WAITSFIELD, Vermont. (12/14/2008) -- Henri de Marne leaned his head back against the wicker chair. “Someone once told me,” de Marne said, “Henri, trust your luck.” That is exactly what de Marne has been doing all 83 years of his life. Not only has he trusted his own good fortune, but he continues to convince millions of Americans to trust his luck, as well.
Henri de Marne gives home improvement advice in his nationally syndicated column, “First Aid for the Ailing House,” run in the New Jersey Star Ledger, among others. Rotating his head from side to side as he talks, de Marne appears owlish, explaining that this is the only movement he is allowed, since a near fatal car accident last winter when he broke his neck, seven ribs, his sternum, and he dislocated his clavicle bone. Now, with his neck fused permanently to his spine, de Marne says that it’s a good thing he’s a lucky person.
“I was knocked out and taken to the trauma center,” said de Marne. “I was never even aware that they gave me an MRI. I had no recollection of anything.” De Marne's wife told him that the doctors in the trauma center told her that he was lucky to be alive, as it was a "fatal" accident. “I do have great genes,” said de Marne, adding that this may have played a part in his survival. De Marne’s own mother lived until 101 years old, and de Marne intends to follow in her footsteps.
After hearing this traumatic story right off the bat, it is difficult to refocus the interview on the mundane topic of construction. But then again, to de Marne, home building is anything but boring.
Sitting at the dining room table in his mountain home in Waitsfield, Vermont, de Marne reflected on why he chose home improvement as a career. Unassuming in his wool sweater and grandfather glasses, de Marne said that although he didn’t start with home improvement, he was not surprised that he ended up there.
As a young man, de Marne never entertained the idea of construction work as a profession. Growing up in an extravagant home on an affluent avenue in Paris, France, de Marne remembered his father’s lofty aspirations for his son’s future as a “captain of industry.” De Marne said that despite his father’s pleas, he had other plans for his future that involved working with his hands.
“I am a Sagittarius,” said de Marne, “I am furious at injustice. What I love about fixing homes and construction litigation is that I am literally getting vengeance for an injustice done to the homeowner. That gives me great satisfaction.”
Deemed America’s most trusted expert on residential housing by Publisher’s Weekly, de Marne thinks of himself as a modern Don Quixote. In one of the many roles de Marne plays in his public life, he acts as an expert witness for construction litigation, with background experience in home inspection. He says that he likes nothing better than to testify in court about a home’s condition.
“I only take cases that are of really good merit. And then I go for it. I want the wrong doer hanged…crucified,” says De Marne with passion in his voice, refraining from any mention of speaking metaphorically. He says that he knows that he is an anomaly; when most people avoid speaking in court, he does not shy away from it.
De Marne said, with a grin, that he could see himself as a construction version of Don Quixote--riding around the countryside on his donkey, attempting to right the wrongs done against homeowners--fixing poorly made homes.
De Marne’s own home, carefully crafted in accordance with his own home-building expertise, is a modern, brown clapboard house, built at the end of a road in a small Vermont ski town . Overlooking the Mad River Valley, the house sits high up on the mountain, leaving the wooded property with an awesome view of the town below.
De Marne turns back to the table, his eyes stray away from the mountains as he recalls his early years in France. It is obvious that for de Marne, these memories are painful.
During the German occupation of Paris in 1940, de Marne said that he joined the resistance movement and was also a member of an American Red Cross Rescue team. After the liberation of Paris in 1944, he joined the 2nd French Armored Division to fight in World War II under General Patton. While serving in Patton’s army, de Marne made several life-long acquaintances, two of whom later became his sponsors when he decided to emigrate to the United States. De Marne recalled them saying, “America needs young people like you.”
On the other hand, De Marne said that his father was less supportive of the idea of immigration. De Marne’s father said, “People like us don’t emigrate.” However, deeply worried about the potential spread of communism throughout Western Europe, de Marne decided that he had to leave; he said that he refused to live in a communist country.
Perhaps the unhappy situation that motivated his immigration to the states is the reason that de Marne is reluctant to speak French. Not once does he reference a quote in his native tongue. De Marne sticks solely to the English language, which he speaks with a very slight Parisian accent.
After securing his first job in the United States as a French teacher at the University of Maryland, de Marne began his informal training in construction science. Technically, de Marne was supposed to be studying art, English, and History for his Masters, but in his free time, the young researcher could not contain his curiosity for modern architecture. He said that he was constantly studying home and building strategy.
“I checked out books from the library on construction and I would design my own homes on scrap paper at night, in the confines of my room,” said de Marne. “They (the homes) were never built, but they were my fancy.”
Now and then, De Marne crosses his arms and shifts his legs, keeping his gaze steady on the Green Mountains. Several years before he started construction, de Marne said that he taught at a summer camp on Lake Champlain, which later inspired him to move to Vermont.
“This is when I met her (Vermont),” said de Marne, “I’ve always loved the North Country and the woods.”
Despite the many teaching stints that finally led him to this place, de Marne said that he does not regret the time spent waiting, before realizing his dream. In fact, de Marne sees the waiting period as a time of growth and development.
“In France, all of your general education becomes part of your personality,” said de Marne. “It makes you a person of broader scope.”
The construction industry is constantly evolving, so de Marne doesn’t have time to relive his past mistakes. To de Marne, construction is all about the “trial and error” experience.
