Virginia Offers A Mix Of Iconic And Unforgettable Landmarks To Explore

As the "Mother of States," Virginia is known for stately landmarks built before the birth of America. They include George Washington's Mount Vernon mansion, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation, and the palace-like properties in Colonial Williamsburg. Yet alongside such regal relics stand strange structures suitable for offbeat sightseers. From a wonder of the world made from Styrofoam to a skinny house made from spite, behold seven of the most bizarre landmarks in Virginia.

Foamhenge - Centreville

Foamhenge looks exactly how it sounds. Comprising more than a dozen 14-foot pillars in a circular formation, this rural Virginian landmark is a full-scale Styrofoam replica of Stonehenge. That means each "stone" weighs about 400 pounds rather than 25 tons for its English antecedent. Moreover, while Stonehenge took around 1,500 years and hordes of prehistoric peoples to build, Foamhenge was constructed in about six weeks by Mark Cline as an April Fool's stunt gone right.

From 2004 to 2016, it stood near Cline's Enchanted Castle Studios in the town of Natural Bridge. When Natural Bridge State Park took over the area, Foamhenge moved to Cox Farms in Centreville. These days, Foamhenge is tourable during events like the Fall Festival, which is set to run from September 20 to November 9, 2025, and Fields of Fear, which is scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights (plus Sunday, October 12) from September 26 to November 8, 2025.

The Poe Museum - Richmond

Literary horror legend Edgar Allan Poe spent much of his life in Richmond, Virginia. After his death, a group of Poenatics campaigned for the city to build him a monument. Though 50-plus years had passed since Poe's passing, that was not enough time to change his reputation. Critics called his writing juvenile and his personality loathsome. By the time the Poe Memorial Association was established in 1906, no one had bothered to preserve his childhood homes. Unable to find support or a site, the organization had to wait another decade-plus until the Old Stone House, which is considered Richmond's oldest residential building, became available.

Built in circa 1740 and located just blocks from Poe's stomping grounds, the Old Stone House was converted into The Poe Museum, complete with a Poe Shrine and Enchanted Garden. Among its strangest artifacts are Poe's hair, Poe's socks, and pieces of Poe's coffin.

Luray Caverns - Luray

Not all landmarks are above land. Case in point: the Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia. Considered the largest series of caverns in the eastern United States, they cover countless underground acres and were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974. Inside the caverns are natural oddities like a fried-eggs-shaped rock formation, elegant flowstone draperies, and Dream Lake, whose crystal-clear water reflects stalactites as illusory stalagmites.

But the caverns' weirdest wonder is a nature and human collaboration called the Great Stalacpipe Organ. The organ's "pipes" are stalactites that span 3.5 acres and, when struck with rubber-tipped mallets, produce music that can be heard anywhere in the complex. It holds the Guinness World Record as the largest natural underground musical instrument.

Hollensbury Spite House - Alexandria

Some landmarks are built out of Styrofoam. Others are built out of stone. And a few are built out of spite. The Hollensbury Spite House, located at 523 Queen Street in Alexandria, is one such building made to spite the community. Almost two centuries ago, John Hollensbury supposedly got so sick of the alley traffic beside his house that he plugged the alley with a different house. Measuring 25 feet deep and just over seven feet wide, the Hollensbury Spite House is considered America's skinniest historic home.

Hollensbury has long since died, but his house is still inhabited part of the year. And it no longer spites the community. In fact, it enhances the community as a meticulously maintained tourist attraction with an assessed value of about $700,000.

Markel Building - Richmond

Now for a landmark built not from spite but from a foil-wrapped baked potato, which, upon further reflection, may be the same thing. While attending a dinner for the American Institute of Architects, Haigh Jamgochian was served a steaming tater and decided to expand it into the Richmond headquarters of the Markel Corporation.

Considered a steaming pile of you-know-what to some and an architectural marvel to others, the Markel Building has three circular floors—each covered in an unbroken 555-foot piece of aluminum. The pieces were even sledgehammered to evoke the crinkly texture of wrapped foil. Jamgochian did not get many other commissions. That spud-inspired building is his only creation still standing.

Natural Bridge - Natural Bridge

Both the town of Natural Bridge and the state park of Natural Bridge are named for a natural wonder called the Natural Bridge. Carved out of limestone over the last hundreds of millions of years, the bridge (AKA arch) is over 200 feet tall and 90 feet wide. It has mesmerized ancient Americans, former presidents (Thomas Jefferson actually owned the Natural Bridge for a time), and millions of modern tourists.

To feed off the bridge's popularity, many human-made oddities have been built in the area. They include the aforementioned Foamhenge, which moved in 2016; Dinosaur Kingdom II, which displays dinos fighting Union soldiers in an alternate timeline; and the Virginia Safari Park, which is a drive-thru zoo featuring everything from a giraffe to a king cheetah.

The President Heads - Croaker

In 2004, the giant concrete busts of 42 US presidents were arranged in a section of Williamsburg dubbed Presidents Park. Several years later, the attraction went bust, and the sculptures were set to be destroyed. However, the contractor responsible for their removal, Howard Hankins, chose to preserve the presidents at his private property about 11 miles away. Thus, the 42 President Heads now sit on a random acreage in Croaker, Virginia.

Photo ops of these decaying, quasi-apocalyptic busts are offered only during special events, since Hankins runs the acreage as an industrial recycling facility. But the heads might return to a public site in Williamsburg, tentatively called President's Walk. Besides relocation, restoration of the extant heads and creation of new heads for subsequent presidents are planned for 2026.

Yes, Virginia, there is a number of bizarre landmarks in your backyard. Though elegant colonial structures reign supreme, Virginia's oddities are arguably funner to visit than its mansions. Skip presidential palaces and instead see The President Heads in Croaker, the Natural Bridge in Natural Bridge, The Poe Museum and the Markel Building in Richmond, the Hollensbury Spite House in Alexandria, the Luray Caverns in Luray, and Foamhenge in Centreville.