional Romanian builder who has earned respect through his reliability. Vlad and Gregory have remained friends.

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

Photos are property of Litarh