Roadside Giants on Vacation – The Farnham Colossi / Farnham Fantasy Farm

It was a total TV moment:  I had my head down looking at the dot on the digital map, telling Retro Roadhusband we were getting close to the legendary "Farnham Colossi"  when he suddenly pulled into someone's driveway and said, "Do you think this is it?" 

Um yeah, I think this is it!

As if we had any lingering doubts when we saw we  were beimg  welcomed onto the property by a Boo Boo bear, a Ranger, a Cindy Bear, and a Santa Claus, we knew we had to be in the right place!

We didn't immediately see owner and collector George Farnham, but we had called and left a message about our visit, in case he saw us roaming around the property. (Speaking to him later, he said he gets folks roaming around all the time. Still, I think it's polite to call, so if you visit, please do so!)

Now if you've been paying attention to the "How to Identify a Muffler Man" page on Roadside America you'd be correct in noting that the crowned gent that looks like he's going to drop a muffler on lil ol me is indeed a real Muffler Man. And his bikini-clad counterpart is a Muffler... Ma'am? Kidding! She's a Uniroyal Gal.

(Rounding out our welcoming committee is "Brian Wilson" a 25' tall surfer dude who came originally from an amusement park in upstate New York, and "Big John the Grocery Guy".)

So, what's the deal with these (and the very many other) gigantic statues decorating the 7 acre homesite of this retired DC Lawyer and his wife Pam? Well, we all know how it goes - you buy one thing, then you buy another, then voila! A collection grows! And it doesn't hurt to live in a place with very few zoning restrictions. So their yard is decorated with everything from flamingos in a tree to the Simpsons on a roller coaster.

But if I showed you photos of that stuff, you may think you've seen it all and not bother visiting - and we can't have that! So these few photos and the map below should be just what you need to get you on the back roads of West Virginia like Retro Roadhusband and I did. Nothing like experiencing the wonder of the wacky road for yourself!

Now, a word about that wacky road - the Farnham's farm is just over the VA / WV border, and comes up sooner than you think after a big curve if you're heading there from the south. I found that putting the address into Google Maps put the pin down much further north than where they are (hence my surprise at our arrival) so I've made sure that the pin on the Retro Roadmap of West Virginia shows exactly where they are.

I've gotta send out thanks to folks like George and Pam - for making the roadside a fun place to be for all of us!

Muffler Men Collection of George and Pam Farnham aka "The Farnham Colossi"