
Entry No. 18 — the New Orleans file — filed under: roadside-oddity
Abita Mystery House (UCM Museum)
Artist John Preble built this folk-art warren around a vintage gas station and filled it with more than 50,000 found and recycled objects. You wind past push-button animated dioramas of Southern life, old arcade machines, the glass-and-pottery-encrusted House of Shards, and homemade chimeras like Darrel the dogigator and Buford the bassigator. Everything is built from junk and presented with deadpan humor rather than spectacle.
The move: Spend an hour cranking the animated miniature towns and hunting for the weirdest taxidermy mashup, then split a root beer next door at the Abita brewpub.
- 📍 Abita Springs
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 22275 Hwy 36, Abita Springs, LA 70420
Hours: Added 2026-06-22 — confirm current hours before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4
last checked: 2026-06-22