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The story of Airbnb has all the hallmarks of an Internet-era succès fou: young entrepreneurs, implausible ideas, false starts, epiphanies, and, ultimately, triumph. But this particular online fairy tale has an especially happy ending for design aficionados. At the same time that the company’s founders, Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk, have delivered a radical jolt to the travel industry, they have also unlocked a previously inaccessible world of inspiration to architecture buffs around the globe.

On any given night roughly 140,000 travelers stay at some of the 300,000 private properties listed on airbnbom. It’s a staggering scale, all the more so considering the skepticism, upon the platform’s launch in 2008, that people would rent to complete strangers. The range of accommodations is just as astonishing, with tree houses, yurts, igloos, and boats among the offerings.

Of course, there are myriad options for those who prefer more traditional lodgings, including houses by Frank Lloyd Wright and apartments in pedigreed buildings by the likes of Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, and Jean Nouvel. “These are incredibly intimate, immersive experiences,” Gebbia says.

Airbnb is often cited as Exhibit A for the growth of the “sharing economy.” Design lovers simply call it heaven. airbnbom

Click here to see a slide show of Airbnb's most design-savvy destinations.