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Fifteen years ago Thomas Burke gave up building houses for people -- and his career took flight, so to speak. With a business card that now reads "Builder of Fine Bird Homes," Burke has created ornate, whimsical birdhouses that replicate historic buildings or his clients' own homes.

Left: Burke's rendition of Essex Farm in Royal Oak, Md.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

Tom Burke grew up in Wilmington, Dela., not far from Chadds Ford, P.a., where three generations of Wyeths have lived and painted. He has constructed birdhouses that replicate buildings first captured on canvas by N.C., Andrew and Jamie Wyeth.

copyright Andrew Wyeth, The Museum of Modern Art

Left. Andrew Wyeth's most famous work, "Christina's World" (1948), painted on a farm in Cushing, Maine.

Left: Thomas Burke's birdhouse inspired by the Olsen Farm in Wyeth's "Christina's World."

Thomas Burke's birdhouse of the Augusta National Clubhouse, where the Masters Golf Tournament is played.

A birdhouse of Orton Plantation, an historic Southern plantation in Smithville Township, Brunswick County, N.C.

From a workshop in the basement of his Delaware Avenue condo building, Burke has been crafting birdhouses that are as impressive as the homes they replicate.

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas hired Burke to create a birdhouse in the style of Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, Calif.

A view of Burke installing his birdhouse based on Skywalker Ranch at the home of George LUcas.

The Skywalker Ranch birdhouse is approximately nine feet long.

The Skywalker Ranch birdhouse installed.

Burke also created a birdhouse inspired by the home of Martha Stewart.

Burke's model of Cantitoe Corners, a 1925 farmhouse owned by Martha Stewart.

A detailed view of the weathered surface of Burke's birdhouse, matching the paint of Martha Stewart's 1925 farmhouse.

The Martha Stewart birdhouse.

More than a dozen Burke-built birdhouses are on display along the riverfront in downtown Wilmington, Del. He showed CBS News' Martha Teichner a house fashioned after Martha Stewart's Cantitoe Corners.

A birdhouse styled after Kid Shelleen's, a restaurant in Wilmington, Del.

While some clients proudly display their birdhouses, Burke says he's also built birdhouses without holes, or plug up the holes with cork.

Why? " 'Cause the people don't want the birds around their property," Burke said. "So that's when they become a sculpture."

At the Chadds Ford Historical Society, Burke installed several birdhouses fashioned after buildings featured in paintings by the Wyeths.

A chapel birdhouse is installed at Chadds Ford, Pa.

For more info:
For the Birds (Thomas F. Burke website)
Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pa.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan