Over the last 12 months, Orlando saw its fair share of wild real estate listings. Geodesic dome homes, space-themed mega-mansions, castles and Hobbit houses all hit the market in 2024. Here’s a rundown of the coolest, rarest houses that went up for sale this year. 

Historic former church in downtown Orlando


The building, located at 601 E. Ridgewood St., was originally built as a place of worship before it was transformed into a set of five townhouses, dubbed The Revival, in 1958, according to property records. Complete with three bedrooms, four bathrooms and a two-car garage, the three-story end unit townhouse for sale boasts a distinctive floor plan and plenty of original design details. The home comes with original windows and tile, exposed brick walls and a rooftop view of downtown Orlando. On the first floor is a mudroom and bedroom with its own private bathroom and entry door. The second floor houses two more bedrooms, each with a private bathroom. The third floor acts as the heart of the home, with a sizable kitchen, dining room, living room and a half-bathroom. Another set of stairs takes you to the rooftop deck overlooking the city. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor
Whimsical Orlando home with a bonsai tree garden, lazy river and ‘hobbit house’ Located at 1661 S. Chickasaw Trail, it has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms across nearly 7,000 total square feet. The custom-built home comes with two primary bedrooms, a double-island kitchen, a massive main living room and natural light throughout. The estate’s main draw, however, is undoubtedly its “outdoor oasis.” The resort-style pool and spa include a fully functional 100,000-gallon lazy river, a 12-hole mini-golf course, an in-ground trampoline, a bonsai tree garden and a “hobbit house,” according to the listing.See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor
Credit: Photo via Realtor
Central Florida’s ‘Mission to Mars’-themed mega mansion Located at 1015 Fantasy Drive, in Davenport, the Mission to Mars-themed home was built just this year and is seemingly ready to take on a fleet of aspiring astronauts. The 15,000-square-foot mega mansion comes with a whopping 20 bedrooms and more than 24 bathrooms, a bowling alley, a lazy river and over-the-top decor. The bedrooms, all of which boast some combination of rocket ship, outer space and John F. Kennedy imagery, also include several kid-friendly bunkbeds. There’s a home theater, game room, and gourmet kitchen complete with four refrigerators, two stovetops, two double ovens and a wine cooler. The adjoining grand dining area comfortably seats 37, per the listing. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor
Historic Orlando home built for the Reynolds Tobacco family nearly 100 years ago Located at 808 Seville Place, the home was built in 1927 for W.N. Reynolds, a member of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company firm and a family relative of R.J. Reynolds himself. The company’s expansive brand portfolio includes Camel, Newport, Doral, Pall Mall and more. The historic home comes with seven bedrooms and six bathrooms across a total 5,276 square feet. Some of the home’s most impressive details include the soaring ceilings, original archways, wood beam-flanked ceilings, a gas fireplace flanked in marble and an updated kitchen. Outside, the home has a lush English garden, covered front porch, saltwater pool and lounging area. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor
Credit: Photo via Realtor
Historic ‘Gwathmey House’ built by James Gamble Rogers II for a citrus tycoon The home, located at 3484 Big Eagle Drive in Ocoee, was designed by renowned architect James Gamble Rogers II before it was built in 1936. The Ocoee residence has four bedrooms and five bathrooms across 3,120 square feet. Roger designed the home for eye doctor and citrus grower Lomax Gwathmey, according to Preservation Winter Park. Rogers, the nephew and namesake of one of the architects who designed Yale University, James Gamble Rogers, is responsible for some of the most notable buildings in the area. Largely known for his residential work in Winter Park, Rogers’ work includes Winter Park’s “Casa Feliz” Spanish farmhouse, Greeneda Court shops on Park Avenue and Rollins College’s Olin Library. Roger also played a part in the design of the Florida Supreme Court building and buildings at Stetson University and Florida State University. He led the Associated University Architects, which developed the University of Central Florida. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor
Orlando’s historic ‘Plymouthonian’ home designed by storybook-style architect Sam Stoltz The home, located at 30801 Ridgeview Ave. in Sorrento, was built in 1929 and has been dubbed the “Plymouthonian.” The home’s architect, Sam Stoltz, is responsible for several distinctive Florida homes and buildings constructed between the 1920s and 1930s. Although he had no formal architectural training, Stoltz’s creations remain some of the most notable pieces of history in the area, including the Dubsdread Golf Course Clubhouse. He worked and lived primarily in Winter Park in his later years, and focused heavily on creating Tudor-style homes near Mount Plymouth, which he called his “Plymouthonians.” Also an artist, Stoltz contributed paintings and murals (often depicting Florida birds) to local businesses, two of which can be seen today at the College Park Community Center. The home, containing Stoltz’s signature bird decorations, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a separate one-bedroom, one-bathroom suite above the garage, once used as staff quarters. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor

