One drive down Route 9 in Seaville, and you surely cannot miss Feathered Nest, a unique shop that focuses on “gifts, garden and birding.” It is, however, so much more than that.
Feathered Nest is located inside — and outside — a striking white Victorian structure built almost 200 years ago, in 1828. Through the centuries, the building has had many identities: it’s been a private residence on-and-off, a blacksmith’s shop, a tavern, a doctor’s office, a curiosity shop, and, just prior to becoming Feathered Nest, it was Wild Bird Crossing, where the focus was on birding and garden accents.
Kathy Martino bought the business four years ago this month. Martino is a former real estate agent, but something had always called her to art, music, and retail. So when she had heard that Wild Bird Crossing was closing, the Upper Township native thought that was the opportunity she had waited for her whole life.
“I had always admired this building and I found myself dreaming about how it could be brought back to life,” Martino said. “And that dream expanded into another dream of forming an actual artisan co-op.”
Her Artisan Co-Op
Martino now has nearly 50 local artisans who create an immense variety of goods that take over nearly every square inch of Feathered Nest.
But this is not your usual co-op. Artists and retailers are not provided with their own booths or shelves to merchandise. Instead, Martino does the merchandising herself — and anything can go anywhere.
“I wanted a co-op, but I wanted it to create a flow and make it feel like a lovely, cohesive shop instead of individual booths,” she explained. “But it’s all there — all of the artists’ works are all over the house.”
Paintings blend with coastal decor, pottery with metalwork, silk flowers with candles, salsa with mosaics, soaps with wind chimes, stationery with decorative dishes, and handmade jewelry with organic honey. One corner of the building is dedicated to cardinals; another to owls; and another to hummingbirds. In the rear, there’s a year-round Christmas-themed corner. There are birdhouses aplenty—wooden, moss-covered, ceramic, metal, clay, gourd—all hanging amongst one another. And one room is kept air conditioned all year long to keep her top-shelf bird seed fresh.
Martino has essentially made her Feathered Nest into living art, in part by recycling and repurposing reclaimed materials to use as furniture, such as shelving or tables. A perfect example is her checkout counter, built from an antique door found buried in the basement of the house during restorations.
“We don’t just fix items; we make them into displays. So now the house houses art, and it’s art itself,” she said.
Tons of Outdoor Art
With help from her husband Joe, Martino expanded the outside space of Feathered Nest. The garden is designed to maximize its space by using its every nook and cranny, but also to make shopping there an experience. At center stage lies a babbling brook, surrounded by a string of small ponds, attracting a menagerie of wildlife straight out of the movie “Bambi”.
Benches have been strategically situated throughout the garden in the shade and near the ponds, inviting customers to sit and relax to the tranquil sounds of fluttering wings, gentle chirping and trickling water.
Is There a Doctor in the House?
Martino has a charming way of referring to her business as a “house,” as opposed to a store or shop. Of course, it had once been a residence, but several years ago, it was owned by the neighborhood doctor who delivered babies on the second floor. Since opening the store, Martino said, many people have popped in just to tell her that their ancestor was born upstairs.
As a nod to that happy space where so many babies were born, Martino decided to use the second floor, which had been closed to the public in prior businesses, to offer a baby boutique, with organic baby apparel and handmade toys and blankets, many made with local wool.
“I did it on a whim because people had told me that the upstairs had been a midwifery,” Martino explained. “I thought it was a cool thing to do in reverence to the house and its rich history.”
House Magic!
Martino “inherited” one of her employees, Linda Fox, from the previous owner, whom Fox had worked with for decades. She and Martino continuously discuss the many “happy accidents” that transpire within the building.
Some things are as coincidental as Martino calling Fox to hire her back to the space the day she quit a part-time interim gig. Or the time when the women were talking about something as random as a platypus and next thing they knew, a customer entered in search of an item with a platypus on it. Or the time when several unrelated customers came looking for pots to plant bonsai trees. There are even some customers and employees who have heard a female voice call their name and when they answered, no one was there.
“I have a customer who is an energy reader who read the store. She said there was a strong female energy around, but a very positive one,” noted Martino, whose husband calls it “house magic.” “There have just been so many wonderful coincidences. There’s a real positive energy here; there’s nothing scary about it.”
Once, when Martino returned to the building after being out of commission for a few weeks, she walked in and a clock across the room fell, seemingly on its own. The incident was recorded on video, and Martino and her family have watched it over and over again.
“This clock started moving forward, then flipped on its back and fell to the floor — face up. I expected to see glass all over or dents, but it was perfect,” she recalled. “It also should have landed directly on the shelf beneath it and broken the pottery below. I mean, if you push it yourself, that’s what it would do. But I was nowhere near it, and it just didn’t fall the right way.”
“I really think it’s the last person who ran the curiosity shop when it was here and her name was Ann,” Martino said.
Her daughter Alexandra says that it was the female spirit telling her that it was “about time” she came back to work. So ever since, when Martino enters the house, she immediately greets the spirit with a cheery, “Hi, Ann!”
And Coming Soon…
Martino hosts many events at Feathered Nests — art shows, lessons in the garden, book signings, pond clinics, and meet-the-artisan days, most of are announced on Instagram. Wine tastings, live music and “other surprises” are on the near horizon.
“I have more ideas for events —fun stuff — and I’m starting to really make it about living art, because it’s the artisans’ place as well,” she said. “It’s just awesome that people can come here and appreciate the talent we have in this community”
“I always had art and music in my life and now I have it all in one place. And the best part is that we are supporting so many small businesses.”
Pamela Dollak writes from Ocean City. She was once an entertainment & arts editor for the Press of Atlantic City, and ran her own boutique clothing store in Philadelphia.
