8 Dreamy California Destinations That Were Once Home to Cults
California and cults—it’s definitely a thing. Theories abound as to why so many cults have been drawn to the Golden State. Was it the lack of established religion during California’s early days? The presence of hippies and Hollywood celebrities willing to buy what cults were selling? Or maybe it was simply what’s always brought people to California: the weather.
Regardless of the reason, California has played host to some of the most infamous cults and new-age churches in history. While many of the places these groups left behind are creepy, dilapidated, or uninteresting to all but the most hardcore cult history fanatic, others have managed to hide their past so well that you’d never guess at their shadowy secrets. In fact, some of the most beautiful spots in California—destinations in their own right—were once home to cults and controversial new-age churches.
Hotel Casa del Mar, Santa Monica
Steps from the Pacific, overlooking the Santa Monica pier and the magical lights of the Ferris wheel, sits the historic luxury hotel Casa del Mar. The lobby alone is reason enough to visit. Entering via the glamorous double staircases, you’re greeted by a cross between a Mediterranean villa and a Nantucket living room. Settle in for a drink in a cozy indoor “cabana” if you want some privacy. Or relax on a couch and mingle with the visiting dignitaries—after all, the hotel shares an interior designer with the Obama White House.
Lisa Romerein/Courtesy of Casa Del Mar
Today, Casa del Mar welcomes visitors into a paradise by the sea. Yet the hotel’s sun-drenched facade hides a dark secret: It was once the headquarters of a violent cult.
The Church of Synanon began as a drug rehab program in founder Chuck Dederich’s Santa Monica apartment. But by the 1960s it had devolved into a cult that forced its members to shave their heads, get vasectomies, and divorce their spouses to take new partners.
Dederich made his followers participate in “The Game,” supposedly a form of “group therapy” in which participants were screamed at and verbally abused as a method of what he later admitted was brainwashing.
If anyone tried to escape Synanon, Dederich sent his thugs, the “Imperial Marines,” after them; many so-called “splittees” were severely beaten. In 1978, Dederich and his marines attempted to murder a local lawyer by placing a four-and-a-half-foot diamondback rattlesnake in his mailbox.
The conviction for conspiracy to commit murder (by rattlesnake) was the beginning of the end for Synanon. The cult eventually dissolved after the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status.
Nowadays, staying at Casa del Mar will set you back anywhere from $700 a night to upwards of $4,000 for a three-bedroom, ocean-view suite. If spending thousands to sleep in a room once occupied by cult members weirds you out, you can take comfort in the fact that, long before it was the Synanon headquarters, Casa del Mar was one of California’s most popular beach clubs. The building’s current iteration is the result of a $50 million renovation that sought to restore it to its original Jazz Age glory.
Alcove Café & Bakery, Los Feliz, L.A.
Across town, L.A.’s Eastside is where the cool kids hang out. Half the cafes in Los Feliz, Silver Lake, and Echo Park might as well be offices for screenwriters; the other half specializes in that favorite hipster pastime: brunch. Alcove falls into the latter category, and it’s straight out of a rom-com that one of those screenwriters is probably working on.
Whether it’s a meet-cute over bougie brunch on the garden patio or a third date at the craft cocktail bar inside one of two historic bungalows, Alcove is the perfect place to live out your main character fantasies.
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But once upon a time in (almost) Hollywood, Alcove was a recruitment office for the “Moonies,” aka the Unification Church, a religious movement that hit its stride in the ‘70s and has long been charged with being a cult. The Unification Church was founded in 1954 by “Reverend” Sun Myung Moon, who claimed that Jesus appeared to him in a vision to appoint him the next Messiah.
According to Moon, Jesus was fine as saviors go, but his lack of a wife or children meant he ultimately had failed to carry out “God’s plan.” Moon’s solution (as Jesus 2.0) was to perform mass stadium weddings in which thousands of strangers were married off at random.
