A Parliament of Art Owls

From her Cliffs at Walnut Cove home snuggled into a hillside, Julia Peterson has a bird’s-eye view of the wilderness. Inspired by a Frank Lloyd Wright design, Peterson’s house features a Ludowici clay-tile roof and a dramatic cladding of local amphibolite stone. The mountains are framed by a giant glass window that makes up one wall of the living area, and the glazed open floor plan lets in the backdrop of Pisgah National Forest and distant views of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

However, it’s not only the home’s human occupants — Julia and her husband Jim — who get to take in the scene. Set in everything from a collaged, spinning centerpiece to glass-blown sculptures tucked away on a bookshelf, the piercing stares of owls dominate the expansive home. It’s almost as though they’re standing guard over their collective perch. Peterson is quick to point out each one with a fondness that suggests she sees the birds as protectors. Her collection numbers about 40 — all culled from different mediums and artists — and continues to grow.

“To me, they are all about the essence of nighttime and wilderness … [and] wisdom and beauty. No other creature has such a compelling stare.” 

Although she has created a collection all her own, she admits that her obsession is a family affair. Growing up with a mother who loved both art and a particular nocturnal bird, Peterson fell quickly into accruing owl art on her own.

“One of my fondest childhood memories are of these cast-iron owl statues that had amber eyes that framed our fireplace,” she recalls. “When we would light a fire, the amber eye pieces would sparkle and brighten — it was always a very magical image.” (She recently acquired a similar pair.)

Today, Peterson owns many other pieces her mother left behind, but has also found joy mixing in her own love for fine craft. It wouldn’t be hard to skirt a certain line of kitsch in the world of bird-art collecting, but Peterson has elevated the game. For each one of her owls, she can cite the piece’s artist, creation date, and material of origin.

She is quick to point out that every room holds at least one homage to the bird. Some stand guard on side tables; in another space, woodcut prints line the walls. A watercolor, acrylic, and pencil owl portrait by Douglas Miller sits on an easel in the study, as though its maker will return to keep working on those unblinking eyes. A retired corporate librarian, Peterson also names examples of owls in poetry and prose; her holdings include The Enigma of the Owl: An Illustrated Natural History, by Mike Unwin and David Tipling, and many more nonfiction gems.

The collection spans even further than art, books, and home décor — it also detours into high fashion. A vintage Swarovski-crystal owl purse by designer Judith Leiber, who died this year at age 97, is displayed in Peterson’s bedroom, commanding sparkling attention. Venetian owl masks are tucked away just begging for a masquerade. 

For the holidays, Peterson decorates her sun room with an “NC critter tree” — a Christmas tree specifically decorated with owls and other animal ornaments that make up the fauna of her backyard. (She also has a collection of silver and crystal Christmas trees, a food tree in her kitchen, and an author-and-artist tree in her library.)

“I guess I’ve always been drawn to the nocturnal lifestyle owls have,” Peterson continues. “They have such mystery. They are the night watchers.”

Although Peterson admits she sees less live owls since moving from her home in Minnesota 10 years ago, she still finds ways to keep both the animal — and the art inspired by them — within her life. She supports the conservation of owls whenever possible, including helping in the care of “Tundra,” a Snowy owl who was found in Mills River, lost off its migration path. 

For the last leg of the tour, Peterson shows off her back deck, where the sun is slowly starting to sink down behind the mountains. Braving the chilly winds, a stone statue of an owl seems to be surveying the woods underneath.

“There’s a lot of secrets in the nighttime, and in the wild,” the collector muses. “But that’s what makes owls so compelling — they see it all.”