Abandoned home lands on Saskatchewan farm

Pre-fab got sidetracked on way to buyer

At 5:30 a.m., Patrick Maze was vigilantly keeping an eye out for a stray deer or moose while driving through the back road of his 320-acre Saskatchewan farm.

It was still dark out as Maze cautiously sped up, hoping to make good time en route to a meeting 21/2 hours away in Saskatoon last Thursday. He couldn’t help but slow down when he approached a quarter-section of his farm that he normally rents out for farmers to plant crops.

After this year’s harvest, that land was supposed to be empty. Instead, Maze rubbed his eyes and found himself staring at a house he’d never seen before on his property.

“I did slow down a bit as I passed by and you think ‘what the heck is that?’ ” Maze laughed.

After a quick look, Maze kept driving. Maybe it was just there overnight, he thought, and actually forgot about it until he passed by it on a walk that weekend. From where he lives on the property, he couldn’t see the strange house sitting on a flatbed truck in the distance.

Maze wasn’t particularly worried about where the house came from. But after asking some of his neighbours — who knew nothing about it — Maze became concerned about being liable if the house was damaged during its stay.

Without any answers, he snapped some photos and took to Facebook.

“Perhaps someone stole it and took it for a joy ride, then ditched it on my property?” Maze asked. “There was no one in it, so I don’t think it’s a bold move by squatters.

“If I put a basement under it would I be able to keep it, under ‘finders-keepers’ laws?”

Meant to be taken as a joke, Maze’s post was shared nearly 300 times. And only hours later, someone claimed it.

“This is my house,” Brenda Robertson wrote before explaining that it was supposed to be delivered to her lot near Lumsden, Sask., the day before Maze discovered it. The movers did not have the proper permits from SaskPower to have power lines lifted along their route and Robertson was told the house would have to be brought back to Winnipeg so the permits could be issued.

“So it’s quite a surprise to see my house on your land,” Robertson added. “Thanks for putting this on (Facebook) or I would not know. I’ll try to get it off your land asap.”

Maze replied: “Thanks it’s not in the way or anything... A house which appeared on land belonging to Patrick Maze near Saskatoon is shown in a handout photo.