Walls in France: La petite maison

When I was in college and home on spring break, I bought a miter box to build a silkscreen frame. My father came up and asked what I was doing. I explained that I was using the miter box to create four 90 degree angle cuts so I could assemble a square frame. I recall his amazement that such a device existed. Thus is my legacy in construction.

When we decided to move to France, I promised the girls that we would construct a “play structure.” We considered a tree house, but decided the trees were too small. We then decided to build a “petite maison” similar to the one the Defaix’s had built for their daughter, Josepha. Kits were available at Castorama (France’s version of Lowe’s), and since the scale was fairly small, it seemed very doable. But, as we researched the petite maisons further, they really looked too small since the girls are getting bigger every day. So, opted for buying a kit for a small garden shed instead. What we soon found was that we had engaged in a project that was way over our heads.

To begin with, the instructions were in French…and not the restaurant French that I can do, nor even the conversational/business French that Jean does so well…No, this was construction-worker French. Jean and I assembled the floor fairly quickly, but after removing the remaining pieces from the packing, stacking them all in the garage and staring at the manual for several hours, we came to the realization that we had no clue what to do. (We couldn’t even begin trying to identify what the pieces were!) We decided to re-set our construction goals and essentially re-type the manual using Google’s French/English translator.

The next day, with our special English version of the manual in-hand, we began a long day of lifting, toting, hammering and screwing the pieces of the house together. Somehow, it all (sort of) worked.) Fortunately, the kit came with a great deal of fascia pieces that effectively hid the uneven assembly. The “roof felt” also did a great job of covering the uneven roof. On day three, I even got the door lock to work!

Fortunately, the girls will see the petite maison through the lens’ of children…not noticing the numerous construction flaws (I still have four pieces I identified as D14, but have no idea where they go or what they do) and defects. As I write this, they are re-arranging the furniture we bought at the flea market yesterday and decorating the walls. They will have many hours of imagination and wonder in their little play structure, and that is what it was all about.