Clumsy Cat Birdhouses Creates Whimsical Homes for Feathered Friends

If you’ve been on Facebook lately, you may have seen the cutest birdhouse—a replica of the Kerrobert Courthouse. When we spotted it, we delved a little further, only to discover there were MANY amazing birdhouses, and we couldn’t help but wonder about the talented creators behind them. So, we reached out to Clumsy Cat Birdhouses, who happily shared their story.

Jon and Lisa are a couple who hail from Edmonton and have been married for nearly 24 years. Seven years ago, they began running outdoors, which spawned an interest in observing birds and wildlife. After some large and traumatic layoffs, Jon, who has a career as a chemist working for an oil and gas testing company, felt the need to put his energy into something positive and fulfilling.

“Jon has always had an interest in woodworking and pursued building birdhouses to coincide with his love of birdwatching. It also became an outlet for better mental health,” shared Lisa. “Having always loved creating, painting, and other artistic pursuits, it was an easy jump for us to combine forces and produce a quality finished product. Jon builds these beautiful pieces, and I paint them. The creative outlet has helped us both have better mental health and has given us something to work on together as a family.”

The pieces they’ve built for fun or as gifts for loved ones garnered a lot of attention, leading them to begin building birdhouses for other people. “Having a keen interest in birds first and foremost allows us to make quality products and actually enhance the bird-watching experience,” said Lisa. Over time, they have evolved beyond birdhouses to include bird feeders, perfected recipes for bird seed cakes and suet, and expanding into other birding accessories that they have built

When it comes to building a birdhouse, Joan and Lisa’s timeline can vary—if they are starting from scratch, which includes coming up with a pattern and quite often prototyping, it can take up to a year to finish or sometimes even longer, for example, the Kerrobert Courthouse.

“A lot of what we do is definitely trial and error! If it is something that we build on a regular basis like the grain elevators, they may take up to three or four weeks for us to complete—because we already have a pattern for them and a system in place for how to make them effectively and efficiently,” shared Lisa.

Of course, for both of them, it’s also about creating a personal connection for their customers. “Jon and I love when our houses evoke memories for the people who order them. Many of our grain elevators are ordered because they recall a time and place in someone’s life that no longer exists here on the prairies! We love combining our love of the birds with these nostalgic memories or creating beautiful houses and feeders for our customers’ backyards that reflect a little bit of artistic whimsy and individual personality. We believe a birdhouse can be both beautiful and functional, and encourage positive mental health by creating an interest in a hobby, like birdwatching!”

Jon’s and Lisa’s talent is even more apparent when you learn that they have never even been to Kerrobert! So where did they get the idea to recreate the Courthouse? “Jon and I were contacted three years ago by a member of the Kholman family (Sheila) who had seen our birdhouses at a local market. Because she had seen our work, she had confidence that we would be able to recreate some of the landmarks in their beloved hometown of Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, as gifts for her parents, Tony and Diane Kholman. We began by recreating the Kerrobert water tower for them, and from there have done the Kerrobert grad barn a couple of times, and now we are working on our third water tower for the family. We have made St. Anthony’s Catholic Church for them as well (Eye Hill, Sask), and of course, most recently, the Courthouse. Honestly, these houses were born from the family’s passion to create for their parents. This family is an amazing family, and it is very evident that they love their matriarch and patriarch very much. They are very proud of their hometown. We are honored that they appreciate our workmanship and have requested these special pieces from us, and it is a pleasure to do this work for this family!

Although Jon and I have never seen these landmarks in person, because of the stories we hear from the Kholman Family, we feel as though we have been there, and the small town has made it to our bucket list of places we would love to visit!”

If you would like to see more of what Clumsy Cat has to offer, take a look at their Facebook page, Clumsy Cat – Bird houses by Jaje, or reach out to them via email at clumsycat2020@gmail.com