For hardened New Englanders, the piles of snow may have been dismissed as a nuisance. But one visitor from Australia saw them with a fresh perspective, and turned the powdery building material into a luxury igloo built for five, complete with a TV, carpeted entryway, illuminated windows and even a nativity scene.
Darren King, a builder by trade, began coming to Loudon about six years ago to spend the holidays with his wife’s family. Here he was greeted by piles of snow, something he never saw during his childhood down under.
“I really like a lot of things about New Hampshire in the winter,” King said. “The mountains, the skiing, it’s all great. But my favorite thing has always been the snow.”
New England’s fickle weather was another new experience for King. The igloo was in peak form last week, but even as Tuesday’s warmer temperatures tested his construction, the igloo stood firm.
“We got to grow up with the snow all around,” said Jen King, Darren’s wife. “Darren never got to have a snowball fight or build a snow fort when he was a kid.”
Today, Darren King is making up for lost time. After building an 8-foot snowman last Christmas, he decided to continue his snow-themed construction and build himself a backyard igloo.
“Snow is really an amazing material,” he said. “You can do so much with it and be so creative. Today, I wanted to build myself a horse, so I went outside, piled some snow together, and now we have pony rides right next to the igloo.”
The construction of his igloo, however, is decidedly more advanced than your average snow fort.
The entryway was constructed using snow bricks, like a traditional igloo. He didn’t have enough snow to build his entire igloo using the classic method and had to improvise for the main chamber and fire pit.
Construction of the igloo’s central chamber, which is now full of blankets, emergency supplies and a working TV, began with King simply piling up loose, fluffy snow. He then used a wheelbarrow to create a mixture of harder, wet snow, which was layered around the outside of the initial pile, forming a sturdy shell around a softer center. The center was later hollowed out, leaving a hard dome of snow with enough space for him and his guests to comfortably toast marshmallows and watch Christmas movies.
“We’ve gotten up to eight people in there at once, but it can fit about five comfortably,” King said.
The attached fireplace dome contains a wooden support structure, with lots of snow piled on the outside to keep the wind away.
“It must have been 10 degrees out a few nights ago, and the igloo was comfortable and warm enough for people to be taking their coats off,” he said. “We do have some issues with smoke and airflow though.”
Darren King may have been the master architect, but the igloo’s ability to bring out one’s inner child doesn’t end with him.
“We loaded my grandfather on a sled and gave him a tour,” Jen King said. “He went from 80 years old back to being 7 in a heartbeat.”