The drive down Addison Road in Saskatoon isn’t wholly remarkable; that is until you see the castle.
It stands about nine feet tall in Jason Greer’s front yard.
Built out of snow from his and his neighbours’ yards, it sports a tunnel to climb through, and a slippery slide to toboggan down.
Every winter for six years, Greer has been building snow castles in front of his home for his young kids to play in.
“It’s a blast. Everyone has fun with it, and it makes people smile,” he said.
Greer used to make snow carvings for fun in his spare time. He says when he moved into his home on Addison Road, he wanted to build something for his kids.
“At the time I had one kid, now I have three, so the castle gets bigger to fit them all,” he said.
“The kids love it because it’s something in their front yard that’s huge, and their friends all know about it, so they get to talk to their friends about how their house has a castle in front of it.”
It’s not just Greer’s kids holding down the fort. Neighbouring kids are also known to storm the castle, along with his nieces.
“It’s supposed to be fun and it just gets more people enjoying it, and I had people drive by and they said just seeing it makes their day,” he said.
Greer said he doesn’t have any plans to stop his yearly tradition. He hopes to rope his kids into giving him a hand with the build, once they’re a little older.