Former Church-Turned Ski Bum Haven Sells For $9.9 Million In Telluride (PHOTOS)

The Oak Street Condominiums, a former church-turned ski bum haven in Telluride, sold on March 11 for $9,900,000.

The building was constructed in the 1890's as the "First Methodist Church," and Telluride's third church in general. This was in a town that, until just a few years before (1894), boasted that "Telluride has ten saloons and plans for a church."

During the Great Depression, the church became the rec. hall for local sports clubs and schools. In the 1970's at the start of the ski boom the church had lost its steeple and was converted by several local ski bums into "The Bush Whacker Inn." The Inn's spartan ski accommodations were cheap, but the main attraction was the basement bar/restaurant called, "The Under Bush." These were the days of sex, drugs and rock-and-roll, and many of Telluride's old ski bums remember the place fondly.

When a fire partially burned the property after it had become abandoned, it was remodeled, updated and became the more respectable "Oak Street Inn". In 2006 it underwent a major remodel and was converted into two condominiums with a smaller condominium built to the west.