Dragon Point goes up for sale - and buyer can build a new dragon statue

Rick Neale, Florida Today

Wed, January 7, 2026 at 10:04 AM UTC

3 min read

Annie the whimsical 65-foot-long dragon lorded over the confluence of the Indian and Banana rivers for decades before the sea-green statue succumbed to a storm and collapsed.

Now, nearly a quarter century later, Dragon Point is back up for sale. And Annie's narrow perch at the southern tip of Merritt Island may be reborn by a future owner who builds a riverfront mansion — accompanied by a new landmark dragon.

Perhaps the most legendary residential property on Florida's Space Coast, the long-vacant Dragon Point is listed for sale for $4.5 million. As a high-end option, the future buyer could spend $7 million and crews will construct a five-bedroom, eight-bathroom home sprawling across 6,978 square feet.

March 2017 story: Dragon Point demolition project begins on Merritt Island

Or for $8 million, the buyer gets the land and custom-built home — plus a new dragon of his or her choosing, said Stephanie Moss Dandridge, a real estate advisor with One Sotheby's International Realty in Melbourne Beach.

“If you know the story, there are multiple hatchlings from Annie. Our area has great love and great memories, and a real connection to Annie," Dandridge said.

The property at 11680 Point Drive — a narrow 0.86-acre peninsula with ¼-mile of wraparound shoreline — was listed for sale on Dec. 27. Dragon Point lies at the rocky southernmost terminus of Merritt Island, just north of the Eau Gallie Causeway.

'The dragon's head juts out over the water'

Looking southward, this photo shows Dragon Point with the Eau Gallie Causeway in the distance.

A bit of history: A showpiece 5,707-square-foot Dragon Point mansion was built here in 1961, then enlarged during the 1970s. The 14-room estate hosted popular fundraisers for nonprofits and other events, featuring three fireplaces, cedar decks, teak parquet floors and paneling, a spiraling staircase, pool with coral-stone deck, and a boat slip.

In a September 2000 FLORIDA TODAY interview, former owner Warren McFadden estimated 27,000 people — nearly the population of Rockledge or West Melbourne — had visited the house since he bought it in 1981.

But the scene-stealer outside was Annie the dragon. Miami sculptor and self-described "warlock" Lewis VanDercar (1913-1988) crafted the quirky beast — which belched fire and smoke via an internal propane tank.

"The dragon's head juts out over the water. It is a light sea-green color; its mouth is painted red and its teeth are white. Four hatchling dragons emerge from eggs on the proper left side of the dragon," states Annie's description in the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.

"The hatchlings are light green and have red mouths. The dragon's tail curls upward at its tip. A door located near the tail of the dragon leads to an interior room. The wire mesh and steel framed sculpture is equipped with fixtures enabling the dragon and hatchlings to blow fire," the Smithsonian description says.

But Annie fell into disrepair and cracked apart on her coquina perch during a 2002 summertime thunderstorm. However, the tip of Merritt Island is still named Dragon Point on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration navigational charts.

“As a yacht club kid, we would take our prams and go across from the (Eau Gallie Yacht Club) to Dragon Point. And I spent a lot of time in that dragon,” Dandridge said.

“It was like a clubhouse, and a big playhouse. It was huge. It was humungous. There could be many kids in there,” she said.

Dragon Point still remains unoccupied

By the time of Annie's demise, the Dragon Point estate had badly deteriorated. The abandoned, vandal-marred property got tied up in court for years during legal disputes.

Palm Bay developer Don Facciobene bought the bank-owned site for $800,000 in January 2015. Demolition work kicked off in March 2017, and the haunted-house-like estate fell to the metallic jaws of a heavy-construction excavator.

Facciobene initially planned to build a modern mansion guarded by Rojak — a new 60-foot-long, double-headed, "Universal-Disney-type" dragon illuminated by multicolored LED lights. But Dragon Point remains vacant today — and again on the market.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY, where he has covered news since 2004. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Dragon Point up for sale, new owner could replace Merritt Island dragon

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