At 60, Wisconsin farmer Albert Zahn covered his home with carved birds; surviving Bird’s Park sculptures are now preserved in a public museum

Albert Zahn spent decades as a dairy farmer in Door County, Wisconsin. In 1924, at age 60, he retired and began covering his new home with carved and painted birds. He became known as the “Birdman of Door County,” building a house covered in hundreds of carved, painted birds, angels and dressed figures. His bald eagles can now be found in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A lifelong carver

Although Zahn’s carving output is most associated with his retirement years, he had been carving for most of his life. According to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Albert was born in 1864, in what is now Germany. At 15 he moved to Wisconsin. Albert mentioned that he would carve while shepherding as a child, and he had been making functional items before retirement, which suggests his retirement output was a continuation of a lifelong practice rather than a late start.

In 1924, Albert gave his farm to his eldest son, Albert Jr. Albert, his wife, and two of his children moved into a house he hand-built from concrete blocks. This house had a white exterior covered in dozens of big carvings. Albert’s wife Louise painted the carvings of birds, angels, sailors, and animals. The house became affectionately known as Birds Park.

Why the woods mattered

Albert was a devout Lutheran and believed nature was the most spiritual place, as per the Smithsonian American Art Museum account. He would spend his days in the cedar woods watching the birds and carving. Birds Park was full of birds and the concept of flying. However, science has looked into the benefits birds can provide us.

Separately, research has looked into the broader benefits birds can provide people. A 2022 study, “Smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment reveals mental health benefits of birdlife,” led by Ryan Hammoud and colleagues and published in Scientific Reports, examined the effects of seeing or hearing birds. 1,292 participants used a smartphone app called Urban Mind, logging 26,856 check-ins between April 2018 and October 2021. The study found that seeing or hearing birds correlated with long-term increases in self-reported mental wellbeing, including among those with a diagnosis of depression. This is a modern, unrelated study and shows correlation rather than causation; it is included only as context on why time spent among birds, as Zahn did, may carry wellbeing benefits.

A journey from the front garden to the museum

A little ironically, Albert’s carvings are now looked after by conservators. 86 of Albert’s carvings were donated to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center by the Kohler Foundation between 2004 and 2017. However, the art environment no longer exists. The story is carried on in Sheboygan: the John Michael Kohler Art Centre has an art environment recreating Albert and Louise's home on the first floor of its Art Preserve. Zahn’s carvings are preserved today as museum pieces, decades after his death in 1953.