Hidden in plain sight
The Reich of misplaced dreaming
Broke nazi hipsters
Heading out from Will Rogers State Park, just a sneeze away from the heart of chi chi Brentwood, off of Sunset Boulevard and a half mile up, hikers have before them a matrix of trails, crosscrossing through the Santa Monica mountains, that could keep even the most ambitious trekker busy for days. If you find the right trail that heads toward the top ridge of Topanga Canyon you can see the layout of Los Angeles bow before you; the gentle curve of coastline that sweeps from Santa Monica to the jutting jawline of Palos Verdes and the cluster of urban behemoths that comprise downtown Los Angeles. All the while the birds are singing, the squirrels are scampering, the oak trees are flexing and the hillsides are lush with the native California palette; sages, lemonberry, acacia, manzanita. Since the signage amongst the sage is
casually and sparsely placed, it’s easy to get lost. We did. Our party of five slipped and slid down recently cut rivulets into a stream fed canyon known as Rustic Canyon. There, not really hidden but clearly off the beaten path is an abandoned enclave of long lost dreams of a future Utopia for American National Socialists waiting for their Fuhrer to set them free. Yep, I’m talking Nazis, our own homegrown kind, huddled in a canopied, self-contained community to wait out World War II and pounce on the American mainstream to impose order Nazi style. While the full story behind this boondoggle is a bit sketchy the following is known: In 1933, 50 or so acres of canyon property were purchased from Will Rogers by Winona and Norman Stephens using the front name of “Murphy”. Norman was a wealthy silver miner from Colorado and his wife, Winona was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist and a bit of a kook, believing in the world of metaphysical phenomena. She became acquainted with a German, Herr Schmidt, who claiming to have supernatural powers, apparently imposed them on our gullible Winona and Svengalied her into believing that with Europe collapsing and Germany’s inevitable victory in its march toward world domination, there would be a period of anarchy across our great country. This made sense to Winona and Norman, who spent upwards of $4 million to build a small community for Nazi sympathizers to safely wait out the impending societal breakdown. Prior to running out of money, the Stephens built an impressive infrastructure: terracing hillsides for agriculture, laying out sprinkler systems for orchards, a 500-gallon water tank, power station with double generators, stables, a two-story steel-framed garage and machine shop…Before the actual living quarters were built the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Herr Schmidt’s sorry ass was arrested and the future home and plans of the Stephens were dashed and abandoned. The 1978 Mandeville Canyon Fire destroyed the abandoned work of the Stephens and what now remains is the burnt out hulk of the machine shop, the generator station completely awash in graffiti and suffocating through overgrown vines, numerous concrete staircases that lead up to overgrown terraced hillsides and what would have been a sustainable garden, and a virtual jungle gym of rusted steel pipes, rebar, bathtubs, window frames, even an old bike hangs garroted in the miasma. The property now belongs to the Santa Monica Parks and Recreation Department which plans on razing what’s left of the compound and replacing it with a benign picnic area. But for now, this fascinating peek into a bygone era and wonderland of eye candy for photo buffs is ripe for the taking. And there’s a more direct way of finding Murphy Camp. Just head upstream from Will’s polo fields.
