Click on photos for larger images.

  In this presentation we show you the making of a Birdhouse Replica
from beginning to finished product.

We start out with whatever you send us for photographs. The more detail you send us, the better we will be at reproducing a true beautiful replica of your home. Color is VERY difficult to match from photographs, as we have found out the hard way. If you can, send a color chip from the paint store that most closely matches your home, and we will computer match it.

Ben decides the scale on a case-by-case basis, depending on the size of your home. The larger your home, the larger the birdhouse needs to be in order to reproduce detail. Steve Shaner's Home, purchased by his sister for a surprise Christmas present, was very large, and the finished birdhouse measures 26" long x 17" wide, by 12" tall.


We do it all in our humble little shop next to our home on beautiful Covenant Farm.

Ben starts out measuring your photographs and determines the scale he will use (X inches = X feet). He builds the box and all the roof angles. Steve's house has multiple roof lines and the front and rear of the home both have many different contours. Next, Ben installs the rooves using hardwood plywood and securing them with an air brad nailer.

Once the basic structure is completely built, it's time to paint. Ben starts with the roof, using a stone-textured paint that looks very much like the asphalt shingles on Steve's home when it dries. Next, the box is painted.

Once the basic structure is finished, it's time to start working on detail. Another complex feature of Steve's home was the recessed gables. inside the recesses, he also had asphalt shingle. These all had to be made as individual pieces and installed as part of the detail work.

Also, this home had arch-top windows around the entire house. The windows came next, then the garage door, which was scribed to look exactly like the raised panels on Steve's garage.

The last items to be built were the porch rails and front door, and the screened-in porch in the rear, which you can see below. Notice that Ben even used gold spray paint to replicate the brass kick plate, knocker and door handle on the front door. This is a two-nest birdhouse, with an entrance at each end.

Now it's time to see the Birdhouse and the Real House side-by-side!

We should note here that it was not possible to add the deck on this replica, because it would have extended the base out another 7", and the back porch steps are left off because the base must be removed to clean out the birdhouse, and there was no way to attach them in a way that would keep them from being broken when the base is removed. This was done with agreement of the customer.

We leave you with an "aerial" shot of the beautiful roof lines of this birdhouse. We hope that Steve Shaner and his family
will treasure this house for many years to come.

If you would like YOUR home or other building to be replicated as a birdhouse, or a non-birdhouse replica, please contact us for an exact quote and timeline.

Thanks for looking at Birdhouse Replica!