Nazi Commune Ruins

Alive in the hills of Los Angeles, are the remains of an abandoned Nazi Commune. There are no people in sight, bees swarm in the rafters of a power generator room and vines cover the remains of a barn, like military camouflage. Though you may have to use your imagination, forty families once inhabited the ravine, waiting out World War II in their own private utopia.

Location: Rustic Canyon, Santa Monica Mtns (5 minutes off Sunset Boulevard)

History: In 1933, an heiress named Winona Stephens purchased fifty acres from Will Rogers on property that is now Rustic Canyon (now part of Santa Monica Parks and Recreation). According to records in the Los Angeles Historical Society Archives, Stephens became engaged to an official of the Nazi Party named Herr Schmidt. He convinced her to invest four millions dollars of her fortune in a self-sufficient community which could survive a potential attack during WWII. As records indicate, the renowned Frank Lloyed Wright was commissioned to draw architectural sketches of the main buildings.

In the drawings are terraced orchards, a powerful electric fence, a diesel-powered generator, a 395,000 gallon water tank, an Olympic sized swimming pool, and extensive networks of staircases scattered along the walls canyon. The stairs were believed to be used by guards for patroling the property.

A year or so after construction was completed, rumors spread over late night military drills and loud gun-fire. Police records show that Herr Schmidt was arrested one day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. A short wave radio device was confiscated at the site. Pacific Palisades Historian Betty Young notes, "Herr Schmidt died immediately after, in prison."

In the 1960's a UCLA Professor named John Vincent bought the property with hopes of using the structure as an artist commune. Writers, composers, and visual artists were known to be housed here, including novelist Henry Miller and film composer Andrew Miller. However, a fire in 1970 bought Vincent's dreams to close and the property was bought by Santa Monica Parks and Recreation.

Present Condition: Descend an overgrown trail leading down terraced hillsides with fig and olive trees and you will find a series of ruined cabin. There is a horse stable, a large steel framed structure with a carport, a concrete grafitti-laden generator station which is often swarming with bees, tipped power lines, and a small road network. The structures are all covered by decades of vegetation and broken by natural weathering processes.

Future: Santa Monica Parks and Recreation is awaiting funds to bulldoze the sight and build a picnic area. However, SMPR has planned to bulldoze the site since 1996.

Ref: 1) "Nazi Outpost." Los Angeles Times, Nov. 15, 1990/Westside Section, p.JI + Illustration. 2) Residences--Los Angeles, Warren, Earl. Rustic Canyon. 3) Betty Young, The History of the Santa Monica Mountains.




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