This Sarasota Home Has Fascinating Ties to the Study of Psychedelics
Arcturus is named after A Voyage to Arcturus, a 1920s novel by Scottish writer David Lindsay.
Image: Hannah Phillips
Arcturus, a Sarasota home with fascinating ties to the study of psychedelics and mental health, was recently featured in Dwell magazine.
New College of Florida graduate Rick Doblin, an aspiring psychotherapist and founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), has lobbied for a greater understanding of the use of psychedelic substances—particularly MDMA—in trauma therapy for decades. (He's also the subject of an upcoming documentary.) Doblin built Arcturus near Sarasota's Pinecraft neighborhood as a haven for MAPS in 1986, with help from some "motorcycle-riding, pot-smoking, LSD-taking lapsed Mennonites who had really good carpentry skills," he tells Dwell.
Rolling Stone has described the home as "Frank Lloyd Wright-on-acid design."
Image: Hannah Phillips
Doblin adds that he wanted to ensure the house "was filled with natural materials, that everything was what it was—there was no fake this or that, no Formica—it was reassuring elements." Or, as Rolling Stone put it, "Frank-Lloyd-Wright-on-acid design."
Though MAPS and Doblin are now based in San Francisco, Doblin tells Dwell he looks forward to returning to Arcturus full time one day after the psychedelics he ardently advocates for are legalized. "One day, I may move back into that house and have a psychedelic clinic in Sarasota," he says. "Take people to the beach to recuperate and integrate. I’m so grateful that my wife and I still own it."
You can see the full home tour in Dwell here.
