Greek Revival Chicken Coop

I reached out to the owners of this coop about nine months ago asking if I could feature it in my series on cool coop builds. There was a several month delay getting a response and then, although they were willing to participate, I think their busy schedules has meant it just hasn’t happened. Regardless, I’ve decided that I’ll forge ahead using material gleaned from the internet, giving credit to those sources.

The reason I’d like it to be a part of this series is it incorporates so many of the things I value. I’m a big proponent of upcycling and repurposing things destined for the landfill; I’m interested in art, architecture and antiques, having once owned a store with an focus on vintage and mid-century modern furniture and housewares; and I’ve got to give them props for their colour choice. Given the option, I’d go for something unconventional as well. I’ve swayed a landlord to paint my apartment purple; an employer to let me choose different hues of purple for the whole office; and the exterior of my house and one of my coops are purple as well– although somewhat more subtle shades on the paint chip wheel than this one.

So what’s the big deal about purple? It’s not a common colour in nature and producing natural dyes was, historically, both difficult and expensive. Sea snails were crushed to harvest a substance that was used for making purple dye as early as 1570 BC. Thousands of snails were needed to colour a single robe, and for centuries purple dye was more valuable than silver and worn only by royalty. So I guess I equate shades of purple as being desirable.

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Greek Revival is a style of architecture inspired by the symmetry, proportion, simplicity, and elegance of the ancient Greek temples of 5th century B.C. In the United States, Greek Revival reached peak popularity from 1825 to 1860, which was the start of the Civil War. It became the first dominant national style of architecture in the U.S. as it spread from the East Coast across the country to the West Coast. – Kristin Hohenadel

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My former workplace was referred to as the Purple Palace; this coop could be nicknamed the Purple Poultry Palace. It’s so over-the-top that it is a piece of folk art in itself, and fittingly situated in the garden of antique store, Artifacts, located in Greenville, South Carolina.

Owners Scott Johnson and his partner, Michael Greene, turned part of their building into three working art studios, while their adjacent shop showcases high-quality eclectic antiques.  

This funky coop combines elements of Greek Revival and other forms of 19^th century architecture with a massive amount of eclectic junk yard finds: golf clubs, alphabet blocks, porcelain birds, hub caps, hot wheels cars, and seashells. Nods to architecture include a Victorian-era clock, a crystal chandelier, old windows turned into pocket sliding doors, a period cobalt stained glass transom and reclaimed pine flooring. The use of one colour to cover everything unifies the structure and forces the viewer to hunt for all the objects that adorn the exterior. They’ve been glued on in overlapping layers making for a bit of a challenge identifying all the individual components.

The birds’ villa features columns, a ramp, a front porch, and a pergola perch. Once the structure was built they talked about trimming it in traditional molding, but decided to do it in a folk-art style, layering found objects to create patterns and shadows. Numerous alphabet blocks have been glued around vintage bird figurines and stuck on rows of bottle caps, seashells, toy soldiers and golf clubs from South Carolina thrift stores.

The coop houses three hens and is the focal point in their garden, which includes banana trees, boxwood, and collards – the green foliage complementing the lavender of the ‘villa’ with its striking columns, ramp, porch and pergola. The coop and the little flock are part of the outdoor art gatherings in the garden.

If you Google their name you’ll discover that the store, and maybe even moreso the coop, are destinations in that area. They’ve had visitors both near and far stop through just to see the chicken coop.

Artifacts Greenville is open Tuesday through Saturday and host regular outdoor art gatherings in the garden.

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Photo credits: Chelsey Ashford; Benjamin D Bennett; Hermannfan; Zack Of All Trades.