Fantasy Farm (aka Farnham Colossi)George and Pam Farnham

George Farnham decided to leave his stress-filled job as an attorney in Washington DC in the early 1980s after finding an appealing and available seven-acre property in the rural and unincorporated community of Unger, West Virginia. Pam joined him from New York a few years later, and later the two began an internet collectibles business, based in large part on their avid collectors’ instincts.

George collected all kinds of things—from old magazines to nudie gas station calendars—but his real obsession was to find a monumental fiberglass dinosaur that he could install in his yard. While looking for an available dinosaur online, the couple did find a 25-foot-tall Muffler Man in Whittier, California, that they had shipped out to West Virginia (paying three times more for shipping than for the fiberglass sculpture itself). Soon they had added “Brian, the Beach Dude” from Cincinnati—a piece so large that it required two flatbed trucks to move—and then a Big John supermarket giant from Illinois, a Hamburger Man, a Santa Claus, a Boo Boo bear, a Cindy Bear, a Forest Ranger, a Uniroyal Gal, Paul Bunyan, and more. A 165-foot oval track and nonoperational five-car roller coaster—with the Simpson family on board—has also been added to the site; there are approximately two dozen works altogether as of this writing. All of these monumental fiberglass figures were once used as marketing ploys to attract customers to small businesses along the roads and highways of America; most were originally erected during the 1960s.

As they purchase each piece and ship them home, the Farnhams anchor them in concrete in their yard, and enjoy the reactions of their neighbors and passersby, all of whom, they declare, approve of their improvements. And they are always on the outlook for more works to add to their collection…

Most works are easily viewable from the road, but it is always advisable to call prior to visiting if you want to explore further into the property. There is no fee for entrance.

~Jo Farb Hernández, 2014

Jo Farb Hernández

Winchester Grade Road
Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, 25411 us
Latitude/Longitude: 39.5111807 / -78.2232853

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