An Interesting House – by Gary

Marquesans have definitely abandoned tradition when it comes to housing, they now live in comfortable, if architecturally unremarkable houses.  Many of them are light weight kit houses that arrive from places like New Zealand as 'flat packs' (some assembly required!), while others are constructed almost entirely of concrete.  They are practical, low maintenance houses.  There is little about either their design or materials that speaks of locality or culture.

However there are a few stand-outs, houses that Vicki and I found particularly appealing.  Here is a gem that Vicki picked out.

This house features a stunning mixture of local materials.  As for style it feels a bit like French colonial meets Polynesia.

Its lack of glass (who needs it in this place), and excellent under-roof ventilation ensures the breeze can always work through.

There is a fine level of detailing, right down to the exposed rock in the base of the walls.

No matter which way the breeze is blowing there are windows and doors to open up, while the lack of thermal mass ensures it would cool down quickly at night.

The cladding is a fascinating blend of low cost, local materials, but very labour intensive and, as you can see, definitely not low maintenance.  Look at that carved panel.

Two of these panels sit either side of the main entry.  Nifty hairstyles huh?

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