Mysterious ruins north of Los Angeles, on public land called Murphy Ranch, have spawned an urban legend that they were Nazi-inspired. No one ever asked the people who had lived there whether this was true, or why they had built the place. Yet the story has grown and spread since 1975, with new far-fetched additions. Norman and Winona Stevens, my grandparents, owned and built Murphy Ranch in the 1930s. This is the actual story of their lives and intentions in building a survival retreat. The book contains many photographs never seen before by the public. Spoiler alert: they weren't Nazis! But their lives are full of interesting stories, especially the latter half of Norman's 100-year life. Norman became a spiritual teacher, inspiring thousands of people with his books. This is a story of a huge fortune, a mysterious healer, black magic, buried gold, the beginnings of the New Age movement, Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, Aldous Huxley, and Los Angeles from the 1920s to the 1980s.
The True Story of Murphy Ranch: Nazi Nonsense in Los Angeles
Mysterious ruins north of Los Angeles, on public land called Murphy Ranch, have spawned an urban legend that they were Nazi-inspired. No one ever asked the people who had lived there whether this was true, or why they had built the place. Yet the story has grown and spread since 1975, with new far-fetched additions. Norman and Winona Stevens, my grandparents, owned and built Murphy Ranch in the 1930s. This is the actual story of their lives and intentions in building a survival retreat. The book contains many photographs never seen before by the public. Spoiler alert: they weren't Nazis! But their lives are full of interesting stories, especially the latter half of Norman's 100-year life. Norman became a spiritual teacher, inspiring thousands of people with his books. This is a story of a huge fortune, a mysterious healer, black magic, buried gold, the beginnings of the New Age movement, Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, Aldous Huxley, and Los Angeles from the 1920s to the 1980s.