Highlighting history through handcrafted works of art
Rapid Growth Media gets up close and personal in their Barns Into Birdhouses photos of our hand-crafted bird houses. Check out their latest article.
Rapid Growth Media gets up close and personal in their Barns Into Birdhouses photos of our hand-crafted bird houses. Check out their latest article.
Film footage shot at a bluebird trail at Boulder Creek Golf Course in Rockford Michigan. Documentary filmmaker David Sizemore. Supervising naturalist Mark DeHaan.
Gavotte En Roundeau 4th Lute Suite
Exzel Music Publishing (freemusicpublicdomain.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
For Barns and Birdhouses owner John Guertin and his wife, Irene Franowicz, historical projects include more than birdhouses! They include real houses too. In March 2022, the Grand Rapids Historic Commission presented them with an Outstanding Residential Preservation Award for their restoration of the Barns Into Birdhouses office located at 144 Fitzhugh St. SE in Grand Rapids, MI.
The pair’s multi-decade project involved renovating the home/office into its original Queen Anne style dating to circa 1890. They replaced everything from shingles, scroll work, moldings, and kitchen cabinets to the front porch and fencing, all to replicate its original style and return it to its full glory. Details and more pictures.
In this interview with Brent Ashcroft on ABC’s WZZM13, John Guertin discusses Barns Into Birdhouses, how he salvages parts of vintage barns to make his artistic creations for birds and bats.
He also tells the story of President Gerald R. Ford and his personal support for his work.
Check out the article for a deeper dive interview.
John chats with MLive in Grand Rapids, Michigan about his conservationist roots & discusses the origins of Barns Into Birdhouses.
Check out the interview with Hope Davison from MLive!
Barns Into Birdhouses recently returned to the Smithsonian Museum’s Craft and Design Show. This time, for the 2021 “Craft Optimism” Exhibit, an event highlighting commitment to the environment and climate change.
Check out the show details in the link above!
Documentary by Voice of America about Barns Into Birdhouses. 2019 news release about John Guertin and his mission to help birds and bats by re-purposing ancient barns.
VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content in 49 languages, which it distributes to affiliate stations around the world.
Barns Into Birdhouses continues to be newsworthy. Check out the article in Michigan Blue Magazine!
“The Archives of the Shiawasee County Historical Society explain that a week or two after a farmer would put iron scraps into a large barrel of buttermilk, that buttermilk would be transformed into a durable red paint.
That this paint was so easy and so inexpensive to make explains why so many barns were red in color.”
Source: Michigan’s Heritage Barns – Mary Keithan – Michigan State University Press
John Guertin and Barns Into Birdhouses make an appearance this month at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Antiques, Garden, & Design Show. Here John is featured with some of his designs, photo courtesy Chicago Tribune.