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Earl's Carved Gothic Bat House

Earl's Carved Gothic Bat House

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Earl Pressley
Hand-carved by Earl Pressley
★★★★★ 4.8 (180+)
Earl Pressley holding his hand-carved gothic bat house outside his barn

Earl's Carved Gothic Bat House

Regular price $54.99
Regular price $54.99 Sale price $99.99
SAVE $45 Sold out
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The Carved Bat House People Actually Hang

Earl Pressley, 71 — thirty-one winters counting bats in the gorge caves. He carved a face onto his roosts so people would finally put them up: a spider-web, arched windows, a bat on the ridge. Up for Halloween, tenanted by July. 74 left. When his shoulder ends the work, there is no second batch.

“A bat wants a crack, not a mansion. I just gave the crack a face people would hang.”

What arrives at your door

🦇The Carved HouseOne hand-built roost with a spider-web, arched windows & a ridge bat
🔼Wing-Cut Bottom EntryThe only way in — bats climb up into the grooved interior
📝Hang-It-Right CardSunny wall, 12–15 ft up, near water if you can
🪵Built to WeatherSolid wood with a weatherproof coat — up for October, out all year

Why a real colony moves in — and a plastic decoration never could

🌡The Cool-Wall Build

A summer roost is a nursery, and a thin box in full sun cooks the pups inside. This one is built solid and vented between the chambers — those arched windows on the front are working vents — so heat moves out instead of stacking up to the range that kills a litter.

🦇The Wing-Cut Entry

That spread-wing shape cut into the bottom is not decoration — it is the door. A bat never enters from the front; it drops in through the open bottom and climbs up, exactly the way the animal is built to move.

🪵The Tight-Crevice Roost

Behind the carved front the chambers are narrow on purpose — a crack, not a room — until a bat’s back and belly both touch wood. That pressure is what tells it it is safe.

The Clawable Interior

The front can be finished; the inside never is. Every interior surface is left raw and grooved, from the wing-cut landing all the way up, so bats can grip their way in and the pups do not slide. Smooth wood is a death trap.

🌳The Locust-&-Oak Frame

Rot-resistant hardwood and a weatherproof outer coat let the house survive years of gorge weather. It is built to outlast the person who hangs it — unlike the plastic bat that goes back in a bin on November first.

🕸The Face People Hang

The spider-web, the arched windows, the bat on the ridge, the burned-in plaque — each is there for one reason: a bat house that gets displayed is a bat house that works. The plain ones come down. This one goes up front, where a colony can find it.

“Most people picture bats in caves, but in summer the females gather in warm day roosts to raise their pups, and that is exactly the habitat we have stripped out of the landscape — dead trees, loose bark, old barns. A good bat house replaces it, but only if it gets a few things right: wood that will not overheat, ventilation, an open-bottom entry, and a rough, grooved interior the bats can climb. The honest problem is that most correct boxes are too plain to ever get hung. If a decorative one gets a homeowner to actually mount it on a warm, sheltered wall, that is a real conservation win — after white-nose syndrome, recovery happens one colony at a time.”

Dr. Marian Holt, Wildlife Biologist — Bat Conservation

Southern Appalachian Bat Working Group

Perfect for

🎃 Halloween & fall porch decor 🏡 Year-round garden art 🦇 Little brown & big brown bats 🦟 Natural mosquito control 🌳 Wooded & waterside yards 🍎 Orchards & farms 🎁 Gift for a nature lover 🌙 Dusk watchers

Quality you can check yourself

  • Vented, solid wood — the arched front windows are working vents, so it holds a safe temperature through summer instead of cooking the colony.
  • Wing-cut bottom entry — the safe, predator-resistant way bats actually use a roost, cut into the shape of a bat’s wings.
  • Raw, grooved interior — hand-cut grooves give bats something to climb and grip from the landing all the way up.
  • Weatherproof, carved by hand — a real wood house with a protective coat that stays up and looks right all year, not just in October.
  • Final batch — each one is carved by Earl himself. Once the barn is empty, there is no restock.

30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Hang it on a sunny wall or post and live with it for a few weeks. If it arrives not as described, or it simply isn’t right for your spot, send it back within 30 days for a full refund. A simple email is all it takes — and shipping across the US is free.

A note on handmade variance & wild tenants: Every house is carved and finished by hand, so grain, color, and small marks vary from one to the next — that is the sign of real handwork, not a defect. And bats are wild: hung correctly (a sunny wall or post, 12–15 ft up, sheltered, near water if you can), a roost is often found within a season or two, but the timing is the colony’s, not ours. Put it up in fall as decoration and it will be weathered and waiting before the maternity season.

