Magic Mushroom House Might Be Aspen's Most Unique Building

When I think of unique architects, I think of Frank Lloyd Wright, Antoni Gaudí, or I.M. Pei. When I think of unique architecture, I think of the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, or the Colosseum. Up until today, however, if you were to mention the name Andre Ulrych, I would have had no clue who or what you were talking about (to be fair, I don’t know much about architecture, so I could be in the minority with this one).

Andre Ulrych, who passed away in 2013, began work on one of the most unique houses in Aspen, Colorado, in 1973. After six years, a large amount of psychedelic mushrooms, and some occasional LSD, he completed the Magic Mushroom House. The house features almost no corners, and wherever you may find yourself in the house, there will always be at least two ways out. Faces are built into the walls, and no window is alike, creating what current owner Patty Findlay describes as a visual trip.

Ulrych was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1934. His father was a government official, and his family spent WWII in a Romanian internment camp. Following the war, he lived in Turkey, Cyprus, and England before moving to the United States in 1955. It wasn’t until 1968 that Ulrych made his way to Aspen, opening several restaurants and building his famous house.

“I don’t think people were meant to live in square houses. The American Indians had the right idea. A round house is more intimate. All the rooms open into each other and are together. I like to wake up in the morning and see straight across the house.” – Andre Ulrych to the Aspen Times in 1974

CNN | November 14, 2022