Growing up in Northern California, I often heard stories of the communes that once existed in the region during the 1960s and ’70s, inhabited by people in search of artistic inspiration and alternative lifestyles. I was always intrigued by this determination to pursue an ideal way of life, and the ups and downs that came with it. When I started college on California’s Central Coast, I learned about the Dunites—an earlier commune that had formed in the Oceano Dunes. The Dunites strove for a freethinking utopia, and they managed to achieve and sustain this way of life throughout the 1920s and ’30s.
The end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression left many Americans disenchanted with the state of the nation. This was the type of person who sought refuge in the willow thickets of the Oceano Dunes. These artists, spiritualists, and unconventional thinkers found solace in the isolation of the sprawling sand. They felt a connection to the tranquility of the area and discovered a fitting home in the minimalist lifestyle there.
What started as a modest community soon became a functioning society. This was mainly from the efforts of Gavin Arthur, a Dunite and the grandson of United States President Chester Alan Arthur. Gavin arrived in the dunes in 1930 and envisioned a more cohesive future for the colony—one that would be the polar opposite of his conservative upbringing. He settled in a cove that was later named “Moy Mell,” meaning “pastures of honey” in Gaelic, where he built a sturdy cabin and a larger community house.
Gavin’s vision was for creatives and freethinkers to visit the area and use it for self-enrichment and the sharing of ideas. He wanted people to convene in the dunes and draw inspiration from the scenery and people who lived there. People did come, and came back often: Writers Upton Sinclair and John Steinbeck, actor W. C. Fields, famed photographers Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, and composers Henry Cowell and John Cage all spent time at Moy Mell.
Gavin also started a publication called Dune Forum that was written and published by the Dunites. Fireside discussions on philosophy, economics, and art that took place in the Moy Mell community house were published. The Forum was quickly recognized by Time magazine as an outstanding publication for highlighting culture and controversy and directing Americans’ attention away from Europe and toward the West.
At the height of the Dunite era, about thirty people lived full-time in the dunes. Days were spent on creative pursuits, while evenings often centered around lively discussions over meals. Food was mainly foraged from the ocean and surrounding gardens, while living conditions were made comfortable by the mild climate and ample fresh water found a few feet beneath the sand. Residents lived in simple cabins built from materials salvaged from nearby abandoned buildings.
After a commendable run of living independently in the dunes, the Dunites eventually lost most of their land at the beginning of World War II for military use. By the 1970s, any traces of the dune dwellers were virtually unknown, but thanks to the efforts of local historians, their story was pieced together and continues to live on. Their legacy has certainly stayed with me over the years as I moved between cities and eventually returned to a rural part of California, where I’ve also found renewed creative inspiration.
Gavin often said, “You don’t have to live in the dunes to be a Dunite; it is a state of mind, searching for truth.”
Liz Boscacci is a furniture and interior design specialist living in the Central Coast of California.