100-year-old Spanish home designed by renowned Sanford architect Elton J. Moughton


The residence, located at 2019 S. Park Ave. in downtown Sanford, was built in 1923 and designed by Elton J. Moughton, a post Depression-era architect whose work largely shaped Sanford. The house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, spanning a total of 1,904 square feet and sitting on approximately a quarter of an acre of land. With a quaint courtyard, original windows, powder room, screened-in Florida room, paved garden and guesthouse, the estate is a modern example of Moughton’s early 1920s work. His career began in Florida in 1917, and for most of it, through the Great Depression and post-World War II years, Moughton was Seminole County’s only architect. He designed and built a number of homes and schools, a resort hotel, civic and public buildings, and commercial structures ranging from warehouses to automobile dealerships. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor

Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired mid-century Orlando home


The residence, located at 1928 Monterey Ave. near the Country Club of Orlando, was designed by the late award-winning Florida architect Peter Jefferson, known largely for his mid-century-style homes inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright and traditional Florida Cracker-style homes. The home was built in 1971 and comes with four bedrooms, four baths and nearly 4,500 square feet of living space. Some notable design characteristics include the open floor plans, floor-to-ceiling windows, exposed rafters and horizontal layout. There’s also a floor-to-ceiling free-standing fireplace, formal dining room, breakfast nook, an adjacent Florida room and a three-car garage outside. In true Old Florida fashion, the estate is surrounded by a brick wall and lush tropical foliage. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor
Orlando home designed by NSYNC’s Joey Fatone Located at 9726 Kilgore Road, the home was designed by *NSYNC’s Joey Fatone. Although the singer said “bye, bye, bye” to the mansion, known as Grande Oaks, years ago, it’s anything but gone. The sprawling, amenity-filled lakefront home has five bedrooms, nine baths and a total 10,010 square feet of living space. It comes with its own movie theater, billiards room and a full gym. Outside, the home boasts a full-sized tennis court, basketball court, 10-car garage, mini-golf course and a helicopter pad. The pride of this home on the much-prized Butler Chain of Lakes is out back, however. There’s a resort-style pool consisting of three levels: a diving pool, a main pool and a 2-foot shallow pool. In the jacuzzi cabana cave sits the home’s very own commercial-grade, restaurant-style teppanyaki grill, according to the listing. Fatone sold the home in 2011 to Three-W Canada International, a private school management corporation, for $3.3 million, according to property records. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor
Orlando’s ‘Puesta del Sol’ built for late Disney executive Located at 6324 Deacon Circle in Windermere, the home was built in 1991 and belonged to Disney “legend” Dick Nunis, the former chairman of Walt Disney Attractions and Orlando resident. Nunis passed away in 2023 at 91, after dedicating decades to his career with the entertainment giant. He kicked off his career in 1955 at Disneyland, where he played an essential role in helping to expand Disney into a global theme park business before taking the reins at the Florida park. The home’s design is influenced by the Art Nouveau Movement and features plenty of Disney decor and surprises throughout. The home theater contains a photo of Walt Disney; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are depicted on balcony observatory windows; Mickey Mouse ears top the copper cappuccino maker, and more. The residence has a 750-square-foot pool with a bridge and swim-up bar, plus a steam room, sauna, wine cellar and an elevator that leads to an underground garage. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor

Central Florida’s historic ‘Casa Coquina Del Mar’ inn


The Casa Coquina Del Mar Bed and Breakfast, located at 4010 Coquina Ave. in Titusville, was built in 1927. The inn stands today with nine bedrooms and 10 bathrooms across nearly 9,000 square feet covered in eccentric decor. The property boasts rooms ranging in size from 360 to 1,100 square feet, and plenty of historic appeal throughout. Amenities include a hot tub in the garden and a rooftop deck which offers panoramic views of the nearby Kennedy Space Center’s rocket launches. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor

