Lucinda & Co.

This is the homepage for Lucinda & Co.., and outlet for the award winning designs for birdhouses, toad houses and fairy and gnome houses by Lucinda Claire Macy. Lucinda & Co. is a true Cottage Industry; each house being completely handmade by the artist and family members.

The unique designs and innovative concepts spring from a great respect and love for the natural world and the boundless creativity and natural skills of the artist.

Over the last twenty years of bird house business, time has shown that wildlife, as well as people, adore these houses - never hesitating to move right in! Along with songbird houses, our homes for garden toads are frequently used by the friendly toads who graciously eat all the worst garden pests! Last but not least, we embrace whimsy and imagination with homes for fairies, elves, and gnomes!

Our birdhouses are made with the right size hole for common songbirds and the bottoms can be removed for cleaning.

The common songbirds readily using the houses are: Chickadees, Wrens, Nuthatches, Flycatchers, Bluebirds, and Tree Swallows. These are the birds in my 'neck of the woods'! There are pictures and video clips of these types of birds using the houses on the Gallery page. While the birds readily nest in the houses in the Spring, as a family, I have also found that individual birds also find shelter in the houses in the winter, in cold climates.

What also loves the houses are chipmunks! Bird lovers may well cringe at this, but after years of seeing chipmunk families raised in the houses, which are truly adorable, I have taken the attitude of just putting out enough houses for 'everyone'. The chipmunks commonly winter in the houses as well. I have also seen, on a number of occasions, both Tree Swallows and Bluebirds harass the chipmunks and chase them out of a house in order to use it themselves. So perhaps the chipmunks are an equal match for the birds! I do however, try to keep the larger squirrels away from the nesting birds by feeding them elsewhere.

The birdhouses are made of tree limbs, small branches, acorns and cedar shakes, and the Toad Houses are made from small river stones for walls and have metal roofs. This combination holds up well on the ground and in damp locations (where toads thrive!). I have had pet toads in my garden for over 30 years. I always build a little pond and encourage them to come for all the good they do in the garden! You can learn more about toads by visiting 'About Toads'. For those interested in purchasing houses please visit our 'Houses for Sale' to see basic designs. Since every house is handmade, there are never any two exactly alike! We can email you pictures of houses we have in stock, or make you whatever you like - custom orders are always welcomed! We can add names over doors too!