Neville's folly on the banks of the Elbow River.

 Video artist Sharon Stevens has been asking Calgarians to share their favourite place in the city as part of her current project, OX: A Crash Course on Loving Calgary. Here, the artist tells us about her own pick, Lindsay’s Folly.

“Lindsay's Folly is the remnants of a mansion that Dr. Neville Lindsay (history below) wanted to build for his wife. He started it in 1913 and had such lofty ideas for his dream home that it was never completed, and when he died in 1925, his wife was left with an unfinished home that eventually was appropriated by the city for back taxes. The site is on the east side of the Elbow River along the pathway below the Southern Alberta Pioneers building and Rideau Towers. The spot resonates with me because the ambitious nature of Dr. Lindsay and the unrequited expression of love for his wife led him to build such a proud testament that eventually became his folly.”

Dr. Neville Lindsay was a physician, realtor and alderman. Born in Ontario in 1845, he came to Calgary with the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1883. He established a widespread medical practice throughout what is now southern Alberta. Lindsay served on Calgary's first town council as a councillor from 1884 to 1886, and served as an alderman from 1897 to1898.

In 1886, Lindsay was appointed government physician on the Blackfoot, Stoney and Sarcee reservations. In the years following, he became a close friend of Father Albert Lacombe and the Rev. John Tims.

In 1898, Lindsay visited the Yukon and made successful transactions in gold and copper. He returned to Calgary and traded in real estate, at one time owning what is now the district of Parkhill.

In 1913, he began construction of a house on the east bank of the Elbow River. He

used stone salvaged from a local church. The structure, now alternately known as "Lindsays' Folly" and/or "Lindsay's Castle," was never completed. Lindsay died in 1925.