When you were a child, you probably created a hand made birdhouse out of some wood scraps clumsily hammered together, complete with a bird feeder made of a paper roll and peanut butter. And though it might have fell apart promptly at the first sign of bad weather, it was a fun activity and exciting to see the neighborhood birds checking it out and even using it. But now there are bird houses that go a little beyond what you made as a kid: these bird mansions are created with a precision that experienced architects and home builders have after decades of experience, but they're bird houses. And that's where Thomas Burke has made his place.
Thomas Burke makes birdhouses that are near-exact replicas of existing homes and other buildings. These birdhouses are usually placed in front of the buildings and homes they're modeled after. They are exquisite birdhouses, nothing like anything most people have ever seen before, and they are, understandably, quite expensive. Thomas' collection comes from a career as a home builder, so he knows what he's doing. The birdhouses in his portfolio range from aged beach homes to New England style mansions to iconic buildings, and each is as wonderful as the next.
About a year ago, Peter of Navis Pack & Ship Philadelphia saw these exquisite bird houses showcased on a TV segment and contacted Thomas, suggesting that maybe he would prefer to spend more of his time on his craft than worrying about packing and shipping these one of a kind masterpieces. Naturally, Thomas agreed with the logic, and Peter has since been providing the type of expert care these bird mansions deserve. Each shipment is a precious and near-impossible to replace treasure, but a recent shipment made us at Navis Pack & Ship take pause. Thomas had built a birdhouse in the form of a replica of the home of Alex Rodriguez (better known as A-Rod), third-baseman for the New York Yankees baseball team. The house has since been sold to the owner of Gold Coast Beverages, the largest beer distributor in Florida, Stephen Levin, who is now also the owner of the new birdhouse.
To get a better idea of the size of this birdhouse and the crate required for shipment, the finished birdhouse dimensions are as follows: 7'6" long, 5'9" wide, and 3' tall, and weighed 656 pounds. The birdhouse is valued at $23,000 (and it obviously required quite a bit of insurance to get to its final destination!). However, the finished crate had the following dimensions: 99" by 72" by 44" and 1093 pounds (half a ton!).
You can contact Thomas about building a birdhouse to replicate your home, business, favorite destination, or anywhere you please. Your home will be the talk of the neighborhood with one of these impressive birdhouses!
302-654-5550
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 1205
Wilmington, DE 19806
Also, contact Peter at Navis Pack & Ship Philadelphia for any packing, shipping, and crating needs you might have. After birdhouse mansions, we think we've seen it all!
By Steve Goble, VP of Marketing Communications for Navis Pack & Ship. When he's not spilling packing and shipping secrets, he's spending time with his family at a San Diego Padres or Chargers game. Connect with Steve on Google+ and LinkedIn.
