In the late 1990’s Hale Smith, now owner and President of Backyard Designs, was working for a wholesale cabinet supply company. One of the customers which he called upon frequently was Blackburn Designs which reserved one side of its building for commercial cabinet production, and the other for the production of handmade birdhouses and feeders.

On one particular day, Hale inquired about the birding business with the owner of Blackburn Design, and learned that the company had been in the birding business for over 10 years, but due to the growth of their cabinet business, was getting out of the birding business. He then jokingly inquired if Hale wanted to buy it.

After a year of investigating the industry, a lot of soul searching and various other twists of fate, Hale and his wife decided to buy the business. Having been interested in woodworking since his teenage years, buying the Blackburn business was a dream come true. As Hale says, "How often does a person get the opportunity to turn a hobby that you love into a way to make a living?"

So, in the summer of 2000 "Backyard Designs" was born!

After listening to the requests and suggestions of his new customer based, Hale made decisions about what product lines to keep, which to redesign, and which to add. 

Today all of Backyard Designs' products are made of Western Red or Inland Cedar. The "Evergreen" line is painted with a water-based stain that is non-toxic to wildlife. We assemble our products by hand using nails and exterior grade woodscrews. The quality of our workmanship is of the highest standards, and we stand behind everything we make.