VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Hidden in the woods on the outskirts of Oak Hill are a couple of small crumbling structures made of concrete and rebar.
For many, they’ve been a decades-long mystery.
Those who have stumbled across them have given them nicknames like “Elf Houses” or “Fairy Homes” due to their relatively small size.
Heading into the small clearing, News 6 found the two decrepit buildings, with one being overtaken by foliage.
That building has four walls and several windows, with a doorway stretching under 6 feet high.
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Trash and scrap materials could be found along the dirt floor of the structure, indicating that people had been there recently.
Meanwhile, the other building has a ceiling like a large dome, which is riddled with small holes that let sunlight inside.
While it’s in major disrepair and coming apart in various spots, many of the holes appear to be purposefully made.
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Deanne Fricano — who helped News 6 to locate the structures — said the houses might have been built in the 1960s by a man who worked at the old Manny’s Alligator Center.
However, Tanya Petracca with the Oak Hill Museum told News 6 that she investigated the ruins and discovered that they were home to a man named Jake Stalder in the mid-1900s.
At the time, Florida was becoming well-known for its burgeoning space program, and tourist traps were set up along the east coast to capitalize on the craze.
There was also no I-95 at the time, Petracca explains, so many tourists heading south to the Space Coast had to pass through that area.
While many people from back then are no longer around to confirm, Petracca believes that these “Elf Houses” were one of these tourist hotspots set up to take advantage of the space mania, selling flowers and produce to people driving through.
“(Stalder) was just trying to set up a little business, and the structure was something easy for them to put the plants on and to handle,” she said.
The structure with the holes in the ceiling are reminiscent of the now-defunct “Atomic Tunnel” in Port Orange, which played on 1950s-era nuclear hysteria to showcase and sell exotic orchids.
With hundreds of portholes, that tunnel was meant to have a science-fiction look to draw tourists in — and the abandoned “Elf House” looks very similar.
According to Petracca, a local resident who was around in the 1950s recalled seeing cactuses and other exotic plants in the building.
In a TikTok video on the location earlier this year, the account “AbandonedFL” discovered what he assumed to be an old bomb shelter nearby.
However, Petracca said this likely isn’t the case. Instead, this was probably a cellar where refrigerated goods were kept.
“It was going to be a store, so I think that’s what it was about — but it never took off,” she told News 6. “I mean, it was going to be a full fruit stand, and obviously in fruit stands, you have part of it that’s refrigerated and cellar-tight there to keep the juices, milk and everything else.”
Regardless, the buildings were left abandoned in the aftermath of the space craze, and they now sit in ruin in the woods off of US-1.
Out of interest for the site, News 6 is refraining from sharing its exact location.
But if you’re interested in other strange sites and mysteries across Central Florida, be sure to check out News 6′s Florida Fables page.
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