Mushroom House

Alright so took us forever to find, originally we started at scripps pier and we were gonna go north until we ended up at the house, but the tide was too high sooo waves wouldn’t let us. So then we asked a lady who was kind enough to give us specific directions and without her we wouldn’t have found it, so go to LA JOLLA FARMS and there’s a surfer trail that leads directly to black sands beach I think, then head south and boom! mushroom house lol. It’s really an awesome sight, kinda creepy not knowing if someone actually
Lived there or not, but exciting nonetheless. You have to make sure the tides aren’t too high or else it’ll make for a tough picture. Took me and my gf a good 10 minutes to try and fit the whole house in one shot without getting completely soaked by the waves. Awesome place to take pictures for the gram tho, really sweet and hidden definitely check it out!

An architectural gem amongst a city of repetitive boxes. This is a true find, and so randomly placed. I absolutely love this structure and am curious to know more about its history.

According to Hidden San Diego, «The building is commonly known as the „Mushroom House“, although the actual name for it is „The Pavilion.“ The home was built and designed by Dale Naegle in 1968, for Sam Bell of Bell’s Potato Chips. Bell had purchased a summer home overlooking the Pacific Ocean and wanted to add a guest house. The property included a 300 foot cliff, and below was an isolated beach only accessible at low tide through rugged rocks. A 300 ft tramway from the main house to the guest house was constructed first, necessary for developing access to the beach.» The house itself stands on a concrete column 10 feet in diameter, with high concrete walls to protect against high surf, rock slides and tidal action.
If location, location, location! is the mantra, then the Mushroom House has got it in spades, since it is located slightly south of nudie favorite Black’s Beach. They say on a clear day, you can see all the way to Catalina. Well, I bet you can see all of a lot more than that, glancing down along the nearby shoreline!
says «The Mushroom House features an expansive 180 degree view all the way from Torrey Pines State Park to La Jolla.
When I attended UCSD, our track club would run the beaches below the Mushroom House early in the morning, before the nudists had a chance to come down and take their clothes off.
It was always something that looks very otherworldly from below – almost like an alien spacecraft perched on the cliffs above. However, from the street, the Mushroom House entrance is quite unassuming. Really, the house looks like just another expensive La Jolla custom home with the Pacific Ocean has a background,
The Mushroom House has the honor of being listed in This Old House Magazine as one of the worlds wildest houses. It is also mysterious because no one is ever seen in it and lights are never on at night. People who have been in the area a long time say that the building of this exotic structure was pushed forward quickly just before the Coastal Commission made it very difficult to build on shoreline real estate. At one time I had heard that UCSD owned the property and used it as a place where professors and administrators could take a sabbatical. Now it mostly looks empty from the beach below. However, I give it 5 Unilocal STARS for being totally freaky!