Nick and Mary Biagioni thought the birdhouse had been left for the taking, but a message later that night revealed the hilarious misunderstanding
Credit: Nick and Mary Biagioni
NEED TO KNOW
- Nick and Mary Biagioni, both 29, spotted a birdhouse and its pole sitting by the curb while driving through Woodstock, Conn., and assumed it was free
- Hours later, the couple learned a screenshot of their car and trailer had been posted in a local Facebook group by someone searching for the missing birdhouse
- After realizing their mistake, the couple contacted the owner and returned the birdhouse the next morning — but not before joking about a “ransom”
Nick and Mary Biagioni thought they had scored the perfect roadside freebie: a birdhouse they could refurbish and give new life on their homestead.
Hours later, the 29-year-old couple discovered their car and trailer had been captured on a security camera and posted to a local Facebook group by someone trying to track them down.
“Nick and I were making our way to Woodstock, Conn., which is not far from where we live, to pick up an old truck bed that we will be turning into a farm stand for our homestead,” Mary tells PEOPLE exclusively. While nearing their Facebook Marketplace pickup, she says they spotted the birdhouse and pole by the curb and figured “someone must be getting rid of it.”
@greenhollowhomestead we just like free stuff, what can we say? 😅 story to come #fyp #conneticut #woodstock #killingly #funny
♬ Saxophones getting louder – Sped Up – AntonioVivald
The couple, who work in corporate logistics and telecommunications, respectively, didn’t immediately grab their find. They actually passed it twice, once while picking up the truck bed and again after visiting a family member nearby.
“It is very common practice in this area that if something is left on the curb, it is usually left out intentionally in case someone else may be interested in it prior to disposing of it,” Mary says, noting that they leave unwanted items in front of their own home, too.
Their only real concern, Mary says, was whether its condition made it worth taking, not whether it belonged to someone.
After bringing it home, the couple showed Mary’s in-laws their new acquisition and thought her father-in-law might enjoy helping them refurbish it. Then they headed to Putnam for dinner and some live music, still unaware that their curbside discovery had become the subject of a search.
That changed when Nick received an unexpected message from the person who had sold him the truck bed through Facebook Marketplace. A screenshot from a security camera showed Nick’s car and trailer near the birdhouse, and the image had been shared in a town Facebook group as its owner tried to figure out who had taken it.
The couple was initially confused, considering where the birdhouse had been left, but the confusion quickly gave way to laughter. Once they understood what had happened, they began figuring out how to reach its owner and clear up the mix-up.
Credit: Nick and Mary Biagioni
Fortunately, the explanation didn’t require much convincing. Mary says the birdhouse’s owners understood how the mistake happened and acknowledged that its placement had made it appear as though it had been left out for someone to take.
The messages that followed were so friendly that Nick even jokingly tried to negotiate a price for its safe return. He suggested the owners follow the couple’s Green Hollow Homestead Facebook page as “ransom” for the birdhouse before they brought it back safe and sound the following morning.
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The Biagionis later shared the mishap on TikTok, joking in the caption, “we just like free stuff, what can we say? 😅 story to come.” In a follow-up storytime, Mary explained how their restoration project had unexpectedly turned into a return mission, saying she was glad everyone could “make light of the situation.”
For Mary, one of the funniest parts was finding herself on the opposite side of the kind of community Facebook post she would normally use to help someone else. “Usually, our perspective is helping others when instances like this occur, but instead, we were the ones in question!” she says.
Nick, meanwhile, got a kick out of the debate that erupted over whether something sitting by the curb should reasonably be considered free. But the best part, he says, was getting to know the people behind the missing birdhouse: “It was very funny, and we could not stop laughing!”
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