Aviation-themed Orlando mansion that comes with a helicopter


The home, located at 1213 Radiant St. in Kissimmee, looks unassuming from the outside but is stocked full of themed rooms and aviation memorabilia and decor — the most shocking of which just may be the real retired military helicopter inside the home. According to the listing, the helicopter served in both Afghanistan and Iraq and is valued at more than $25 million alone. The vessel has been converted into a gaming flight simulator, bunk beds and art installation. The house also contains a vast collection of military flight suits and various other artifacts, like an antique plane wing and an authentic 1930s Jaguar with a virtual racing game inside. The mega-mansion has 10 bedrooms and 11 baths across a total 5,953 square feet, plus a pool and home theater. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor

Orlando’s historic two-home compound ‘Cottage Way’


The gated estate, located at 503 N. Summerlin Ave. and dubbed “Cottage Way,” comes with two custom-designed homes recognized by the National Preservation Historic Board, according to the listing. The first, located on the corner of East Amelia Street and North Summerlin Avenue, is a 2,300-square-foot Spanish Mediterranean residence. It comes with a two-floor elevator, wood-burning fireplace, a custom staircase, second-floor balcony, and more. The second home, which faces East Amelia Street, is a large Craftsman-style cottage with a sizable front porch, a master suite with a built-in bar, a theater loft space and ornate woodwork throughout. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor

Historic Central Florida home with a rare basement


Located at 1401 E. Lakeview Ave. in Eustis, the house was built in 1926, and was the longtime home of the late Dr. James W. Todd, a well-known local surgeon with a private practice in the area. According to property records, the home is still in the Todd family. Besides the vertical landscaping, the two-story home also comes with four bedrooms and three bathrooms as well as custom millwork, two fireplaces, a swimming pool in a separate building, a two-car garage and that Florida rarity: a basement. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor
Historic Central Florida home with a rare basement The home sits on a private road and has five bedrooms and seven baths, spanning 12,000 total square feet of living space, according to the listing. Some notable features include the birdcage elevator modeled after one in the Biltmore home in Asheville, North Carolina; a fireplace modeled after one in the Kremlin; a gym, a media room and a sprawling kitchen. The exterior features a tiered koi pond, a boathouse, a lap pool, a Jacuzzi and views of Lake Maitland. There’s also an over-the-top exterior pool and cabana area, complete with not one, not two, but four waterfalls, one of which was designed by Walt Disney Co. artists. The Hagles made headlines last year after they dropped a lawsuit against OceanGate Expedition CEO Richard Stockton Rush. The twosome filed a lawsuit against Rush for fraud in February 2023. Rush reportedly refused to refund the Hagles more than $210,000 they spent on planned expeditions to the wreckage of the Titanic that never happened. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Zillow

Two homes in one: Central Florida lake house on its own 5-acre peninsula


Located at 16600 Cleveland Lane in Umatilla, the residence sits on its own 5-acre peninsula, and comes with a conjoining mother-in-law suite connected by a long outdoor corridor. In total, the estate has five bedrooms and six bathrooms, plus ample living space and natural light throughout. Each home has its own wrap-around porch and panoramic views of Crescent Lake. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor
Credit: Photo via Realtor
Credit: Photo via Realtor
Former Winter Park home of famed Disney Imagineer Cicero Greathouse Located at 1391 Richmond Road, the home belonged to Greathouse and his wife in the late ’90s, and still holds much of the creator’s artistic influence throughout. Greathouse spent a large portion of his life traveling the world and gathering inspiration for his art, namely bold abstract paintings. He maintained his creative drive and influence on Central Florida through his time as a senior art director for Walt Disney Imagineering. The house, with four bedrooms and six bathrooms across 4,635 square feet, was designed to emulate a New York City townhouse coupled with Florida living, the listing says. Full of traditional and Old Florida-style paintings, the home’s main living spaces include a grand foyer with a spiral staircase, as well as a formal living room and dining room. The home also comes with two separate garages, one of which includes an air-conditioned gym and an office, and antique art fixtures throughout. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor.com
Credit: Photo via Realtor

This Windermere’s Mediterranean estate on its own peninsula


The nearly 15,000-square-foot home, located at 4200 Down Point Lane in Windermere, comes with six bedrooms and eight baths. The home sits on a 2-acre peninsula in the Butler Chain of Lakes. The home has a grand staircase, 25-foot hand-painted rotunda ceiling, carved fireplace, 10-foot-wide Waterford chandelier, game room and climate-controlled wine cellar with room for more than 3,000 bottles. Outside, the residence boasts a resort-style pool and cabana, along with a boathouse sited on 1,000 feet of water frontage. See more photos here. Credit: Photo via Realtor

Chloe Greenberg is the Digital Content Editor for Orlando Weekly.