Product details

Material Solid pine with rot-resistant hardwood detailing, forged spider-web accent
Finish Warm natural wood tone with a weatherproof protective coat — interior left raw and grooved
Design Castle / curtain-wall style — arched window vents, carved ridge bat, wing-cut bottom, “Bat House” plaque
Chambers 2 ventilated roosting chambers, each approx. 1.2 in / 3 cm wide
Board thickness Approx. 0.4 in / 1 cm solid wood
Entry Wing-cut open bottom — the only way in; bats climb up into the interior
Color Natural wood
Mounting Hangs on a sunny wall, barn, or post — 12–15 ft up, sheltered, near water if possible
Care Almost none — a quick check from below once a year in late fall
Made Hand-carved by Earl Pressley near Bat Cave, North Carolina — ships from the US
Availability Final batch — 74 only, no restock · 4.9 ★ (Top Rated)
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The Last Batch

Message from the barn:

For years Earl Pressley built plain pine boxes and watched them sit unhung — nobody wants an ugly crate on the house. So he started carving a face onto them: an arched gatehouse, a curtain wall, a bat over the ridge. People hang it for Halloween, and by July real bats have moved in through the wing-shaped cut at the bottom. After thirty-one winters counting bats in the Hickory Nut Gorge, his shoulder and eyes can no longer carve the fine work true. He finished 74 this last winter — and no more after that. When they are gone, there will be no next batch.

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Free US Shipping

Free shipping across the United States

- Delivery time: 3–5 business days
- Each house is hand-packed and ships from the US
- Solid natural wood — carefully boxed to arrive safe
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email info@marlowmarketco.com

View full details

180+ Verified Buyers

Excellent 4.8

What people are saying about Earl’s bat houses

Gothic bat house mounted on a barn wall at golden hour

Hung it on the south wall of the barn in April — my wife only let me because the carving actually looks good. By late June there were droppings under it like little chocolate sprinkles — that’s how you know they’re home. I sit out just to watch them leave at dusk now.

Verified

Dale Rourke, Asheville, NC

Gothic bat house on a patio wall on a summer evening

We couldn’t sit on our own patio in July without getting eaten alive. One season after putting up Earl’s house, the difference is night and day — I haven’t bought a can of spray all summer.

Verified

Karen Maddox, Round Rock, TX

Weathered hands holding the carved gothic bat house

You feel the weight the second you pick it up: solid wood, real carving, nothing like the flimsy thing that warped on us in one winter. It came with a handwritten note from Earl. We hung it the same afternoon.

Verified

Tom & Linda Schaefer, Roanoke, VA

Gothic bat house on a garden table as a gift

I gave one to my dad, who’d spent years trying to get bats into a store-bought box with no luck. This one had tenants by midsummer. He calls me every time he sees them fly out.

Verified

Megan Tolliver, Knoxville, TN

Gothic bat house mounted on a suburban garage wall

I oiled mine with a little sunflower oil before I hung it, the way Earl’s note suggested, and mounted it on the south wall of the garage. Bats found it within the first month. Built like it’ll outlast me.

Verified

Robert Pruitt, Lancaster, PA

Gothic bat house on a Halloween-decorated porch with pumpkins

We put it up as Halloween decor and never took it down — then a colony moved in over the summer. Knowing a retired ranger carves each one, after watching these animals nearly vanish, made it more than a purchase. It’s the nicest thing on our place, and it actually does something.

Verified

Susan & Frank Hale, Boone, NC

A bat climbing into the gothic bat house from the bottom at dusk

The first evening I caught the whole colony streaming out from the bottom at dusk, I called my family out on the porch to watch. You do not get tired of that.

Verified

Marcus Webb, Athens, GA

Gothic bat house mounted on a barn wall at golden hour

Hung it on the south wall of the barn in April — my wife only let me because the carving actually looks good. By late June there were droppings under it like little chocolate sprinkles — that’s how you know they’re home. I sit out just to watch them leave at dusk now.

Verified

Dale Rourke, Asheville, NC

Gothic bat house on a patio wall on a summer evening

We couldn’t sit on our own patio in July without getting eaten alive. One season after putting up Earl’s house, the difference is night and day — I haven’t bought a can of spray all summer.

Verified

Karen Maddox, Round Rock, TX

Weathered hands holding the carved gothic bat house

You feel the weight the second you pick it up: solid wood, real carving, nothing like the flimsy thing that warped on us in one winter. It came with a handwritten note from Earl. We hung it the same afternoon.

Verified

Tom & Linda Schaefer, Roanoke, VA

Gothic bat house on a garden table as a gift

I gave one to my dad, who’d spent years trying to get bats into a store-bought box with no luck. This one had tenants by midsummer. He calls me every time he sees them fly out.

Verified

Megan Tolliver, Knoxville, TN

Gothic bat house mounted on a suburban garage wall

I oiled mine with a little sunflower oil before I hung it, the way Earl’s note suggested, and mounted it on the south wall of the garage. Bats found it within the first month. Built like it’ll outlast me.

Verified

Robert Pruitt, Lancaster, PA

Gothic bat house on a Halloween-decorated porch with pumpkins

We put it up as Halloween decor and never took it down — then a colony moved in over the summer. Knowing a retired ranger carves each one, after watching these animals nearly vanish, made it more than a purchase. It’s the nicest thing on our place, and it actually does something.

