The Transformation of a Chicken Coop

In my last entry, I mentioned in passing that I was transforming my chicken coop into an art studio.  This raised a lot of questions with some people.  Those who knew me for the last three years knew that I was an avid backyard chicken farmer.  They knew that I took great delight in sharing fresh eggs from my flock of 15 white Brahma chickens with family, friends and neighbors.  Having been raised in the country, being a chicken farmer seemed like a reasonable endeavor, and with members of my family slowly becoming vegetarians, a source for ‘farm fresh’ eggs was a real plus.

First day in their new run

When it came time to provide my flock with a domicile, I had a brilliant idea. One of my long time dreams after retirement was to build an art studio modeled after the Japanese Teahouse that is at the Botanical Garden in Wilmington, NC.  More than 15 years ago, I had spent an entire day making detailed drawings and taking 100’s of pictures of the teahouse.  I knew that somehow, sometime, somewhere, I would build a replica.  In the ensuing years, the teahouse became a central feature to a much larger landscape design of our front lawn.  The plan all along was to use the teahouse as an art studio.  This then became the inspiration for my chicken coop.  I would build a smaller version, one that would fit within city guidelines for unattached buildings.  This would also allow me to learn some of the building techniques, like wood joinery, that my teahouse required.  It also satisfied my wife’s one requirement for a chicken coop, which was that it had to be “beautiful” if it was going to be in her backyard.  It was that – beautiful.  It was in fact, not a coop at all.  It was a chicken palace.  Without even knowing it my chickens would be living in the most beautiful chicken coop in the entire city of Raleigh, no … the entire state.  But, they never appreciated it.  

The Chicken Coop / Palace

Within ten days of retirement, I was sitting across from a city building inspector with drawings of the tea house/art studio, and the master landscape drawings of my front lawn.  I had all the forms filled out.  I had an electrician and a contractor to dig the foundation all lined up.  The city inspector was impressed with the entire project, but … a permit was denied because “sheds” were NOT permitted in front lawns.  I tried to argue my point that it was not a shed, but she would not budge.

To say the least, I went home entirely defeated.  What was I going to do about an art studio?  The backyard was not big enough for both a chicken coop and a studio.  I pondered this dilemma for several days.  One evening, while sitting out back enjoying a glass of wine, I looked up at my gorgeous chicken palace and I lusted in my heart for it to be an art studio.  Within minutes I had declared eminent domain on my poor, oblivious chickens.  Their time with me was drawing to a close.  Through a mutual friend, my wife made contact with a chicken farmer down in Greenville, NC.  My chickens soon had a new home.  In fact, they are probably much happier living their lives as chickens on a REAL farm.   They had never really adapted to life in a palace where the landowner required them to clean up after themselves and make their beds every day.  

Welcome to my Art Studio