Halcyon, Oceano, the Dunites
Druid Heights is one of many counter-culture experiments in California. These idiosyncratic communities of outcasts now fascinate their spiritual descendants with the scraps of writing and art that survived. The houseboat village of Salsalito was a similar community of moneyless artists. Ella Young herself eventually settled in Oceano, near the Theosophist settlement of Halcyon in San Luis Obispo county.
Ella Young was respected and valued by her neighbors; you can listen to a radio programme from KPCC here: How the Dunites Created a Secret Utopia Among the Oceano Dunes . Halcyon remains a Theosophical community to this day, with its own influences in California. For example, two brothers (boys in Ella’s day) grew up to found the early Silicon Valley electronics company Varian Associates. This is only one example of the large story of how bohemian and counter-cultural movements are the foundation of California’s innovative prominence.