Local family builds an igloo

Lucas and Maria Santos, and daughter Alice stand in front of the igloo they built on the front lawn of their Joseph Street home. The project took about three weeks to complete. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

It’s not often you see an igloo in Tillsonburg.

And the thought that it would take someone from Brazil to be the first to perform this building feat is even more surprising than seeing an igloo on the front lawn of a home.

Lucas and Maria Santos moved to Tillsonburg in 2024, with their daughter Alice.

“We thought this was a common thing here,” he said. “I thought more people would do this kind of stuff.”

Lucas works in software development and initially started working for a Canadian company in Brazil. The family then moved to Kitchener in 2022 before coming to Tillsonburg. A friend in Kitchener told him a neighbour there built an igloo.

There was some snow the first year the family was in Canada – the first they had seen – but they were in an apartment. This year was the first year they had to deal firsthand with snow. Santos took to YouTube to learn how to build an igloo.

After purchasing several aluminum foil pans from Costco, he started by filling them with water and leaving them outside to freeze. It took three times doing this to have the 180 blocks to start construction. Snow and water are mixed together to take on a flush-like form and then put between the blocks like mortar. Food colouring was put in some of the blocks to add a little colour to the structure.

Alice helped in short amounts, but the couple did most of the work after she went to bed. It took almost three weeks to build it.

“The plan was to have a bigger igloo but we decided smaller first,” Lucas said. “Maybe next year.”

Before the igloo melts, the family plans a movie night in the igloo.