Sonora Bird House Demolished

Published Oct 10, 2026 12:30 pm : Updated Oct 10, 2026 1:41 pm

Sonora Bird house demolished—Photo by Andrea Jones

Sonora, CA – Individuals driving by the property where the locally famous “Bird house” once stood will see rubble as the developers report that crews were forced to demolish the structure due to safety concerns.

In early February, as reported here, the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors made zoning changes and issued a site development permit for a Dutch Bros Coffee and a Take 5 oil change on the 1.14-acre piece of property on Mono Way, northeast of the Greenley Road intersection. That generated huge public outcry about what would happen to the Bird house.

Noting that he understood the house’s local significance at that time, Developer Michael Fillebrown told Central Sierra Broadcasting that he was working with others “on a potential relocation of the structure.” He added that the contractor, hired by the individuals who were not identified and agreed to take the structure to their property on Lime Kiln Road in Sonora, explained the problem to him, stating, “We did everything we could to salvage it, but it became a safety hazard. The crew took off all the decorative items, but when trying to take off the wood panels, the structure became unstable and a safety risk, as it was too difficult for them to take apart.” Fillebrown also says there were, what he believes, fiber optic lines in front of the house that were in danger of being damaged, as can be seen in the picture to the right.

In the end, Fillebrown said he had every intention of relocating the Bird house and had even pulled a permit from Tuolumne County to do just that, but the instability of the structure made that impossible. He added that the decorative items have been delivered to the Lime Kiln Road property, and it is up to the property owner as to what to do with them in the future.