For the Birds: Magnolians Kathy and John Carlson
By Monica Wooton
Kathy and John Carlson are for the birds! The birdhouses they make in their backyard and garage workshops have become homes to hundreds of Magnolia’s nesting birds. For almost thirty years, they have made fun, well-built, one-of-a-kind birdhouses and sold them from their open-air backyard shop on the honor system. At any time, fifteen to twenty-five birdhouses can be seen displayed in their driveway “showroom,” ready for sale—making their yard an attractive, well-known, and talked about Magnolia landmark. The Carlsons are often referred to by other Magnolians as “the birdhouse people.“ If one tours the streets of Magnolia, the recognizable and colorful birdhouses are hard to miss.
One of the fanciful designs that has come out of the Carlson Birdhouse shop. Designed by Kathy; built by Kathy and John.
Courtesy of the Carlsons, circa 2020.
A variety of birdhouses sit on a bench in the open-air shop the Carlsons have in their driveway.
Photo by Monica Wooton. 2025.
Getting to know the Carlsons
My husband, Jon, and I got to know Kathy and John Carlson when we moved to “Condo Hill“ (26th Place West and West Manor Place) on Magnolia nineteen years ago. Getting to our home meant passing their outdoor birdhouse shop almost every day as it was at the top of Manor Place—a crucial street to our getting anywhere in Magnolia! The unique decorative benches and birdhouses hanging enticingly in their open-air shop always caught our eye and solicited comments from the many passengers we carted up and down the steep hill. I began serving on a steering committee, along with the Carlsons, to form a P-Patch in Magnolia Manor Park, two blocks away from that cute cottage industry. Our passions merged and our friendship began.
When we received a grant from the Department of Neighborhoods to begin building the P-Patch, we organized a free event to gather community support for the project, sponsored by the Carlsons, other neighbors like Marilynn Sheldon and Bob Golden, and other committee members Patty and Ron Bomba, Carol Burton, and Jon and me. One of the conditions of the grant was to provide a free “community building experience,“ and so (yep!) we built birdhouses. Wood was donated. Paint was provided. Helping hands supplied sawhorse tables, hammers, nails, and instructions. It was a great event.
Since then, we have remained friends with the Carlsons. The P-Patch was built and we have gardened there since 2013, enjoying Carlson birdhouses in the garden, getting inspired by them to make our own designs, and enjoying many picnic dinners together. This is the story of how the birdhouse people got started and how their business has evolved.
John Carlson, right foreground, and Bob Golden, in light blue shirt, right background, assist community members who turned up to make free birdhouses and learn about the Magnolia Manor P-Patch coming to their neighborhood, as stipulated by the Department of Neighborhoods grant process.
Courtesy of the Carlsons. Circa 2011.
Beginning a new hobby
A retired career motorcycle unit policeman recovering from a disabling motorcycle accident and a career banker on the cusp of retirement, respectively, John and Kathy Carlson decided to try a new hobby. Kathy’s sister-in-law in Gleed, Washington, made garden benches and birdhouses. John snapped a few pictures and an idea began to develop.
From there they decided to use reclaimed cedar (from old torn-down fences or boneyards of wood supply stores) and repurposed knickknacks from Goodwill to create their own unique brand of benches and birdhouses. Ideas from garden magazines and birdhouses seen while traveling informed their designs as the hobby took off.
Then the scientific research began. John studied the best practices and guidance for making birdhouses practical for nesting. The size and placement of the holes became important (no perches, please...they just invite unwanted guests!). He needed to make the interior about 4 x 4 inches to provide room for nesting materials, add copper wire for hanging, and provide a bottom that allowed access for a yearly clean out. Potting benches were designed with the gardener or landscape decorator in mind.
Building a business for the birds
The Carlsons’ garage was their first workshop, and at the time John had only a skill saw, a hammer, a screwdriver, and some screws for woodworking. Kathy was the visionary for the colors and salvaged design elements. Her designs ranged from beautifully elegant to clean and classic to wildly whimsical. They came up with three basic shapes: a classic eave style, an A-frame, and a “squiggly,“ as John calls it.
Examples of the three basic shapes offered for sale: classic, squiggly, and A-frame.
Courtesy of the Carlsons. Circa 2020.
They knew they were officially in business the day they received a note in their mailbox that read: “How do I buy a birdhouse?“ The City of Seattle confirmed—when an inspector showed up and told them—that they needed an official business license. That was the late nineties. The business has been going strong ever since.
