Birding has long been a popular hobby. With the Audubon Society’s Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend, birders can hike through nature to observe their feathered friends or maybe just stay indoors and view the traffic at a bird feeder.
Dom Frusteri of Westlake has fused together a passion for birds, woodworking and Cleveland nostalgia. For the past year, he’s been building bird houses that resemble some of Cleveland’s iconic rock clubs.
“I'm a musician at heart, and I spent so many nights meeting strangers who became some of my best friends at Peabody's,” he said.
The club opened in 1984 in the Flats in the space that had been another legendary venue, the Pirate’s Cove. As Peabody's DownUnder, the building hosted Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers well before they became household names. Frustreri’s birdhouse resembles that original building, before Peabody’s moved Downtown from 2001-2013.
“I initially started off with birdhouses as a little joke,” he said. “I started off making epoxy river tables. I had a bunch of pallet wood in my backyard, and I'm like, ‘I need to make something with this.’”
The first club he immortalized was actually the Lido Lounge, a West Side adult entertainment spot from 1966 until 2023.
“I decided, instead of throwing a little stripper pole on the Lido's … I'm going to build an actual stage,” he said. “I'm going to let whoever buys it pick the band. Nine times out of 10, when I go and meet up with the person, their eyes light up and they start talking about the show that was special to them. It's a core memory.”
After Frusteri left his long-time job managing the Winchester Tavern in Lakewood, he recalled many colorful memories from patrons about the region’s live music scene. He needed to make extra cash for his upcoming wedding and began offering the pieces for sale. Creating each house takes about 10 hours of work, but it’s spread out over the course of a week.
“You have to let things dry, and you have to let things cure," he said. "You have to put a clear coat over the top of the vinyl - multiple clear coats so that the vinyl doesn't peel off.”
After making a few dozen birdhouses this year, Frusteri said he plans keep up this hobby and small business venture.
“I've had other people ask me to build them establishments that are either theirs or something that they enjoy or Cleveland staples,” he said. “I've got a list of bird houses!”
