Skip to Main Content

Xanadu: Home of the Future.

The Last of the Xanadus

Kissimmee, Florida

Xanadu was a white-domed home of the future, with franchises in Kissimmee, Florida, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The Xanadus promoted an environmentally sensitive sci-fi lifestyle, offering a peek at Tomorrow's do-it-all domiciles. Xanadu championed a novel method of home-building -- wet polyurethane foam sprayed over gigantic balloons to form the frame of this low-cost, energy-efficient structure. As J. Thomas Gussel, proponent of foam construction for the layman explained, "It's like turning over a Styrofoam cup and living in it!"

Today, the last Xanadu is deserted. Stains mar the exterior foam curves; the communications spire and dish have disappeared. The property is for sale.

Early 1980s: Our first visit

With the new EPCOT and the Black Hole of Tourism whirling scant miles down the road, Xanadu's creators may have reasoned that this Home of the Future was the perfect "impulse stop" for incoming or escaping vacationers.

Cheery geodesic billboards of the future beckoned. Xanadu's whiteness glared in the Florida sun, on a patchily developed strip of Hwy. 192. We visited Kissimmee's and the others at major tourism meccas.

Tour Xanadu sphere sign.

"Xanadu," purred an attempted sexy HAL-voice, "the home... of the future." The voice emanated from a handheld wireless telephone distributed to each visitor at the entrance. The only problem was that it got jammed by any electrical interference in the room. Like when your camera flash recharged. Visitors were told the equipment was on the fritz "for the first time ever," the day we visited. Two weeks later, we revisited and were told the same thing.

The rooms upstairs were like caves, with three foot ceilings. The stairways were cramped corkscrews, and the overkill of promotional electronic gadgetry trumpeted mismatched video/stereo components. Naturally, we liked this place.

Early 1990s: Progress Check

Already, the Future was passing by Xanadu at a fast clip. Gatlinburg's foam home had gone under, and the Dells version was struggling, adding jokey robots and pricey souvenirs in the gift shop.

TV fireplace.

In Kissimmee, knobby electronics accessories and DOS computers that raged in the '80s were starting to look like Third World office hand-me-downs. The waterfall spa was dry and covered with a sheet of worn Plexiglas; the ferric oxide in the video fireplace tape was so old you had to look twice before you realized something was on the screen.

The handheld walkie-talkie tour guide had been dumped in favor of an introductory video and "self-guided tour." On your way out the door, you passed a booth where a guy tried to sell you discount tickets to other area attractions.

Adding insult to injury, the Black Hole had decided to build a nearby futuristic community called Celebration. Not the long-anticipated metroplex of energy-efficient foam homes, but a tastefully eclectic community recalling the design styles of small town America, circa 1920!

1997: Xanadu for Sale

Kissimmee's Xanadu held on into 1996, if we are to believe a brochure delivery person at nearby Jungleland. The Dell's model tanked a few years earlier, the property now dominated by a Mini-golf log flume. In Kissimmee, scores of neighboring movie motion rides and adventure-themed dinner shows offer a more accurate vision of the future than any upside-down Styrofoam cup.

2005: Future Arrives Without Xanadu

In early October, 2005, Kissimmee's Xanadu was bulldozed to make way for future development -- likely not another "Computerized Home of the Future."

The attraction's demise lured us down into our video vaults to resurrect some fuzzy VHS clips recorded back in Xanadu's glory years.

Xanadu: Home of the Future

Hours:
2005: Demolished.
Status:
Gone

Xanadu: Home of the Future

Directions:
Was on the NE corner of US Hwy 12 and WI 23.
Status:
Gone

Xanadu: Home of the Future

Status:
Gone

More Quirky Attractions in Florida

Stories, reports and tips on tourist attractions and odd sights in Florida.

Explore Thousands of Unique Roadside Landmarks!

Strange and amusing destinations in the US and Canada are our specialty. Start here.
Use RoadsideAmerica.com's Attraction Maps to plan your next road trip.

My Sights

My Sights on Roadside America

Create and Save Your Own Crazy Road Trip! ...Try My Sights

Mobile Apps

Roadside America app: iPhone, iPad Roadside America app for iPhone, iPad. On-route maps, 1,000s of photos, special research targets! ...More

Roadside Presidents app: iPhone, iPad Roadside Presidents app for iPhone, iPad. POTUS landmarks, oddities. ...More

Florida Latest Tips and Stories

Latest Visitor Tips

Sight of the Week

Sight of the Week

JFK's World Famous Twine Ball, Highland, Wisconsin (Mar 18-24, 2024)

SotW Archive

USA and Canada Tips and Stories

More Sightings