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27 Jan 2026
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Description
***UPDATE: We will be hosting a "FRENCH IMMERSION MONTH" in March and again in May! If you want to practice your French skills, join us in March or May where French will rule the Cute House!***
Welcome to The Cute House and the Sister House! We're a family of readers, animal lovers, and science fanatics with two (sometimes three or four) dogs in a little country house 60 km to the east of Paris. We've taken on a crazy house renovation project, combining two adjoining houses (built 40 years apart) into one house for our growing "family" as we build relationships across the globe.
The renovations on the Cute House are essentially finished. Those on the Sister House are in active progress!
We happily received dozens of Workawayers between 2017 and 2019 and in 2023. Now, we're excited to pick up our Workaway adventures again! Our former Workawayers are our family!
Christa is a science journalist specializing in horse topics and anthropology, and Nicolas is a science communicator specializing in astronomy. Our son Liam is passionate about theatre, karate, rock climbing, and all kinds of games. Our two daughters have flown the nest, pursuing their own wonderful adventures and careers in the sciences. They're not home often anymore, but it's always more fun when they are!
Here's what we're looking for:
--Dog-lovers who can keep our two (sometimes three) pups happy. (PLEASE SEE NOTE BELOW ABOUT THESE "SPECIAL NEED" DOGS)
--Cooks who like to try out new dishes for a hungry crew of family and the workawayer family :)
--Folks who like to clean, organize, and/or garden.
--People interested in observing and learning about renovation projects.
--Anyone who loves a good game of cards or long, strategic board games!
We like to have a nice blend of workawayers, because that makes it more fun for everyone. :) We'll probably host two to three people at a time. We try to vary the nationalities so that workawayers can meet new people from around the world at The Cute House. All of our workawayers have left The Cute House having made new friends who've kept in touch with each other for years!
Artists and musicians are especially welcome, as we enjoy guitar, keyboard, piano, and ukulele time in the evenings, and each of us has a form of visual art in the family. Depending on the tasks and the number of workawayers we have, we take turns cooking evening meals. It's always fun to discover new tastes and dishes from around the world. And dinner time is always a pleasant moment of the day where we all sit together and share stories.
We're happy to teach you what we know and learn what you have to teach us.
We can offer you a beautiful room to stay in, in a peaceful home (no TV noise) that's a 40-minute train ride away from Paris. We live in the quiet outskirts of a cute village, where there are ample opportunities to discover the natural beauty of the area. We can also offer very interesting cultural discussions!
Please note we are a bilingual French/American family. With workawayers, the standard home language is English. But of course you're welcome to practice your French with Nicolas and Liam!
Also, our home is under renovation and in a dusty area, so it's likely you'll be exposed to dust at some point. This workaway experience is not suitable to people with dust allergies or animal allergies.
IMPORTANT NOTE about the dogs: All three of the dogs have some sort of trauma and have behavior consequences. Laika is terrified of everyone at first (but then becomes super sweet and cuddly). Oslo the Weimaraner LOVES new people and CAN'T WAIT to meet you. But he has to stay behind a fence because he'll run into cars. Love lives with our daughter most of the time but comes to the Cute House occasionally. She can seem aggressive to new people but quickly becomes sweet and loving.
We're very curious and enjoy meeting new people and hearing your stories!
We'd love to hear from you!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Elderly Companionship
Gardening
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Culture
Technology
Politics / Social justice
Movies & TV
Sustainability
Pets
Plant care
Carpentry
Architecture
Cooking & food
Writing
Photography
Music
Books
Languages
Gardening
History
Drawing & painting
DIY & crafts
Astronomy
Performing arts
Animals
Outdoor activities
Mountain
Hiking
Nature
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We're in a beautiful village less than an hour away from Paris, France. You can learn about French culture and language, visit the sights of Paris, and talk science and especially astronomy and animal science for hours.... all while perfecting your homemaking skills!
Help
Liam is a delightful teenage boy who's pretty independent now but might need to be picked up from after school activities (karate and rock climbing) or theatre events by car. .*️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️Please note the car has a manual transmission, so it's important to specify if you can only drive an automatic!*️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️
Our daughters are in their 20s and off building their own lives. They're only around during vacations, unfortunately! But when they're here, it's even more fun.
Christa's mother is from Florida/Texas and loves to meet new people! She'd be thrilled to get to know you better.
We can't wait to hear from you!
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Accommodation
You can have a bedroom in our 1932 meuliere stone house with full access to the house and large garden with fruit trees and a vegetable garden, although the yard needs help! We usually have dinner together as one big family in the evenings.
We frequently host more than one workawayer at a time--which can be fun for the volunteers, too, to get to know each other! Please let us know if you agree to a shared room (separate beds) with another volunteer of about the same age, or if you prefer to have your own room.
What else ...
Help times and days are flexible, depending on our needs. So you can take some time to discover Paris or the Feline Conservation Park or even Disneyland, or follow the many hiking paths nearby or go on long bike rides to discover this pretty region along the Marne river. This is also a major WWI and WWII history site, and there are museums, monuments, and military cemeteries all around.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Laika
Oslo
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (23)
So we spend around 19 days with this must-meet family in March 2019.
Work: varied from day to day, plus everyday chores. We were feeding horses, taking kids to school, groceries, cleaning, digging, tree-hairdressing, firewood cutting, cooking, playing, horse stable cleaning,… read more
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Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
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Accuracy of profile:
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Cultural exchange:
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Communication:
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So we spend around 19 days with this must-meet family in March 2019.
Work: varied from day to day, plus everyday chores. We were feeding horses, taking kids to school, groceries, cleaning, digging, tree-hairdressing, firewood cutting, cooking, playing, horse stable cleaning,… read more
They’re such a talented family! Even the dog, Laika, she sings!!
We spent an amazing month together. I mostly took care of the kids, and let me tell you...you cant get bored when you’re with Louisa and Liam. She is… read more
Shearing time with the fabulous kids was our favourite part, they are so intelligent, funny and artistic!
Nicholas and Christa were great hosts, they always be there to help us not only with our… read more
Their house is a quick and beautiful 15-minute walk to the train… read more
I never felt like I was doing something hard during my stay; it really felt like participating in family life. I helped a little around the house and… read more
I don't know how to say how much fun and good vibes I had living with this family.
I worked taking care of horses, cleaning up, bringing firewood to the house and playing with the kids.
(I miss you a lot Louisa and Liam!)
The house is beautiful and the location is perfect if you want to spend the… read more
Before starting the workaway I was tired and only wanted to go back HOME, but after this experience I discovered that HOME can be anywhere in the world, as long as there are friendly people who are… read more