Moon was all about “family values,” which made him popular with some conservative politicians. Yet many former Moonies—including Moon’s daughter-in-law—claim that his own family was a mess, rife with cheating, domestic violence, and drug abuse. Worse, he seemed to encourage violent behavior in his followers, forcing some men who had just taken vows in a mass ceremony to turn to their new wives and cane them “as hard as possible.”
Like many cults, the Unification Church has allegedly used brainwashing tactics such as social isolation, sleep deprivation, and coercion to recruit followers and obtain donations. And like many cult leaders, Moon was eventually convicted of tax evasion and sent to prison; he died in 2012. Though much smaller these days, his group lives on in his absence.
Luckily, as you settle into your garden table at Alcove, the only recruitment you have to worry about is the server convincing you to try the avocado toast. It may be a bit culty, but it’s still delicious.
Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens, West Adams, L.A.
Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens is a lush oasis often billed as a day retreat. Nestled in L.A.’s historic West Adams neighborhood, it boasts a meditation garden dotted with fountains and a labyrinth modeled after the one on the floor of France’s Chartres Cathedral. There’s even a Renaissance-style mansion complete with cherubs dancing on the ceiling. Admission is $6 and includes an optional tour of the home.
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But if you’re planning a visit, you’d be hard-pressed to infer from the property’s website and marketing materials that it’s also the headquarters of a new-age church with a questionable history.
The Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness was founded in 1971 by John-Roger (real name: Roger Delano Hinkins), a high school teacher-cum-guru also known as the “Mystical Traveler.” MSIA preached looking within for spiritual transcendence (guided exclusively by John-Roger, of course). It tended to attract high-profile adherents like Arianna Huffington and Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys.
In a familiar story, as John-Roger gained power, the abuses began to pile up. He was accused of coercing young male staffers into sex, making them sleep in his bedroom at night “supposedly to protect his body while he was out of it.” Former MSIA members said he secretly recorded his followers’ conversations so he could fake clairvoyance. Defectors allegedly received death threats and had their cars vandalized. They were told their lives were now governed by a devil spirit named Kal and shrouded in a cloud of negativity called the Red Monk.
Honestly, it’s understandable if modern-day MSIA doesn’t want to be associated with all that. Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens refers to MSIA as a non-profit center dedicated to peace and spirituality. There have been no reports of abuses since John-Roger stepped down in 1988 (he died in 2014). Safe to say, if PAL&G is where you choose to find your inner peace, you’ll probably emerge unscathed.
Ridgewood Ranch, Mendocino County
Where in California, you may ask yourself, can I visit the ranch that once housed renowned racehorse Seabiscuit, hike through an ancient redwood grove, get married—and join a church/cult founded by someone who claimed he had ray guns that could knock people’s eyes out from miles away?
All of this and more beckons at Ridgewood Ranch in Mendocino County. Located on 16,000 acres of rolling hills crisscrossed by creeks and shaded by forests, Ridgewood Ranch is owned by Christ’s Church of the Golden Rule, formerly known as the cult Mankind United.
Ridgewood RanchJacqueline.Cooper1 [CC BY-SA 4.0]/via Wikimedia CommonsMankind United was founded during the Depression by Arthur Bell, a grifter with a talent for real estate deals. Bell believed the world was controlled by a vast conspiracy of what he called “Hidden Rulers” and “Money Changers.” He claimed their secret plan was to create a worldwide slave state, ushering death upon all educated and religious people. Only by joining Mankind United could you avoid this fate and enter into utopia.
The price of entry was steep, however: Give Bell half your worldly possessions. Then work long hours for low pay in one of the hotels, restaurants, and ranches owned by Mankind United throughout California. All while Bell hit the Hollywood clubs and entertained at his home on the Sunset Strip.
Bell’s followers became increasingly disillusioned as the promised utopia never materialized. Beset by legal battles and bad press, Bell handed over leadership of the cult in 1951, and it quickly unraveled.