Verified

Susan & Frank Hale, Boone, NC

A bat climbing into the gothic bat house from the bottom at dusk

The first evening I caught the whole colony streaming out from the bottom at dusk, I called my family out on the porch to watch. You do not get tired of that.

Verified

Marcus Webb, Athens, GA

Gothic bat house mounted on a barn wall at golden hour

Hung it on the south wall of the barn in April — my wife only let me because the carving actually looks good. By late June there were droppings under it like little chocolate sprinkles — that’s how you know they’re home. I sit out just to watch them leave at dusk now.

Verified

Dale Rourke, Asheville, NC

Gothic bat house on a patio wall on a summer evening

We couldn’t sit on our own patio in July without getting eaten alive. One season after putting up Earl’s house, the difference is night and day — I haven’t bought a can of spray all summer.

Verified

Karen Maddox, Round Rock, TX

Weathered hands holding the carved gothic bat house

You feel the weight the second you pick it up: solid wood, real carving, nothing like the flimsy thing that warped on us in one winter. It came with a handwritten note from Earl. We hung it the same afternoon.

Verified

Tom & Linda Schaefer, Roanoke, VA

Gothic bat house on a garden table as a gift

I gave one to my dad, who’d spent years trying to get bats into a store-bought box with no luck. This one had tenants by midsummer. He calls me every time he sees them fly out.

Verified

Megan Tolliver, Knoxville, TN

Gothic bat house mounted on a suburban garage wall

I oiled mine with a little sunflower oil before I hung it, the way Earl’s note suggested, and mounted it on the south wall of the garage. Bats found it within the first month. Built like it’ll outlast me.

Verified

Robert Pruitt, Lancaster, PA

Gothic bat house on a Halloween-decorated porch with pumpkins

We put it up as Halloween decor and never took it down — then a colony moved in over the summer. Knowing a retired ranger carves each one, after watching these animals nearly vanish, made it more than a purchase. It’s the nicest thing on our place, and it actually does something.

Verified

Susan & Frank Hale, Boone, NC

A bat climbing into the gothic bat house from the bottom at dusk

The first evening I caught the whole colony streaming out from the bottom at dusk, I called my family out on the porch to watch. You do not get tired of that.

Verified

Marcus Webb, Athens, GA

Gothic bat house mounted on a barn wall at golden hour

Hung it on the south wall of the barn in April — my wife only let me because the carving actually looks good. By late June there were droppings under it like little chocolate sprinkles — that’s how you know they’re home. I sit out just to watch them leave at dusk now.

Verified

Dale Rourke, Asheville, NC

Gothic bat house on a patio wall on a summer evening

We couldn’t sit on our own patio in July without getting eaten alive. One season after putting up Earl’s house, the difference is night and day — I haven’t bought a can of spray all summer.

Verified

Karen Maddox, Round Rock, TX

Weathered hands holding the carved gothic bat house

You feel the weight the second you pick it up: solid wood, real carving, nothing like the flimsy thing that warped on us in one winter. It came with a handwritten note from Earl. We hung it the same afternoon.

Verified

Tom & Linda Schaefer, Roanoke, VA

Gothic bat house on a garden table as a gift

I gave one to my dad, who’d spent years trying to get bats into a store-bought box with no luck. This one had tenants by midsummer. He calls me every time he sees them fly out.

Verified

Megan Tolliver, Knoxville, TN

Gothic bat house mounted on a suburban garage wall

I oiled mine with a little sunflower oil before I hung it, the way Earl’s note suggested, and mounted it on the south wall of the garage. Bats found it within the first month. Built like it’ll outlast me.

Verified

Robert Pruitt, Lancaster, PA

Gothic bat house on a Halloween-decorated porch with pumpkins

We put it up as Halloween decor and never took it down — then a colony moved in over the summer. Knowing a retired ranger carves each one, after watching these animals nearly vanish, made it more than a purchase. It’s the nicest thing on our place, and it actually does something.

Verified

Susan & Frank Hale, Boone, NC

A bat climbing into the gothic bat house from the bottom at dusk

The first evening I caught the whole colony streaming out from the bottom at dusk, I called my family out on the porch to watch. You do not get tired of that.

Verified

Marcus Webb, Athens, GA

See Earl’s Last Bat Houses

Frequently Asked Questions

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Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.

Email us anytime at info@marlowmarketco.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (ET). Whether it’s about your order, hanging tips, or just to say hello — a real person writes back.

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Can I return it if it’s not for me?

Of course. 30-day money-back guarantee. Hang it on a sunny wall or post, and if it simply isn’t right for your spot, email info@marlowmarketco.com within 30 days for a full refund. No questions, and US shipping is free.

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How is it made?

Each house is carved by hand by Earl Pressley near Bat Cave, North Carolina: solid pine with a weather-sealed outer face, ventilation built into the arched windows, a wing-shaped cut at the open bottom the bats enter through, and a rough grooved interior they can climb. No two carvings are identical.

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