The Estate Story

I invented and designed the Estate Birdfeeder in 1988. While on a visit to California, I had been challenged by a landscape architect acquaintance to come up with a feeder for public parks and more specifically golf resorts. She was familiar with another Lundquist design that was featured in The Sharper Image called the Meta Bird Feeder. We discussed the principal requirements of the feeder and came up with three main goals. First, the feeder had to be scaled for use in the larger landscapes offered in the golf resorts and public parks. (it turned out to be over eight feet tall). Second, it had to have lifetime durability and be 100 percent squirrel and rodent proof for urban park use. Thirdly, it had to have a large capacity making the task of refilling the feeder practical in an institutional setting.

On a flight back to my home in the Hudson Valley later that week, I sketched up the basic approach, invented the counterbalance lower-to-fill system, the seed delivery layout and the basic look of the feeder. Once home, I faxed my sketches to my dad, Oliver Lundquist. Oliver is an Architect and Industrial designer in NYC. He finalized the design; created a set of shop prints and a week later I emerged from my workshop with the first prototype. Since that simple beginning 12 years ago, the Estate has become a fixture in professional landscaping circles as the only feeder good enough for these types of formal landscapes. Now we are offering the estate to the General public through our website. Tim Lundquist – Designer