But about 100 people stayed on, eventually settling on Ridgewood Ranch. Nowadays, Christ’s Church of the Golden Rule has morphed into an “intentional community” that operates a mobile home park, runs 200 head of cattle, and works with conservation groups like the Mendocino Land Trust to preserve the land’s natural beauty. Tax-exempt, eco-conscious living on a picturesque ranch in Northern California? Sounds a lot like…utopia.
Lodge at Marconi, West Marin
Opened in the fall of 2023 after extensive renovations, the luxe Lodge at Marconi is just an hour north of San Francisco, but it feels remote. It’s hidden away at the top of a long, winding driveway on 62 acres of wooded parkland overlooking Tomales Bay.
The hotel’s secluded location is no coincidence. From 1964 to 1980, it was another outpost in the Church of Synanon’s sinister empire. Chuck Dederich built his home here; some of the hotel rooms in his former residence still feature shower tiles apparently made by cult members.
Marconi Lodge’s Outdoor CourtyardBrian Ferry
Mikel Jollett, the frontman of indie rock group The Airborne Toxic Event, also lived here as a child. His haunting memoir, Hollywood Park, recounts how children at the Tomales Bay Synanon were taken from their parents at six months old and raised by other cult members in a type of orphanage. The book opens with a vivid description of Jollett escaping the cult with his mother and brother, only to be followed by Dederich’s thugs. Jollett and his brother witnessed their roommate get beaten almost to death by Synanon men with clubs.
Unlike Casa del Mar, the Lodge at Marconi is upfront about its twisted history, even mentioning Synanon on its website. Perhaps it’s because in the small communities of West Marin, people haven’t forgotten. After all, it was a tiny local newspaper, the Point Reyes Light, that helped expose Synanon as a dangerous cult, winning the paper a Pulitzer Prize in 1979.
Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood, L.A.
Want to take a photo in front of L.A.’s iconic Hollywood sign, or visit Harry Styles’s fave, the Beachwood Café (he even sings about their coffee)? Head to this charming neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills. With its winding, tree-lined streets and expansive views, it’s been home to celebrities ranging from Old Hollywood actors to millennial musical artists. Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Anna Kendrick, Halsey, and Charli XCX are just a few of the area’s famous residents.
But what today is known as Beachwood Canyon was once the Krotona Colony, a commune of about 300 residents that served as the national headquarters of the Theosophical Society.
Bill Chizek/Shutterstock
The Society was founded in 1875 by Madame Blavatsky, the granddaughter of a Russian princess. She claimed she had the power to astral travel, produce paranormal phenomena, and see visions—including some (seriously cringey) visions of a so-called “mysterious Indian” who became her spiritual guide.
According to Madame Blavatsky, during her world travels she in fact encountered a whole crew of spiritual beings known as the “Masters of the Ancient Wisdom.” They purportedly trained her in the mix of religion, philosophy, and the occult that became the Theosophical Society.
Long a controversial figure, Madame Blavatsky was accused of everything from fraud to spying for the czar. A former housekeeper dished that the Madame’s “supernatural” abilities—making a rose bloom or a teacup appear out of thin air, for example—were illusionist tricks performed by her servants. And many have noted that Blavatsky’s writings plagiarize heavily from other books on world religion.
While Blavatsky’s methods were questionable, the Theosophical Society quickly amassed followers from all over the world. Some credit Blavatsky with introducing the West to Eastern spirituality and philosophy—including the concepts of reincarnation, karma, and vegetarianism.
Attracted by these teachings, in 1912 a group of wealthy Californians began building a Theosophist community in Beachwood Canyon. They hired a prominent architectural firm whose Moorish style infused the neighborhood with its trademark fairytale quality.
The Krotona Inn, now an apartment building, was once a complex housing everything from a “magnetically charged” meditation room to a “science” building dedicated to experiments into things like auras. Moorcrest, a Taj Mahal-like mansion under the Hollywood sign, was once inhabited by Theosophist-associated Charlie Chaplin. It was purchased by SNL’s Andy Samberg in 2014 for $6.25 million.
