Some people saw the January 2016 blizzard as a lot of shovelling. Patrick M. Horton and his Brooklyn roommates saw a property listing. Their snow shelter came with a little entrance, two evergreen plants and enough interior styling to make the joke immediately recognisable: New York accommodation had found another unusual address.
The listing was real; a paid stay is another question
The group advertised the structure on Airbnb with an asking price of $200. Contemporary coverage preserved the listing and the photographs, before reporting that Airbnb removed it because it did not meet occupancy standards. That is the documented story; the price should not be turned into a claim that someone paid it or spent the night there. See the 2016 report and listing images.
The fun is in the presentation. There is a front garden, a sleeping-looking area and little lights, all the ingredients of a cosy room squeezed into a mound of snow. The photograph taken from inside even supplies the classic property-tour view towards the entrance.
Why this was described as a quinzhee
Although the story travelled under the word “igloo,” the structure was described as a quinzhee: a shelter hollowed from a mound of snow. The familiar block-built snow house uses a different construction method. Those words help distinguish what is actually pictured without taking the smile out of the story.
Soft bedding and warm-looking photographs do not establish ventilation, structural stability or suitability for overnight occupation. This was a brief snow-day project and an accommodation joke, rather than a tested lodging recommendation. It is also long gone; the archive cannot be used to plan a present-day stay.
A snapshot of how a city responds to snow
Seen from the street, the shelter sits among everyday fences, windows and bare trees. That ordinary setting is what makes it memorable. It is a temporary object made from weather that had disrupted the whole neighbourhood, with a listing written in the language of everyday city life.
The same storm inspired a much louder response in Casey Neistat’s New York snowboarding film. For a wider look at snow structures and their very different settings, browse the igloo collection. The Brooklyn version earns its place for sheer commitment to the joke.
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