In truth, de Marne said that his very first construction project in Vermont “completely bagged out.” After obtaining the franchise for a vacation home called a “topsider,” de Marne attempted to start building these flawed prefabricated homes. He bought an old inn, which de Marne mischievously said was “run by hippies who were up to no good.” He managed to build one topsider home, before he realized that they were not a good investment. Due to the energy crisis of 1972, the housing market was down and buyers who were looking for ski houses were opting to buy into condominium complexes. Unfazed, De Marne said that he admitted to failure and simply moved on.
Nevertheless, this initial defeat did not mean that de Marne gave up on home building.“There’s something about the process of designing and building, improving living spaces, and the actual ‘hands-on’ aspect of construction,” said de Marne. “Seeing something come out of the ground is like watching a dream turn into a reality.”
De Marne soon realized his own dream, yet in a slightly different medium. In 1982, United Media syndicated his newspaper column titled “About the House.” Years in construction had given de Marne a vast store of knowledge, most of which was accumulated through a deep friendship with the research director of the National Association of Home Builders, Arthur Johnson. De Marne credited much of his success in home improvement to Johnson. Because of his friend’s good judgment in the area, de Marne was able to learn how to branch off from his labor-intensive construction career. He then began to advise homeowners on ways to solve their daily problems.
De Marne originally started writing his home improvement question and answer column for The Washington Star, a Washington D.C. newspaper in 1974. He recalled that several years later he received a telephone call from United Media in New York City, solidifying the next step in his career. De Marne was about to marry his construction knowledge with his writing.
“I was sitting right there,” de Marne says, pointing through the frosted sliding glass door out onto the corner of his mountainside deck. De Marne said that reality did not hit him until he had hung up the phone with United Features Syndicate. He was a bit shocked at the news that he was going to be a nationally publicized home specialist.
“All of a sudden I said, ‘Oh, my God, what am I getting myself into?” said de Marne, deciding at that moment that he had better measure up to the job at hand.
Yet, de Marne felt pressure to measure up in more than just his writing. Deeming Vermont “one of the most forward looking states,” de Marne said that he had always felt an urge to be more environmentally friendly. Quickly realizing that he could use his influence in the home building industry to promote energy efficiency, de Marne started encouraging clients to look for energy alternatives.
“It is absolutely essential to build energy efficient homes,” said de Marne. “It should be the responsibility of every builder.” Sitting up a bit straighter in his chair, de Marne laid his opinion on the table with conviction, as if he were reciting a Bible verse.
Furthermore, De Marne said that he believes that every builder/contractor should have multiple responsibilities--beyond simply convincing clients to build energy efficient homes. De Marne thinks that there are three essential elements to consider when building energy efficient homes.
First, de Marne said that it is important to use top quality windows and doors. “Don’t shave on the cost of windows and doors,” he said. “The reason being, this is where most of a home’s heat and energy is lost.”
Secondly, de Marne said that it is easy to position a home in such as way that it receives natural light and heat from the sun’s rays. This is called “passive solar” and in April 2008, the National Association of Home Builders announced Silver Sage Village, an age-in-place community in Colorado noted for its green designs, as one of the finalists in its Best of 50+ Housing Awards. Silver Sage Village is known for its use of sustainable materials and passive solar energy.
“Walking the talk,” and setting an example, De Marne points to a large sheepskin rug spread across his own living room floor. “See?” he says, delineating where the midday sun streaks across his common room. “I positioned my house a little bit south, in order to take advantage of passive solar,” de Marne says. “ In the winter, the sun’s rays reach all the way to my kitchen; warming my entire house by three in the afternoon.”
Thirdly, de Marne advises that it is imperative to insulate a home properly, in order to ensure that a massive amount of heat is not escaping through the walls, the attic, or the cathedral ceiling of a building. He also recommended using Soffit vents around the exterior of the house, under the roof overhang in conjunction with full-length, externally-baffled ridge vents. This allows the perfect amount of ventilation.
Answering questions about damp basements, rust stains on driveways, and pesky carpenter bees is de Marne’s forte. The elderly man has devoted his life to finding solutions to household crises, and today, de Marne is still working in the construction world. He writes three columns a week for United Media, a New York based syndicate and, where he once had to correspond with his readers via snail mail, de Marne now takes advantage of technological advances and he uses email. Unfortunately for de Marne, these email submissions are often anonymous.
“One thing that bothers me about email,” said de Marne, “is that it is too impersonal. I would love to know the identity of my writers and where they are from. It would help me with my answers.”
Despite his dislike for anonymity, de Marne remains a bit of a myth, himself, in his small, Vermont town. Most of de Marne’s acquaintances from “the early years,” when he first moved to Vermont back in the late 1960s, have long since passed away or moved out of town. De Marne, however, has made a point to keep Waitsfield his permanent residency, regardless of his accumulated fame and national recognition.
Hugh Campbell, 78, is a retired financial analyst who lives in the town of Waitsfield, as well. He said that he knows of de Marne from his long-running syndicated column, but they are not personal acquaintances. “I know he lives here. On Sky Valley Acres Road, right?” said Campbell. “I never really see him, though.”
Besides a handful of local residents and fellow builders who enjoy his expert advice from time to time, very few people are aware of de Marne’s presence in their small town. He doesn’t really seem to mind. De Marne likes to keep things quiet.
His subtle presence may not be longstanding, however. In 2006, de Marne’s daughter, Katherine de Marne Werner, whom he fondly refers to as “Kitty,” helped him publish his second book. Titled, About the House with Henri de Marne, the book is just getting its feet off the ground. Published by Upper Access Inc. in Hinesburg, Vermont, it features over 1000 answers to problems besetting the average homeowner. The book is a compilation of de Marne’s 33 years of newspaper columns and is his life’s work, in a nutshell.
By CATHERINE MOORE, camoore@bu.edu
