We’ve had a colony of house sparrows living in various housing units in our back and front yards for years. The most popular condo has been a 10-unit complex sitting on a flagpole high above our deck right near the feeding stations. It’s provided housing for many sparrow families. This particular apartment building has been in disrepair, although each year I’ve made an effort to patch it up.

As is often the case, it has become easier to call it a “tear-down” and rebuild from the flagpole up.

The old building had one huge design flaw – it was really difficult to get at the individual apartments to do a yearly “Marie Kondo” treatment. My carpentry skills are shaky at best but I built this one in two parts. What you see – the facade with the holes – is just that, a facade. The whole thing lifts right off its base, revealing the apartment units inside. Once the facade has been lifted off, everything inside goes right to the discard pile. Then it’s just a matter of dropping the shell back on. Easy-Peasy (sort of…..you have to do it from a ladder).

The new building features 8 units rather than 10. I eliminated the attic “loft” apartments. As well, I added giant washers to the outside of the holes to prevent our squirrel friends from gnawing out bigger holes and moving in.

Within a few minutes of installation, reps from House Sparrow Realty were onsite showing the new apartment to clients. Although the new building is a significant upgrade from the previous digs, not to worry, rent is subsidized so all house sparrows can afford it. Units are available on a first-come-first served basis.