Man Uses Quarantine Time Creatively to Build a Tiny Restaurant for Squirrels & Birds in His Yard

April 22, 2020

311 4 minutes read

James saw a gap in the market and used his free time to “get into the restaurant game,” he says.

James Vreeland built a tiny restaurant for his local squirrels and blue jays in the front yard of his Detroit home.

Maison du Noix, which is French for “The Nut House,” offers a four-course meal of seeds, breadsticks, “peanuts on the full shell,” and a dessert of “counter-softened apples.”

The tiny restaurant has been a huge hit with both the local critters and Vreeland’s neighbors.

So Vreeland decided to set up a daily Facebook livestream of Maison du Noix, which is racking up thousands of views.

The hottest new restaurant in America features handmade furniture, a four-course meal, a fancy French name, and a packed house — full of squirrels and blue jays.

What started as a fun project for some furry friends has since become a huge hit with both neighbors and strangers, who are watching all the action on Vreeland’s Facebook livestream.

The unexpected free time at home during the pandemic lock-down is probably welcomed by many and is being put to good use by tackling spring cleaning and long overdue home repairs and maintenance. But once all the chores are done, instead of going nuts with the time on your hands, perhaps you can join the squirrel appreciation trend and create a special place for your local squirrel population like James Vreeland from Detroit did.

James saw a gap in the market and used his free time to “get into the restaurant game,” he says on Instagram @jamesvreeland

While sit-down restaurants are currently shut down, there’s no ban on squirrel restaurants and James promptly planned and built a squirrel specific, outdoor restaurant in his yard and named it Maison de Noix, or “The Nut House” in English. The menu, earthy ambience, picnic tables, and natural grass flooring is already hit with locals as a prime gathering spot.

Although primarily a squirrel hangout, the restaurant is open to all local critters, and according to James, blue jays are also regular guests.

James thought of everything, including a coat rail with hangers for squirrel jackets and a single menu at the entrance to avoid unnecessary touching.

Vreeland also added a few tiny squirrel statues, giving the place an extra touch of luxury.

Maison du Noix even features a tiny coat rack, complete with little hangers

“We have a mixed seed trio starter, the bread course is stale pizza crust, the entree for the day that we have right is peanuts on the half shell, and we’re out, unfortunately, but our dessert was counter-softened apples,” James said.

“Every morning we have a rush around 10:30 to 11,” Vreeland said. “With the shutdown, there’s not a lot of cafe options we’re the only game in town.”

James said he wanted to do something fun and lighthearted in the middle of the anxiety and uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic.

“My wife Amanda, she’s been feeding the squirrels in our yard for years and we have some regulars,’ he said.

Vreeland was inspired to take things to the next level when he saw that a Pennsylvania man had created a tiny picnic table for his own local squirrels.

Vreeland built the restaurant out of scraps of lumber he had lying around the house.

Around the same time, a few of Vreeland’s friends had asked if he could demonstrate some basic woodworking skills over video chat to help them pass the time.

“This seemed like as good a project as any to demo some skills,” Vreeland said.

And so, Maison du Noix was born.

It took Vreeland three hours to build Maison du Noix.

Maison de Noix should have no problems with health authorities since James is the owner, chef, waitperson, and chief sanitizer at the establishment, currently the only one of its kind in the United States.

According to James, although they aren’t allowed to eat there, humans are also enjoying the restaurant while keeping recommended social distancing. “The response from humans has been pretty great with people stopping all the time to take a photo or watch the frenzy,” James said.

As for the customers, the regulars include squirrels, cardinals, and blue jays.

“The blue jays are terrible tippers and fairly messy diners but they’ll swoop right into the middle of the action, steal peanuts and make a run for it,” James said.

James has started live streaming the daily comings and goings at Maison De Noix on Facebook. James commented during one recent live stream: “Sorry for the shaky cam—there is a blue jay sitting on the camera.”

The daily livestreams are now racking up thousands of views, along with plenty of love from fans all over the US.

“You know how at Christmas people put the yule log on for background ambience? I seriously want this squirrel patio on all summer for my background entertainment,” one woman wrote.

“After the stress of grocery shopping, this is just what I needed,” another added.

Viewers have especially loved watching the squirrels’ many antics at the fancy establishment.

“The squirrels better leave a big tip after trashing the restaurant like that!” one viewer quipped after a few of the tables were knocked over.

Vreeland said he is happy to see that Maison du Noix has brought so much joy to so many people.

“Throwing the camera up to share with friends online costs us nothing,” he said. “And brings a nice little change of pace to the day.”

“Surprisingly enough it’s not a very complex idea. It’s tiny tables and a cafe for squirrels, there’s no bigger purpose to it beyond it’s just something different and a little bit of a break from everything else,” James said.

You’ll find a time-lapse video of the “brunch rush” on his Instagram. We hope James’ efforts and success with Maison de Noix will encourage others to take the time to get to know their local squirrels and show appreciation of squirrels’ joy for life, their agility, funny antics, and for creating new growth by planting seeds—not only now, but after lock down too.