Providing food and lodging is a great way to attract more birds into the garden. A community of birds animates the space and provides hours of enjoyment as you watch their antics from a distance. Not to mention, these avian visitors will also help keep down the populations of garden pests, from aphids to slugs and snails. Give them a beautifully designed birdhouse—and it can become an architectural feature in the garden, too. Here are some of our favorite design-minded birdhouses.
Above: The father-and-daughter design duo behind Chirp Birdhouses creates modernist versions inspired by revered architects. Their latest, No 13 Gehry ($109), is arguably their most flamboyant to date, with angular panels that nod to the architect’s early Deconstructivist work. The birdhouse, made in marine-grade plywood, arrives as a kit to assemble at home, or can be preassembled before shipping.
Above: Orca Living’s sweet seasonal Birdhouse No. 1 ($350) has a graphic simplicity. It’s constructed by hand, with a whittled perch, rough sawn siding, and a shingled roof. Choose from charred timber or natural cedar.
Above: John Hollington’s Circles Birdbox (£88) in oak is inspired by the works of American architect Louis Kahn and Italian Modernist Carlo Scarpa. Designed for blue tits and small garden birds, it can be hung singly or in groups. (See Object of Desire: The Corten Nestbox by John Hollington.)
Above: Filippo Pisan’s Nest No 1 (€684) for De Castelli is crafted in bleached fir wood and with an angular Corten steel roof, in either a raw rusted finish or powder coated.
Above: The limited-edition Shou Sugi Ban birdhouse ($500) by Brent Buck Architects is constructed in cedar boards reclaimed from New York City water towers and made by Jerry Nance in Brooklyn.
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