Hot Properties : Decorators Say Today’s Miniature Homes Aren’t Just for the Birds

Birdhouses have come a long way since the time boy scouts could earn badges by creating crude, wooden boxes with a hole in the center.

Today, folks who favor the American Primitive look are discovering that birdhouses can be used as decorating elements.

At Fairfield’s, a La Habra-based shop specializing in American folk art, birdhouses are a hot commodity. The old-fashioned miniature homes lining the shelves form a tiny, rustic community. Churches (some complete with painted stained glass windows) share space with bright red barns, copper-roofed cottages and even larger two-story houses.

“Birdhouses have been popular for about the last 10 years,” said shop owner Martha Fairfield. “But in the last few years, interest has been extremely high.”

The birdhouses offered at Fairfield’s are of “primitive” design, helping them to blend in well with other early American pieces, such as quilts, baskets, candles and wood.

“I originally started out in the antique business,” Fairfield said. “While I was on buying trips, particularly back East and in the South, I’d come across these lovely old birdhouses.

“While people generally enjoyed them, it was often beyond their means to purchase them. An original antique sells anywhere from $200 to $300. So we began making reproductions that we could sell at a much lower price.”

Reproductions cost $20 to $55, depending on the style and time it takes to create them. Most of the work is done in the shop’s back room, although several local artists also contribute their talents.

“We probably have anywhere from 30 to 40 different styles on hand at any one time,” Fairfield said. “Right now, the patriotic look is popular so we have several styles with red, white and blue motifs. Some have little flags attached to them as well.

“Another of our current bestsellers is a whirligig birdhouse,” she said. “Attached to the top of the birdhouse roof is a little windmill that rotates in the breeze, just like the windmills you’d see in Holland.”

The old favorites include miniature school houses, churches with steeples, homes with weathered copper roofs, dwellings complete with suspended moons and bird “condos” with two to four holes drilled into the front.

Others have more unusual shapes, like a slice of watermelon or a pumpkin. Seasonal varieties include birdhouses painted like Christmas trees or Santa Claus, an Easter bunny (complete with colorful eggs painted on the bottom), and Valentine’s Day versions where the hole in front is heart-shaped.

Catalogues such as Spiegel, Eddie Bauer, Sturbridge, Potpourri and Charles Keith offer Fairfield birdhouses, and they have been used to create a homey atmosphere on the sets of such television shows as “Sibs” and “Who’s the Boss?”

Fairfield’s also custom-builds birdhouses to look like existing structures. A replica of Richard Nixon’s birthplace is the company’s most well-known re-creation. According to Kevin Cartwright at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda, the library committee came up with the idea to sell the item at the gift shop.

“The grounds of the library have been featured in a number of decorating and travel magazines,” Cartwright said. “As we were looking through the magazines, we noticed that there seemed to be a trend toward using birdhouses as decorations. That’s when the committee decided to investigate the idea of building a birdhouse replica of the Nixon birthplace.”

The birdhouse, with its small flag and flagpole, sells for $45.

All the birdhouses that Fairfield’s sells, including the Nixon birthplace, are made by hand.

“To get that primitive look, they have to be put together and painted individually,” said Fairfield. “We’ll cut out maybe 50 birdhouses at a time, but each has to be individually crafted and painted.”

To make the painting look old, the craftsmen at Fairfield’s sand it or use old wood.

Most collectors display the birdhouses on shelves or tables, or hang them on the wall like a work of art.

“In my home, with some I run a wire through the roof and suspend them from the ceiling,” said Fairfield. “I also have Shaker-style peg boards and with a wire through the roof, I can hang a smaller birdhouse from one of the pegs. If you add some dried flowers, baskets or candles, it really looks nice.”

Others use birdhouses to brighten up a windowsill or bookcase. Some are even in the back yard where they are used for their original purpose.

“The birdhouses can be used outdoors, although most people tend to display them indoors,” Fairfield said.

“I think part of their appeal is that people are interested in nature and birdhouses convey a little bit of that interest. We’re back to feeding animals and studying them. And they help make a room look comfortable and warm.”