Maryse L’Archevêque and Simon Sauvé wanted for a while to leave their Montreal suburbs to settle in the countryside with their daughters Adèle and Romy.
This “dream”, which is in the process of materializing, we witness it through their self-construction project in the new series “The call of nature”, broadcast from Monday on CASA. It is part of their desire to find a work-family balance away from the noise of the city.
Maryse and Simon took advantage of the first months of shutdown caused by the pandemic, in the spring of 2020, to draw the plans for their new home, which will also house the offices of their architecture and design firm.
As real estate prices skyrocketed, they were lucky enough to obtain several acres of land from Maryse’s mother, on the mountainside, so that when the time comes, they will enjoy a splendid view of the Laurentians. “Not a day goes by that I don’t take a breath of fresh air and look at the view,” said Maryse, who settled down nearby so she and Simon could supervise the construction site.
We follow their self-construction project thanks to the camera of director Émilie Ricard-Harvey. The filming of the key stages stretched over more than a year and is not yet finished. “We don’t know when it’s going to be over,” said Simon, in an interview with the QMI Agency.
Never mind, Maryse and Simon, who are endearing, funny and close to their emotions, have lived a whole life experience through this obstacle course marathon. They have even added fields of expertise to their professional practice and acquired a great deal of manual dexterity – especially with gas-powered “babies” such as a chainsaw – so much knowledge that they will be able to put to use for the good of their clients.
“It’s like continuing education that we pay for,” laughed Maryse.
At the time of the interview, a few days before the broadcast of the first episode, the couple was preparing to embark on the interior design of the house. Of course, when the boxes arrive, there will still be stuff to do here and there, and there will no doubt be some sleep to catch up on, all the little things to do having drawn a lot of juice from them over the past two years.
“There might be a scaffold in the living room for a while,” Simon said.
“For ten years, we have learned that we have to let go. It doesn’t matter if it’s not over. We are often confronted with the emotions of our customers who want it to be over like in a TV “show”, a magazine, but that’s how it is and we don’t die of it, ”added Maryse.
Informative and authentic
Maryse and Simon wanted “The Call of the Wild” to be both informative and authentic, showing how a project of such magnitude is orchestrated.
They took part during ten years in emissions where, they say, one lets the televiewers believe that all is perfect and that each project is carried out in two times three movements. “But it’s not true that it doesn’t take time, there is always something to fix or redo, deadlines,” concluded Simon.
Production of Sphère Média, the series “The call of the wild” is broadcast from this Monday, at 8 p.m., at CASA.