A man built a tiny restaurant for squirrels and birds in his yard, and it's already wildly popular

• 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.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

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.

Welcome to Maison du Noix — "The Nut House" in French — a tiny restaurant located in the front yard of James Vreeland's Detroit home.

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.

James Vreeland, 39, told Insider that he and his wife Amanda Simmons have always loved feeding the squirrels and birds in their area

"More than a few know that it's time to come running when my wife heads outside with peanuts," he said. "So while the setting is new, most of the 'patrons' are pretty familiar to us."

But 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.

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.

Vreeland built the entire restaurant out of scraps of lumber he had lying around his garage, and says it took about three hours of work

But Vreeland accomplished plenty in that short amount of time. Maison du Noix has four picnic tables, a fence and entryway, and even a tiny coat rack — complete with little wire hangers.

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

"The name and theme just kind of showed up after we noticed how fancy everyone looked at their tables, and us pining over not being able to sit out on a patio for food ourselves," he said.

And there's more on offer at Maison du Noix than just your average peanut

Vreeland created a four-course menu that includes a seed medley starter course, followed by house-cut bread sticks, "peanuts on the full shell," and a dessert of "counter-softened apples."

The restaurant was an instant hit with the local squirrels and birds, as well as Vreeland's neighbors.

"Neighbors out on walks have been squatting down to read the tiny menu," he said. "Most folks leave with a goofy grin."

Maison du Noix was becoming so popular that Vreeland decided to set up a livestream on Facebook so that people could watch the restaurant's hungry customers all day long

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."

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