Druid Heights was a counterculture enclave in

Marin County, California Marin County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat a ...

, U.S. that lasted through most of the last half of the 20th century. Poet

Elsa Gidlow Elsa Gidlow (29 December 1898 – 8 June 1986) was a British-born, Canadian-American poet, freelance journalist, philosopher and humanitarian. She is best known for writing ''On a Grey Thread'' (1923), the first volume of openly Lesbian litera ...

purchased the property near the

Muir Woods National Monument Muir Woods National Monument ( ) is a National monument (United States), United States National Monument managed by the National Park Service and named after naturalist John Muir. It is located on Mount Tamalpais near the Pacific Ocean, Pacific ...

in 1954. She split the land with Roger and Mary Somers. In 1956, Elsa named her portion Druid Heights. Today the entire site is called by this moniker although in reality the enclave's neighbors seldom used the name. The community was not a monolith. Residents of the enclave shared common values and responsibilities concomitant with the remote site's lack of services. It had no city water system, no sewers, and no city maintenance for the enclave's three-mile-long dirt road. The enclave's 12 residents and others living along the road pooled money and resources to maintain these vital services. These challenges demanded they work together in harmony. The remoteness and uniqueness of the site attracted members of various countercultural movements and many figures of the San Francisco Renaissance.

History

Druid Heights was, by its founder Elsa Gidlow, jokingly called an "unintentional" community located on the southeast flank of

Mount Tamalpais Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a mountain, peak in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tama ...

, about a mile from the Pacific Ocean. The property was initially inhabited by carpenter Roger Somers and poet

, along with their partners, on five acres of a former chicken ranch. Gidlow purchased the acreage and then legally split the parcel in 1954 so she could share it with carpenter Roger Somers and his wife Mary.Davis, Erik (May 2005).
Druids and Ferries
". ''Arthur''. 16. In 1956, Elsa gave her portion, approximately two acres, the name Druid Heights in honor of two female writers, the revolutionary and teacher of Irish lore, Ella Young (the Druid), and

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English writer best known for her 1847 novel, ''Wuthering Heights''. She also co-authored a book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte and Anne Bront� ...

, author of ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

.'' The community members, sometimes separately and other times together, allowed the acreage to be a meeting place for three countercultural movements in the United States, including the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

of the 1950s, the

hippie movement The hippie subculture (also known as the flower people) began its development as a teenager and youth movement in the United States from the mid-1960s to early 1970s and then developed around the world. Its origins may be traced to European soc ...

of the 1960s, and the

women's movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's ...

of the 1970s. It also, through the efforts of Elsa Gidlow, became a refuge for many famous figures of the San Francisco Renaissance including her friends Kenneth Rexroth and former resident of the Heights, Pulitzer Prize winner

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate ...

. Accessible by a dirt road connected to Muir Woods Road, the two properties occupied a now split five-acre ranch formerly known as the Haapa Property. On his portion, Somers worked as a free spirited and hard working craftsman, influenced by

Japanese architecture has been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors ('' fusuma'') and other traditional partitions were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space ...

and American architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

. He built or remodeled many of the structures with the help of organizational skills and commonsense from Ed Stiles, a furniture designer who later became the property's third owner. Gidlow was fond of decorative gardening and

organic agriculture Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...

, and she grew vegetables for herself and shared the excess with other people in the area. Seeing a broader purpose for her portion of the land, The Society For Comparative Philosophy, begun in 1962, established itself here as a non-profit by

and

Alan Watts Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was a British and American writer, speaker, and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Buddhist, Taoist, and Hinduism, Hindu philosophy for a Wes ...

. It aimed for a broad vision approach to "studies of humanity's relation to nature and the universe."Gidlow, Elsa (1986). ''Elsa, I Come With My Songs: The Autobiography of Elsa Gidlow''. San Francisco: Druid Heights Press. . They purchased the converted ferry boat Vallejo to "be headquarters for the Society and site of seminars and other events," and so the Heights could be kept a closely guarded secret enjoyed only by insiders and invited guests. The Society fell on hard times after the 1973 death of Alan Watts, but in his name and with the help of a solid board of directors, it revived and continued until Gidlow's death in 1987. Gidlow once planned to turn Druid Heights into a pay-as-you-go retreat for artists, but after the National Park Service acquired the land using

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

in 1977, it could no longer host temporary guests, only legal tenants. Located above

, Druid Heights was acquired by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

in the 1970s and is now on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

.Brown, Patricia Leigh (January 25, 2012).
Oasis for Resisting Status Symbols Just Might Get One
. ''The New York Times''. A15.

Buildings and structures

There are approximately 16 historic buildings and structures in what is today commonly called Druid Heights with the most important structure, poet Elsa Gidlow's own house, seriously endangered due to a lack of maintenance. Remaining structures include: *Cloud Hidden, a large rock named by Alan Watts. *The Library, constructed in 1972 out of a redwood water tank, initially to house the books and papers of Alan Watts. *Mandala House, a cabin shaped like a lotus flower. It was originally built by Stiles for Elsa Gidlow's sister, then improved and rented to Alan and Jano Watts from 1970 until his death there in 1973. *The Goddess Meditation hut with stained glass windows. *Love Garden, filled with plants brought there by Gidlow from her other house, 'Madrona' in Fairfax, California and tended by Gidlow with the help of countless friends. *Water Tank, installed under the supervision of Edward Stiles to hold water pumped from the creek for the benefit, communally, of the 12 residents. *The Ranch or Twin Peaks House, was originally a small house built in early 1920s by Alfons Haapa. After the purchase of the Haapa property by Gidlow and Roger and Mary Somers in 1954, Somers’ extensive remodeling and additions radically remade this house by incorporating elements of Japanese, Polynesian and Modern Architecture. *The Old Chicken Barn, built to house chickens by Alfons Haapa in 1943, was converted by Roger Somers and his tenant sculptor Jerry Walter into a combination art studio and dwelling in the late 1950s. After the arrival of the Stiles family in 1965, Ed Stiles continued to remodel and add to this building, including the bathroom's incorporation of a custom redwood tub and shower.

Residents

Robert Erickson Robert Erickson (March 7, 1917 – April 24, 1997) was an American modernist composer and influential music teacher. He was one of the first American composers to explore the twelve tone technique and to compose tape music. Education Erickson ...

* Echo Heron * Isabel Quallo *

*Roger and Mary Somers *Ed Stiles * Margo St. James *

*David Wills

Depiction in media

Marcy Mendelson directed and produced a documentary about the location called Druid Heights, and stated that the location was a vortex of social and artistic energy.

History

Buildings and structures

Residents

Depiction in media

See also

References

Further reading