At first, they hung their colorful creations out on Saturdays and Sundays and brought them in overnight, afraid their inventory would go missing. One weekend day, the Carlsons returned home to see fewer birdhouses hanging, and they thought they’d been robbed. The thousand dollars crammed into their mailbox in cash and checks told them otherwise.
The shop is always open...
...always!
Both courtesy of the Carlsons. Circa 2022.
Kathy then decided the birdhouses would stay out day and night, every day of the year. If someone needed a birdhouse and took it, her attitude was, “so be it.“ They formalized the driveway into their outdoor shop, adding a note on how to pay (birdhouses cost $25 at that time), a sign, a white picket fence, and their fanciful, handmade wrought iron “girl guard“ that greets guests in a new outfit for every season.
The Carlsons designed a sculpture to welcome guests to the shop, and they keep her outfitted according to the season. She has weathered some but she always has a smile to greet customers!
Courtesy of the Carlsons. Circa 2020.
A growth industry
Through the years, the Carlsons would sell around 120 birdhouses annually. Then COVID-19 hit. The birdhouse business exploded. Folks came out of their homes to take a walk for fresh air and, having nowhere to hang out, loved the birdhouse shop. Sales went up dramatically. Word of mouth spread, and birdhouses popped up all over Magnolia….They have gone to many other states and even foreign countries: Greece, China, France, and Italy!
Custom orders came in: “Could you make a birdhouse of my home?“ “How about a birdhouse that’s a miniature of the lighthouse across from me?“ Requests for birdhouses depicting landmarks, resembling log cabins, and bearing the logo of an alma mater or favorite football team were called for. A custom birdhouse was usually made at no extra cost, though it depended on difficulty.
The price eventually rose to $40. Now, in 2026, due to rising costs of some materials that are not easily “scrounge-able,“ they sell for $60. Benches have been phased out. Christmas, Mother’s Day, birthdays, and weddings are all popular reasons customers give when making a purchase.
Made to order: one of the many custom orders the Carlsons have done.
Curtesy of the Carlsons. Circa 2020.
Coco, the stray cat that adopted the Carlsons, took up residence in and around the garage workshop (and in their hearts) and had to be carefully worked around. Kathy became the master of all inside and outside family kitties, and the garage workspace became her domain to organize the many paints and materials used in her birdhouse design process. Thanks to Coco, John now has a state-of-the-art backyard shed in which to work.
WSU fans love the birdhouses; this is the most popular of the team logo designs.
Courtesy of the Carlsons. Circa 2025.
Kathy serves as the “company CEO,“ and John says, “I do what she tells me to do!“ One can see why. Kathy’s birdhouse designs are distinctive and darling. On “birdhouse days,“ the couple begin with a strategy session, deciding how many to build and in what shape. Kathy and John then pass each birdhouse back and forth, adding their parts until it is complete.
Kathy at work in her garage shop painting a “squiggly.“
Courtesy of the Carlsons. 2025.
Repeat customers, custom order challenges, and conversations with walkers-by make John and Kathy say enthusiastically: “We do it because it is so much fun!“ Other perks include new state-of-the-art tools for John, an artistic outlet and hobby Kathy cannot do without, an annual vacation paid for with profits, and friendships all over the Bluff! The 2025 season was a slower one due to family illnesses and medical issues, but 2026 looks to be a year in which both are back at it with renewed vigor.
As spring approaches, those familiar with the birdhouse people (and yes, mostly the birds) get excited to discover the newest offerings from the showroom, now a nearly thirty-year passion project begun by Magnolians in their Magnolia driveway!
Monica Wooton has enjoyed the Carlsons’ birdhouses in her family P-Patch from the very beginning. They inspired her husband, Jon, and daughter Emily to create their own hand-painted birdhouses for the garden. Every year, new birds fledge from them and bees make honey in them. At any point in the gardening season, birds of various kinds can be heard singing and seen flitting around the flowers and vegetables, adding so much awe and enjoyment. The bees are dodged as they go about pollinating the over fifteen varieties of flowers and vegetables grown in the garden.
This Carlson church birdhouse has resided in the center of the Wooton P-Patch at Magnolia Manor Park for twelve years. The signpost marks the places all the Wootons’ parents came from (Lynden, Washington, to Reggio Calabria, Italy) and where their children have resided (Wilton, Connecticut, to Portland, Oregon). The birdhouse itself marks a friendship and a dream realized.
Photo by Jon Wooton. 2024.
Another Carlson birdhouse in the Wooton P-Patch!
Photo by Monica Wooton. 2024.