Maison de Fer, Cast-iron house museum in Parc Meissonier, Poissy, France
The Maison de Fer is a cast-iron building with two floors above ground and one basement level, constructed using modular techniques that allow different sections to fit together like puzzle pieces. It now operates as a museum within Parc Meissonier, displaying artifacts and information about the city's past and industrial development.
Built in 1896 by the forges d'Hautmont for Georges F. de Coninck and his wife Isabelle S. Winslow, the house uses Joseph Danly's stamped-sheet-metal process; it is one of ten iron houses recorded in France. Its facade and roof were listed as monuments historiques on 1 August 1975. Toppled by the 1999 storm, it was dismantled in 2016 and rebuilt in Parc Meissonier.
The house is nicknamed "maison Eiffel", though it has no link to Gustave Eiffel: it was built with Joseph Danly's stamped-sheet-steel process. During the Liberation, a group of FFI occupied it, and cartridge cases were still being found there twenty years later. Since 2020 it has housed an architecture and heritage interpretation centre.
The museum is located within a public park that is easy to reach on foot from the city center. It is wise to check opening hours before visiting, as access is limited to specific days and times.
The house was dismantled in 2016 and rebuilt in Parc Meissonier; only 20 to 30% of the original metal elements could be reused. The architecture and heritage interpretation centre inside opened on 19 September 2020. The storm of 1999 had already destroyed the abandoned building on the A14 route.
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