In the 1970s, a Renaissance man named Andre Ulrych decided that he wanted to build a house in the mountains of Aspen that would reflect his innermost self. Prior to building his very specialized dream home, Andre Ulrych devoted a few years to indulging in various popular mind-expanding substances, including magic mushrooms. Ulrych’s psychedelic trips inspired him to build a circular house reminiscent of a seashell which featured ample amounts of stone, natural light, and towering green plants which added oxygen and vibrant life to every room.
Ulrych’s Magic Mushroom House is one part cozy hobbit hole, one part dreamy castle, and one part faraway mystical plane of existence that is impossible to characterize. Membrane-like stone walls and bright candelabras encircle guests as they laze about on cushy green furniture contemplating the mysteries of the universe. Nothing in the Magic Mushroom House is uniform. Every window, wall, and staircase is the opposite of what you will see in a cookie-cutter suburban home.
Andre Ulrych’s status as a nightclub owner ensured that many luminaries from the swinging 70s—including artist Andy Warhol and Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner—spent some wild nights partying at the Magic Mushroom House. Ulrych famously owned a club in downtown Aspen with a retractable ceiling which allowed snowflakes to fall on overheated revelers.
Current Mushroom House owners Patty and Peter Findlay say that they continue to honor the house’s imaginative roots by regularly hosting artists. A new generation of artists and dreamers are currently being inspired by Andre Ulyrch’s wildly creative vision of a world without square walls. The Mushroom House is so trippy, no psychedelic substances are required for you to feel as though you have entered an alternate reality. One night spent nestled in a pie-shaped bed will convince you that rectangular sleeping spaces are for squares.