mushroom

My husband and I have been utilizing the services of Airbnb for several of this year’s trips (New Orleans and Chile) and we’ve been very pleased with the ease and rental opportunities offered by the company. Airbnb is an online booking service that allows property owners to rent out their home or a room to travelers and it allows travelers to stay in unique places around the world. I was curious about the most popular rental location on Airbnb and was surprised to see that it was a beautiful tiny house shaped like a mushroom.

The Mushroom Dome Cabin in Aptos, California is rated as the number one listing on airbnb.com and consists of a semi-rustic cabin under a geodesic dome surrounded by oak, redwood and madrone trees. The cabin has a double bed located in the loft, an LCD screen with DVD player, a small deck, a couch, a small hot plate, refrigerator, toaster oven, blender and other kitchen supplies. The cabin has a tiny bathroom and shower. The owners provide clean linens and soap. Depending on the time of year, length of stay and amount of people, prices for the Mushroom Dome are about $90 per night and about $600 per week.

I fell in love with my first tiny house when I was in fourth grade, and it was the size of a mushroom. The book “Under a Mushroom” by Anita Lobel was located in the bookshelf of my classroom, and during nearly every free reading period, I would take it to my desk and pore over the delightful illustrations. They showed small, fantasy creatures living under mushrooms complete with small furniture, pots and pans, miniature wood stoves and even curtains made of flowers. After school I would run home and attempt to make my own “mushroom house” underneath a pine tree.

The story is about a Troll family who live under a mushroom in a meadow. They are content in their tiny home, but a bit bored. One day it begins to rain and various other creatures (Glumps, Dimmles, Gizzygonks, Tomtes and the like) show up to come out of the damp.