Like many aging Angelenos, the Theosophists eventually tired of L.A. and decamped to Ojai. The Krotona Institute of Theosophy is still there 100 years later, serving a much smaller worldwide community than it once did. Modern-day Theosophy seems to have evolved considerably from its wacky spiritualist roots, focusing on imminently non-objectionable principles like compassion for self, others, and nature, while encouraging a life of “selfless service.”
Santa Susana Knolls Neighborhood, Ventura County
In the heyday of Western movies and TV shows, Corriganville Movie Ranch in Simi Valley was the center of the action. Thousands of Westerns were filmed here in the 1950s and ‘60s. For the last few decades, Corriganville has been a park, but it’s still a popular filming location—and you can still see the ruins of old movie sets among the park’s dramatic rock outcroppings.
But the hills at the base of the Santa Susana Mountains also have a darker history. The area has proven unusually popular with cults, playing host to four of them in the first 70 years of the 20th century. Santa Susana Knolls, just a few minutes from the former Corriganville Movie Ranch, was home to one of the most bizarre.
The grandiosely-named “Divine Order of the Royal Arms of the Great Eleven,” also known as the Blackburn cult, was founded in the 1920s by May Otis Blackburn. She claimed to have been visited by angels, who anointed her the vessel through which the world’s great mysteries would be revealed. Conveniently, said mysteries included the “lost measurements”: the directions to all of the earth’s gold and oil deposits.
The promise of this information proved too enticing to resist for the nephew of an oil magnate, who Blackburn conned into giving her a substantial loan—and a parcel of land in Simi Valley. There, Blackburn and her daughter, Ruth, built the precursor to Santa Susana Knolls.
Things went downhill after that. The Blackburn cult was said to sacrifice mules, dance naked in the woods—and stage murderous rituals. They baked a woman in a homemade oven for two days in a supposed attempt to cure her “blood malady.” (She didn’t survive.) When Ruth’s husband abused her, the cult performed a “whirling dervish” ceremony that ended in the husband’s death from symptoms suspiciously akin to poisoning. May Blackburn was eventually sentenced to prison for grand theft. Her conviction was overturned, but the trial put an end to her cult activities; she died in 1951.
Mount Baldy, San Bernardino & L.A. Counties
If you’ve ever seen those photos of downtown L.A. with the snow-capped mountains in the distance, you’ve seen Mount Baldy. It’s the highest peak of them all, towering over Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties against the backdrop of a bright blue sky.
A quick trip from any of the surrounding cities takes you back in time to Mount Baldy Village, a quaint mountain town developed during Prohibition as a playground for L.A.’s elite. While the dance pavilion and casino are long gone, other period buildings remain. The Visitor Center is located in a 1920s schoolhouse, and the Mount Baldy Lodge and Restaurant offers eight historic, cozy cabins. The village is a popular base for hiking, skiing, and mountain biking.
Logan Bush/Shutterstock
But for some, Mount Baldy is more than just an outdoorsy escape. It’s a spiritually charged holy mountain. Members of the Aetherius Society believe that by making pilgrimages to Mount Baldy, they can charge themselves up with powerful spiritual energy. They can also use chanting and prayer to transfer energy into a “Spiritual Energy Battery” (yes, it’s an actual piece of equipment). Once discharged using a separate “Spiritual Energy Radiator,” the energy is capable of solving the world’s most pressing problems.
The Society was founded in the 1950s by Englishman-turned-Californian George King. King claimed a “swami” appeared to him in his locked apartment and trained him to receive telepathic messages from the “Cosmic Masters.” These were aliens, he said, who were born on Earth as Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, and other spiritual leaders. The Aetherius Society claims it can cooperate directly with these extraterrestrial beings to do things like move hurricanes and aid peace talks.
Despite its kooky origin story and unconventional practices, the Aetherius Society today seems primarily concerned with trying to make the world a better place using a (very fancy) form of prayer. And that’s more than you can say for some religious folks.
While California’s cults and new-age churches run the gamut from wacky to nefarious, there’s at least one thing they all have in common: They sure have an eye for real estate.
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