Maison de Fer

English translation

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History

Under Napoleon III, with the economic prosperity of the Second Empire, the use of metal in infrastructures and in the building sector gained momentum. Thus the use of metal in architecture developed in the first half of the 19th century with the growth of the iron and steel industry. The development of the railway and the construction of major public facilities (bridges and stations) marked the consecration of the first metal-frame constructions. The apogee of this new metal architecture is symbolized by the Universal Exposition of 1889. The erection of the Eiffel Tower thus illustrates the technical and industrial progress of the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1851, the invention of sheet metal (metal sheet) which could be galvanized, that is to say coated with an anticorrosive layer of zinc or lead, was going to enable the birth of entirely metal houses, at once light and rigid. During the second half of the 19th century, numerous patents for metal constructions were then filed. The construction in iron applied to domestic architecture presents several advantages of which the first is economic. Thanks to the prefabrication of pieces in series, the design of demountable and lightweight structures reduces transport costs and allows the employment of unskilled workers. The first European patent for a demountable iron house was issued in Belgium in 1885. Joseph Danly had a factory at "Forges d'Aiseau" near Charleroi. In this context of technical innovation, French engineer and builder Bibiano Duclos (1853-1925) filed his patent in 1890: "improvements in demountable and transportable constructions". He probably developed his concept following the universal exposition of 1889. Indeed, the Danly system was used there for the construction of the théâtre des folies parisiennes. The iron chalet of Dampierre presumably came from the factory at Courbevoie between 1894 and 1896. It was purchased by Arthur Puig, commercial employee, who installed it in 1896 on the current site acquired the same year from the Duke of Luynes, owner of the Dampierre estate. Initially, it served to house him, pending the construction of his villa still situated on the other side of the path. Subsequently, it is said to have served as a guest house. In the 1950s, the building was left abandoned. From 1963 onwards, it was loaned by the Puig heirs to the commune of Dampierre-en-Yvelines then to a ramblers' association. Concerned about the poor condition of this construction and the weakness of accommodation structures for ramblers in the Chevreuse valley, the regional natural park repurchased the chalet in 1986. It was completely dismantled, restored and converted into a gîte d'étape. The space between the piles is fitted out as a ground floor.

Description

The plan of the building is established on a rectangular base. The house is a small modular pavilion of a single level of 56 m² initially on piles. The constructive principle is identical for all the typologies of constructions patented by Duclos: main structure in puddled iron composed of T-shaped iron posts, connected by bracing. The outer iron carries the sheet metal, the inner iron the fir panelling. Derived from a constructive model inscribed in the hygienic movement of the 19th century, the building is initially conceived without basement but on 23 piles in millstone grit. This sanitary void, created between the ground and the ground-floor floor at the end of the 1980s, is characteristic of the Duclos system and serves as an aerated buffer space and contributes to the healthiness of the construction. The metal structure rests on piles in rubble stone of millstone grit mounted in cement.