The Ultimate Birdhouse Book: 40 Functional, Fantastic & Fanciful Homes to Make for Our Feathered Friends [Paperback]

Deborah Morgenthal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 1998

Make a Bluebird Cathedral, a Frank Lloyd Wright Wren House, an 1840s Tobacco Barn, a Victorian Flicker House--and more. Plus, use birdhouse designs as other items around the house, including a CD cabinet based on an Egyptian-themed birdhouse; a gilded grape-and-pear-motif birdhouse that's really a floor lamp; or a beautiful ex-birdhouse Distressed Double-Decker Clock. Try several versions of a simple wren house, each contributed by a top designer who started with the same basic design and created his or her own special styles.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Many of us have tried at one time in our lives to construct some kind of rudimentary birdhouse, or at least imagined doing so, whether we ever actually saw the thing through to completion and had feathered residents move in. For everyone who has even a slight interest in the idea, this book will surprise and delight. From the most basic box to some extraordinarily elaborate constructions, the sheer variety and inventiveness of some of the designs described in hundreds of full-color photographs will provide lively inspiration. And once inspired, the detailed plans and instructions will get the reader started with the right tools and materials. One is tempted to say, "This book is for the birds," but the fact is, many of these designs are so artful and attractive that they would be completely at home on a mantle or on a desktop as artwork and might never find themselves in the great outdoors housing our fine feathered friends. Perhaps not every bird would fully appreciate the whimsy and art of some of these birdhouses, but the reader certainly will. --Mark A. Hetts

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (December 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806999357
• ISBN-13: 978-0806999357
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,507 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Change of Pace!, June 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Birdhouse Book: 40 Functional, Fantastic & Fanciful Homes to Make for Our Feathered Friends (Paperback)

I have purchased several birdhouse books and have been mostly disapointed with dull clunky outdated designs that are just down right ugly. This book is fresh air with fresh modern designs that are fun for the builder not just the bird! If you just want a birdhouse of clunky 1 inch stock painted in eyesore babyblue dont buy this book. This is a fun easy to build birdhouse book for the discriminating creative birdhouse builder.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative designs in a well illustrated book, November 4, 1998

By 

Bill Sharp "Bill Sharp" (southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Birdhouse Book: 40 Functional, Fantastic & Fanciful Homes to Make for Our Feathered Friends (Hardcover)

If you want to build a birdhouse and need help with the design, you'll like this book. It will stretch your imagination and teach you a new way of looking at a most common object.

It includes forty birdhouse designs from twenty different designers, each text illustrated with photos and drawings. Designs range from totally "cute" to ultra contemporary and everything in between. Construction difficulty varies from simple, elementary butt joints to more sophisticated and difficult curved laminations. Ya pays your money, as the saying goes, and ya takes yer cherce!

Each plan has a materials list, a cut list, a tools needed list, and step-by-step instructions. I can see an entire family, Dad, Mom and kids, all building different bird houses out of this book, each according to his or her interests and woodworking skill level.

My personal favorites are the Diad, a modern back-to-back "duplex" for two separate bird families; the weathered barn with the Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco ad on the side; and the design that is patterned after the work of the great architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.

Whether you build one of these designs or a design of your own, you'll find in this book a wealth of tips on how to attract and protect "our feathered friends."

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Hobby Book, April 22, 2000

By 

Yvonne (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Birdhouse Book: 40 Functional, Fantastic & Fanciful Homes to Make for Our Feathered Friends (Paperback)

My dad makes birdhouses as a hobby. Someone gave him this book for his birthday. This is a great book with super ideas. He liked it so much, I plan on getting another one for a gift.