Island Home

Spofford, who grew up on the Island, initially refused the offers, but the requests kept rolling in. Over the summer he devised a way to construct the birdhouses in batches of 50. Today, he has completed approximately 140 birdhouses, each handmade and hand-painted, and has established a mini Steamship Authority production center at his home in Marietta, Georgia, to keep up with demand. “I have some retired friends – they asked me to teach them woodshop, so they feel like they owe me a little bit,” he says. “I have three or four guys drilling holes, assembling stuff, and my wife is a big help.”

For Spofford, 65, this latest, unexpected pursuit has been an invaluable opportunity to reconnect with the Vineyard, which he visits every year but left in 1968 to join the Navy. “It’s amazing. My wife and I reflect on it often. One memory begets and another memory begets another. People I haven’t talked to in forty years have contacted me. Some don’t even order a birdhouse, they just want to catch up.”

Along the way, he’s helped others rekindle their own Vineyard remembrances. An estimated 25 percent of the birdhouses have gone to people who grew up on the Island but now live all over the country – in California, Florida, even Alaska. “The emotion that this one piece has stirred in people who grew up there, and how many times they rode the ferry…,” he says. He’s heard from one woman who went into labor on the old Islander, and another whose ancestor was captain of the ship. “It’s almost like they were thanking me for just reminding them of the boat. They just thank me so profusely. It’s just been fun, what can I say? It’s just been a blast.”

Islander birdhouses cost $85, including shipping, and take approximately 30 days to complete. For more information, email sspofford@bellsouth.net.

This article appears in Spring Home & Garden 2015.