Bell Pavilion, which is located on an isolated part of La Jolla’s Black’s Beach (one of the largest nude beaches in California), is commonly called “The Mushroom House.” It was built in 1968, and was owned by Sam Bell of Bell Potato Chips. The Mushroom House was built as a guest house for Bell’s mansion located on the cliffs above and was accessible by a tram that went 300 feet down the cliff. The house has been long abandoned now, with the track for the tram unsafe to use. The only way to get to the building is to hike down the cliffs and then walk along the beach at low tide.
To reach the Mushroom House we hike down a trail through the Scripps Costal Reserve to Blacks Beach, then walk along the beach.
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40 Comments
What an incredibly unique place! Very cool. I'd love to see the inside. Bell sure had a neat idea to add that place for guests, complete with tram. How sad that it's not being used. I wonder why it has been left alone and hasn't been restored. The graffiti 🙄😓
Just a suggestion: there's no need to keep repeating the same information over and over. Although it might seem necessary to you as you're moving from Point A to Point B to Point C, we viewers are just watching a really short video and can remember the info easily. Otherwise, what a fun video.
It is not 'abandoned'. It is simply unhabited. Someome ownes it. Learn the difference.
Maybe not the best spot for watching sunsets when the tide’s coming in, sometimes high tides are during sunsets.
You should cover the cult compound down in Baja California owned by the Tvind Group that was designed by that famous Danish architect whose father designed the Sydney Opera House. That thing is a bigger WTF than this place. Its this town sized compound on the water in the middle of nowhere that even includes an observatory that pretty much gets used to hide a group of fugitives.
Grew up in Ocean Beach but never knew about this place!
first thought when he said blacks beach was 'wait, is he gonna film down there?!?'
As if you needed it, another excellent example of why the taxes on the rich need to be jacked up and the wages or workers raised. Sam Bell didn't pay for that bit of hyperbolic ego, his underpaid workers did.
I have been there many times back in the early and mid 70's. I have always wanted to see inside but that isn't going to happen. The nude beach basically starts about where the road meets the beach and goes north from there a few miles.
Wow who knew
I wanna live on the cliffs in La Jolla. F U kid boomers and billionaires only why don't you move to Texas. Hope these homeowners lose half their made up value so some younger peeps can enjoy being a homeowner on the beach in CA.
What a beautiful beach with a huge, abandoned eyesore in the middle of it.
Very cool building, but the whole situation is sad. I feel like if one can afford the property that includes this thing, then one can and should afford to either make it functional, or remove it.
I remember BELL BRAND potato chips,every bag had at least one bell shaped chip in it and it was a little game we played to see who got it!
Great footage, was hoping for the drone to get close to the window for a peek in, maybe another time 🤞
You have a drone, why didn't you fly it up to the house?
Give a peek inside the place, there are windows, Brah,
Use that drone! It would face been so neat.
Thanks, anyway, it was still a pretty neat place.
Hard to believe nobody has taken that over and refurbished it. Amazing property.
It's called Black's Beach 🏖
Sad that its abandoned. They probably want so much for it, it will turn to trash
been there one mile away is black beach for nudist
Love Blacks!!
Thanks for a memory recalled. When you mentioned the dread of the hike back up the steep incline I remembered making the same complaint to my friend on the way down many years ago. Within minutes we passed a woman making the climb up the trail and she was in a (non -motorized) wheelchair! Shut my mouth to any complaints on the return hike and mental kudos to that ladies fortitude. Thanks for taking me there again.
Blacks beach 🤙
Looks like a house you might see in the Star Wars galaxy
Start off the night on mushrooms @Winston's, and then finished off night at mushroom house.
When I used to go the Black’s Beach there was no paved road. You had to climb down the cliff. Climbing back up at the end of the day was a beeeotch.
Heck yea I'd live there
It’s abandoned, because the toilet, is in the house.
Nice, would have been cool if you used your drone to show what is still inside through the windows. Looks like some of the furniture is covered in white sheets…
This is the beach club house belonging to the late Dr. Seuss and is not abandonded. The elevator leads up the cliff to his residence. I happened to meet his wife and daughter one day exiting it for a stroll on the beach.
Aaaah… Black's Beach.
Ever play frisbee in the nude? I did with a girlfriend there around 1983.
Sad it's abandoned, love to live there over Blacks surf break, some of best waves in San Diego 🏄
I always knew about Blacks Beach but didn't know about the MUSHROOM HOUSE. I think it's a magical place. Thanks so much.🌴👣🏖️☺️
First time I ever surfed was in front of that house. I was 11 then. In high school my friend had a key to the gate so we could drive down the hill and surf Blacks. Because of the hike no one went to the beach down there but surfers. A few years later it became a nude beach which was kind of a drag cuz now there were fat old naked gay dudes walking around with boners.
Try building that today with the Coastal Commission.
Interesting, but it looks like a miniature prison to me.
Possible "nude beaches"? No my friend, there is definitely a nude beach
Blacks beach.
Used to surf there
I've lived in SD County most of life and I'm a little shocked that 1) Blacks Beach is still nudist! and 2) That weird house hasn't been torn down yet. I suppose La Jollans don't mind the nudist beach as it scares away tourists and other normies. (La Jolla doesn't like too many visitors.)
Commercial I recall, if it's Bell it's swell.
There may have been a counter if it's Bell. it's hell
All I know is, it was great to be 25 years old in 1968. Back then there was a thing called freedom. Not much, they could still draft you into the army and get you killed somewhere thousands of miles away, and tax your income of course of course, but there was a measure of freedom I don't see much anymore in these parts.
Such a sad state of decay. I enjoyed many walks past this iconic house in my earlier days.