Building Houses for the Birds

American Artisans, People
on March 30, 2003

For more than 30 years as a land developer, Anthony Marchionna built homes—some 2,000 of them. Now that he’s retired, he still does. But they’re all for the birds.

During the time he built houses in and around his hometown of El Dorado Hills, Calif. (pop. 14,000), Marchionna developed a hobby crafting fine pieces of furniture—tables, chests, cabinets—largely for his family. Then, a few years ago, his daughter-in-law, Jeannette, sent him a magazine picture of a birdhouse.

“I love birdhouses,” Jeannette says. “I view them as a form of art. I thought of ‘Marsh’ when I saw what was being produced and how they could look so much more interesting.”

“I looked at the birdhouse in that picture and knew immediately I could build a better one,” Marchionna says. While building that first birdhouse, he began planning a second one—and he was hooked.

“Once he starts a project, I have a hard time getting him to stop for lunch and dinner,” says Sara, his wife of 51 years. “He’s the most focused individual I’ve ever known. He can spend months on one project.”

His passion for craft was a gift from his father. When Marchionna’s father and uncle immigrated to America from Italy, they brought with them the skills of a stone mason and a cabinetmaker. Working alongside them—observing, asking, listening—the legacy of lovingly applied craft was passed on.

Perhaps it was that experience that leads Marchionna to plan in his head. “There are only two times I’ll stop to write anything down,” Marchionna says. “The first is to sketch a floor plan to get a feel for the rooms (of the birdhouse) and the second is to make a pattern for the walls.”

“It always amazed me how my father could make these incredibly unique things,” says Joe, third of the four Marchionna children, who also enjoys woodworking as a hobby. “When I was a boy, he’d let me work with him in his shop while he was building things.”

Daughter Susan has similar memories. “I would linger in the garage while my father worked on furniture, smelling the sawdust, watching him fit together perfectly cut pieces or sanding wood until it felt like glass.”

In front of a Marchionna birdhouse, fingers want to reach out to touch the surfaces. Some, like the sides of the Barn, are scratchy, to represent a barn’s rough-hewn, weathered surface. Others, like the mahogany Chinese Feeder, are silky smooth.

Eyes wander where only birds can go, while the mind imagines what it would feel like to stand barefoot on the walnut, mahogany, and maple inlaid floor of the 16-inch-high octagonal-shaped Gazebo birdfeeder with its polished copper roof and brass seams.

No surface is left unfinished. Cupolas that lift off roofs for filling feeder tubes have been sanded and painted or stained on the inside as carefully as the outside. Replacing the cupola, one can’t help but admire the precision fit.

Since he began making them four years ago, Marchionna has created more than 30 birdhouses, each one unique. “An idea will come to me and I think about it until I can see the whole thing in my head. Then I’ll decide about the wood,” Marchionna says. The larger birdhouses need to be plywood because it’s a strong material. Il Duomo, a two-story birdhouse with eight compartments on each level, is 50 inches high and 30 wide.

Though some are elaborately painted, birdhouses and feeders of a single color or stain can be dramatic. Cherry House is made entirely of Pennsylvania cherry with an oil finish to bring out the gentle undulations of the grain. The stark simplicity of the wood contrasts with the complexity of design.

Perhaps it’s his attention to exacting proportions that trick the mind, but each of his creations has a look of sturdy heft about it. It’s easy to believe that the Lighthouse could withstand a hurricane. Sitting squarely on a base of lava rock, the two-story house with whitewashed siding and copper roof is a birdhouse, while the tower, whose light is made of beveled glass and mirrors, is a birdfeeder. The tower is perfectly rounded and tapered.

“Sometimes what I see in my head isn’t so easy to create. So I have to stop what I’m doing and make a tool that will help me overcome the challenge I’ve set,” says Marchionna of the hammers and dies he may fashion to mold a roof, for instance. “It’s no fun if there isn’t a challenge to work through.”

One such challenge was the miniature corrugated roof he wanted to put on the Grist Mill. The solution was two palm-size blocks cut from a 2 x 4, into which he cut ridges and grooves approximately 1/8-inch deep. With a piece of sheet metal held between the two blocks, a resounding blow against the top block with his ball-peen hammer produced a realistic-looking corrugation.

“If you don’t have the right tools, or you don’t know how to use them, it doesn’t matter how good the wood is,” Marchionna says. The tools in his shop range from electric sanders the size of a breadbox to the very finest sandpaper. He’s had his newest tool (a scroll-type engraver) for a few months, while one of his favorites, his father’s wood chisel, is at least 75 years old.

Marchionna never intended to sell his pieces. Affixed with numbered plates, some remain with him, others he’s given to family or friends—where they grace backyards, dress up the landscape, and provide spiffy homes for birds.

And though the houses he builds today are a different scale than the ones he built when he was younger, they are pleasing to make.

“I get a lot of satisfaction out of watching people’s faces light up when they see my birdhouses,” he says. “Here I am, 76 years old, and God is still blessing me.”

Tips For Attracting Birds

Providing food and shelter will attract birds to your property—and while some eat only insects, others eat seeds, so it’s not hard to encourage their visits.

Nearly 75 species of birds nest inside cavities—from hollows in dead trees to manmade birdhouses. A birdhouse should be sturdily constructed, with a sloped or extended roof and no outside perches. (Perches invite predators.) Don’t use pressure-treated wood because it contains toxic preservatives.

Birdhouses and feeders should be in place before the breeding season begins—in Southern regions by February, in the North by mid-to-late March.

Learn all you can about the species you want to attract. A bluebird’s nesting box, for example, should be 3 to 6 feet above ground with a 1 1/2-inch diameter hole. Habitat can be an open field or lawn with scattered trees or sparse ground cover. The purple martin needs a birdhouse 10 to 15 feet above ground, with a 2 1/8-inch diameter hole. While martins require broad open areas with no trees or buildings within 40 feet, it’s possible to house multiple pairs in a birdhouse with several compartments.

To learn more about birdhouses and feeders, visit any of a number of Audubon Society websites, starting with www.audubon.org/educate/expert/birdhouse.html. Plain or fancy, the birdhouse or feeder you build can provide hours of enjoyment—both in the making, and in watching its visitors.