Game of Thrones castle brought to life with sticks and stones

A southern Alberta hamlet hit hard by the 2013 floods has become a retreat for a Calgary plumber, self-taught artist and fan of Game of Thrones.

Luke Materi has spent more than 600 hours building his very own Winterfell — a northern castle in the HBO series — in Bragg Creek, located 45 kilometres southwest of Calgary.

"What I like doing is just going down to different areas, picking somewhere that has been ravaged by a natural disaster and then just turn the materials found on site into a work of art."

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When the Elbow River swelled and spilled over two years ago, it left behind a mess of driftwood and river rocks — everything Materi needed to build his fantasy fort.

The 37-year-old started stacking stones in the Bragg Creek area last summer, but took a break over the winter because it's "really hard" to collect rocks when they're buried under a blanket of snow.

While the project is not an exact replica of Winterfell, Materi has named several structures after places in the cult television show.

There's Volantis Tower and Dragonstone Tower, but the project also pays homage to the video game Skyrim with its Skyhaven Tower.

"I'd love to do it full time," said Materi, who describes himself as a self-taught "land artist."

"I have done art like model building, painting miniatures, and oil paintings — stuff like that," he said, but adds that he's never taken on a professional commission. 

He's also working on several elaborate rock arrangements closer to Calgary.

One is located on a little island in the middle of the Bow River, just downstream from Edworthy Park. Two more can be found on the north and south side of the river at the bridge under Crowchild Trail.