Home Free Home: A Complete History of Two Open Land Communes

During the late sixties, two open-door communal ranches arose in Sonoma County, California. Nothing quite like them had ever existed before, and people came from all over the country to live there. Together they rediscovered a tribal, neoprimitive way of life that consumed less energy and offered more freedom than our regulated, consumption-oriented Great Society could give. It was a magical five years until the Sonoma County authorities discovered they could use the health and buildings codes to bulldoze the houses, expel the inhabitants, and close down both communities. Their names were Morning Star and Wheeler's Ranch. Different in many respects, they both celebrated the freedom of each individual to do their thing, as long as no harm came to anyone. But the change was too sudden for many neighbors, who feared that drug-crazed hippies would lead their children astray. In the case of each ranch, one politically powerful neighbor acted as the catalyst, and saw to it that the district attorney acted on his complaint. By 1973, it was all over. This is their story.