Pete’s Palace

My friend Pete, one of the most talented people I know in terms of building anything with his hands, decided to build an Ice Palace in his backyard, over in St. Paul, MN.

Pete could probably tell the story best, but one night this past winter he got the crazy idea to build an Ice Hotel, or bar, or something unique. Locally, there is a restaurant/hotel called Chambers, who constructed an ice bar, using ice to create everything inside a small 20x20 cube, except for the exterior which was created with a frosted acrylic plastic. Pete felt he could create something better, and decided to unveil the palace to his friends, and a party he hosted.

It took him 2 months of freezing water in plastic ‘totes’, which supplied the foundation, and also used a saw to cut and carve the ice blocks. A custom chandelier was created for the gathering area, and the palace itself had 3 entrances. A mutual friend wanted to shoot a short documentary on the process which you can view here.

View more photos here.