Statues at this Calgary home get new costumes every month and here's why
If you’ve ever driven through southwest Calgary, there’s a good chance you’ve spotted a pair of well-dressed lions and an even better chance they brought a big smile to your face.
No matter the season or weather, their quirky wardrobes bring a blast of cheer to passersby, with many onlookers unable to contain their joy — or curiosity.
“My husband’s office is in the front, so you can see people walking by, and the number of people who have stopped to take pictures of them is remarkable,” says Debby Lorimer, the woman behind the creative idea.
Debby Lorimer
Debby Lorimer
Debby Lorimer
“You know people walk by and they point and they laugh and they kind of try to look in the house like, ‘I wonder what kind of people live here?”
In addition to the nosy neighbours, Lorimer says she’s been greeted by some notable admirers, from delivery people to police officers.
“We had a Calgary city bus stop and throw her doors open and yell out “I love your lions!”
Another encounter took a surprising turn.
“We had a police car going by when we were outside, and he turns and pulls up right in front of our house and says, ‘Are you the homeowners here?’ and we go, ‘Uh oh, what’s happening.’ And he goes, ‘I just want to tell you every morning when I drive my son to school, he loves the lions!'”
Their origin story is equally as entertaining.
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Emma Kilburn-Smith/Daily Hive
Debby Lorimer
Debby Lorimer
Lorimer says she and her husband bought the house over a decade ago and were looking for a way to keep the bushes from overrunning their pillars at the front of the house.
While brainstorming ideas, her husband joked about finding statues or lions to make them taller, and their youngest daughter took the idea to heart.
“She goes home and jumps on Kijiji, and she finds these two lions at this sale for like $100 and she calls him, and off they go to Canyon Meadows to pick up these lions and bring them home.”
Lorimer says she was at work and by the time she got home, so were the lions — concretized to the pillars and impossible to remove.Ā
“I was horrified, I hated them, I don’t like them, I thought, ‘Oh my god, this looks so pretentious. What are we doing?'”
It was at Christmas time that the lions got their first outfits and Lorimer started to see their potential.
“I thought if I’m stuck with them, I might as well have some fun with them, so we don’t look like ‘the house with the lions.'”
Debby Lorimer
Debby Lorimer
Lorimer says they change their outfits every month and have collected around 17 costumes over the six or so years they’ve been dressing them up.
She says she gets comments not only about the different outfits but also when they’re not wearing anything.
“This one guy walks by. It’s summer, and there was nothing on them, and he goes, ‘I love your lions, and there’s no costumes on them today. It’s almost embarrassing when they’re naked.”
Whether you love the twins (named Leo and Lucy) with their costumes or without, there’s no doubt they’re a great conversation starter. Let us know which costume is your favourite in the comments!