Residents Construct Frozen Fortress on Udall Road

James Bowden is the king of Udall Road. 

Well, who else on the street lives in a castle?

James, 10, along with his father, Tommy, decided to conquer the late December blizzard by creating a massive snow structure using the near two-feet of snow that was dumped in front of their West Islip home.  

If you didn't get a chance to see their frozen fortress, envision a sand castle, subtract 60 degrees, and multiply the size by 100 times.  All that was missing was a moat and some gators. 

"It took about three days to finish," Bowden said.  "It caused quite a bit of commotion, to say the least."

Bowden said he has built snow castles in the past but never one like this.  He and James did most of the work but also received help from his other children, Kaily and Brody, and his neighbor, Owen.

"We got great snow to work with and the weather was just right," Bowden said. 

He didn't know the exact measurements of the kingdom, but said he needed to use a six-foot ladder to reach the top of the towers on each side. The peaks and walls were constructed using normal household materials. 

"We used plastic bins and a cooler to mold the snow into bricks and the finishing touches were molded with my wife Marianne's baking dish," Bowden said.  "The last touches were with road flares.

"We had a lot of fun building it."

Let us know what you think of the Bowden family creation in the comments section.