These impressive LEGO homes were constructed by Doug Schmidt, who will turn 63 on Aug. 28.

Schmidt was born prematurely due to the incompatibility of his blood’s Rh factor with his mother’s. Complications of his prematurity resulted in the development of cerebral palsy and brain damage, affecting Schmidt’s speech and walking capabilities.

“Kids that had the same affliction as Doug did, a lot of them were institutionalized. And my mom was a nurse so she had a caregiving, nurturing grain in her anyway, but she would never let him go into a home or anything like that,” said Ron Schmidt, Doug Schmidt’s eldest brother.

Doug Schmidt is the youngest of four children, with two older brothers and a sister, Nancy Schmidt, who is only one year older than he is. The siblings didn’t treat Doug Schmidt any differently than anyone else, and he was able to grow up with his siblings and they were likewise able to grow up with him.

Doug Schmidt’s LEGO houses are not built from kits but are constructed using blueprints of real house floor plans and Schmidt’s own creativity.

At around age 9, Doug Schmidt began taking an interest in houses, architecture and construction.

“We lived on the edge of town so as the town developed, the housing and everything else, there was a lot of construction around. He had a three-wheeler bike and he’d go down and he’d watch the guys build the houses,” Ron Schmidt said.

The construction workers welcomed Doug Schmidt’s curiosity and would even playfully test his knowledge on occasion by assembling something incorrectly for the young Doug to point out.

“We would go visit somebody and Doug would disappear and it’s like, ‘oh god, he’s snooping through the house,’ and he would come home and know which way the doors were supposed to swing,” Nancy Schmidt said about her brother’s near photographic memory.

Doug Schmidt’s interest in construction and houses became the foundation for his interest in building LEGO homes. His LEGO houses are not built from kits, and his only construction guidance are blueprints and floor plans of real houses he takes an interest in.

This LEGO trailer cannot be bought in a premade LEGO kit, as it was constructed entirely from Doug Schmidt’s own design.

Doug Schmidt lives in a two bedroom apartment with one bedroom designated as his LEGO studio. In the LEGO studio sits a handcrafted, kidney-shaped desk, accessible for Schmidt to roll up to with his wheelchair. The desk was custom made by a cousin of the Schmidt family.

Atop the desk is Doug Schmidt’s most recent architectural feat, a large red and white LEGO home with a functioning garage door that slides up and down and lights strung throughout the individual rooms.

“He’ll take these little wheat lights and he’ll run them through as he’s building and then he’ll incorporate switches so that the lights come on,” Ron Schmidt said. “He understands all of that.”

There is a lazy susan on the desk underneath the LEGO house so Doug Schmidt can turn and rotate his current projects seamlessly while he works on the different areas. There’s also a mirror mounted to the desk, adding another layer of visibility.

“When you look at the diagram of the house he built, every room is in there,” Ron Schmidt said.

Audin Rhodes/MDN Doug Schmidt has been building LEGO houses since he was a little boy and has been entering them in the North Dakota State Fair for more than 30 years.

It takes around three weeks for Doug Schmidt to finish one of his large LEGO projects and after the fair is over, these grand homes are demolished so the red and white pieces can be used again next year.

“He used to take this little rubber hammer and just start chopping away and LEGO would be flying all over the place,” Nancy Schmidt said.

After the Doug Schmidt demolition crew rolls through, he picks up each piece with a grabber tool and organizes the pieces into individual drawers around the room. There are separate bin drawers for LEGO windows, fence pieces, certain sizes, etc.

“You see this window here? It probably came in a certain set. So in order to get that window he probably had to buy an entire kit,” Nancy Schmidt said. “If he sees a certain banister or a stairway in a house, he has to buy the kit just for the banister.”

Doug Schmidt’s siblings estimate their brother must have thousands of LEGO bricks at his disposal to build with, but his go-to colors are red and white LEGO pieces, which he uses for the siding of the houses.

For the North Dakota State Fair in 2023, Doug Schmidt built a LEGO church instead of a house.

“The whole back end opened up,” Nancy Schmidt said, pointing out the altar and candles. “I asked him why there’s no chairs and he said, ‘No more LEGO!’ There wasn’t any more LEGO.”

Doug Schmidt laughed while his sister recounted this story. He had learned American Sign Language when he was younger.

“That helped us to communicate better with him,” his sister said.

“He’s kind of lost his ability to sign but he’s got a few things that he knows,” Ron Schmidt said.

“Since he’s gotten a cochlear implant, he can hear better, so if he doesn’t get his point across he’ll either take a piece of paper and draw it out for you or he’ll tell you,” said Nancy Schmidt about her brother’s use of gestures, body language and verbal shorthand.

Owen Schmidt, 9, Ron Schmidt’s grandson, marveled at his great-uncle’s LEGO house.

“All he did was look at the picture and he built this whole entire thing,” Owen said.

Doug Schmidt is a great-uncle to 24 nieces and nephews.

“I know when the grandkids go to the fair, they all take pictures of themselves in front of Uncle Dougie’s house,” Nancy Schmidt said.

Doug Schmidt has won a Best of Show ribbon at the State Fair previously as well as many participation ribbons.

“I think kids that come to the fair really enjoy seeing it. He doesn’t do it to win or anything. He just enjoys being able to share his talent at the fair,” Nancy Schmidt said.