The early chapters of Lupin Lodge
Special Edition: Glyn Stout’s narrative of Lupin Lodge, tracing naturist liberation in Los Gatos from 1934 to 2010—featuring all new supplemental material and an original introduction
Editor’s note: Lupin Lodge turns 90 years old this year! To celebrate the club’s important history, and in collaboration with Lupin’s owner Lori Kay Stout, we proudly present this special edition of Lupin’s early history, written by the late Glyn Stout.
With the support of Lori Kay, Planet Nude is in the process of producing a book of Glyn’s writing—detailing the full ninety-year history of Lupin Lodge—to be released at a later time. This exclusive post is just a taste of the material the full book will cover.
This Planet Nude special edition has much to enjoy for our free readers, including an original introduction and author tribute by yours truly, a supplemental article detailing the lost origins of Lupin Lodge by Dr. Carl Hild, and the first chapters of Glyn Stout’s detailed chronology. However, the complete and detailed text is available exclusively for paid subscribers. Interested?
Introducing Lupin Lodge’s historical saga
By Evan Nicks | 2024
This important piece of writing, penned by Glyn Stout, chronicles the first seventy-five years of Lupin Lodge—the longest continuously run nudist resort west of the Mississippi River. It represents but a small taste of the prolific writing that Glyn did to catalog Lupin’s great history back to 1935 when the founders first established camp on the property on which Lupin still stands. However, today, thanks to some newly unearthed history, we can now date the club’s establishment to even earlier than Glyn knew—1934, at least—and Lupin this year will officially celebrate its 90th anniversary. This special edition post is meant to commemorate this impressive accomplishment.
Stout, as Lupin Lodge’s owner for over forty years, was a visionary leader and a fervent naturist, and he steered Lupin Lodge with dedication and insight until his untimely death from an aortic aneurysm in 2015. His legacy has since been carried forward by his beloved widow, Lori Kay Stout, who has been the sole custodian of this historic space since his passing. In October 2023, Lori Kay announced plans to retire and sell the club, opening a new chapter in the storied history of Lupin Lodge.
In celebration of Glyn Stout, and in gratitude to Lori Kay Stout for allowing the republishing of this important work, we present Glyn’s chronology, originally titled “Lupin Lodge: 75 years of body acceptance and natural freedom.” This comprehensive account covers the initial seventy-five years of Lupin Lodge, from 1935 to 2010. We also present some additional supplemental material, which I will detail below.
As I mentioned above, Glyn wrote much more than this chronology, including an earlier manuscript detailing the club’s first fifty years that is rich in detail and engaging prose. A book of this writing, edited by myself and Dr. Hild, containing the full ninety-year history of Lupin Lodge, is in the works. Please stay tuned to Planet Nude for an announcement about this book and its release date, coming at a future time. We hope that for now, the material contained in this exclusive post will pique your interest and whet your appetite for the full book.
But first, there’s more you should know about Glyn Stout.
Glyn Stout
Glyn Stout, once the low-profile yet pivotal force behind Lupin Naturist Resort, remains a symbol of leadership and vision even today, almost a decade after his passing. His story reflects his dedication to naturism and community, but it also forms a long list of achievements, from serving in the US Navy during the Cold War to rising through the corporate ranks.
Stout’s formative years were spent in Amarillo, Texas, under the care of a single mother. His introduction to social nudity at his local YMCA laid the foundation for his lifelong commitment to the naturist ethos. His academic pursuits at Yale and Stanford Business School not only shaped his intellectual prowess but also prepared him for his later role as the custodian of Lupin Lodge.
His journey with naturism began after a visit to a small naturist club in Fresno, leading him and his first wife eventually to Lupin. His involvement deepened after moving to Santa Clara in 1967, eventually taking over the Lodge’s operations in 1977.
His transition to full-time management of the resort in the late 1970s showcased his ability to meld corporate strategies with his passion for naturism. His leadership was tested and proven during challenges such as the Lexington forest fire in 1985, and the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, which threatened but never vanquished the resort. Many of these are detailed in the passages below.
Central to Glyn’s story is his family. His marriage to Lori Kay, a distinguished artist, and the birth of their daughters, epitomized his personal values and future aspirations for Lupin. Stout viewed the resort not just as a business but as a legacy for coming generations.
In his later years, as he eased back from the day-to-day operations, Stout continued to influence Lupin’s direction, embodying a philosophy that shifted from personal success to fostering a community grounded in simplicity and freedom. Stout’s presence at Lupin was always subtle, yet his impact was profound.
In this digital edition
Before we delve into Glyn’s splendid history of Lupin Lodge, we introduce an essay by Dr. Carl Hild that sheds light on the club’s early days. Hild’s research, focused on the pioneering nude photographer Albert Arthur Allen, uncovers aspects of Lupin’s history that predate Glyn’s account by at least a year. This discovery not only extends our understanding of Lupin’s roots but also complements and honors Glyn’s diligent work in chronicling the early years of Lupin. Dr. Hild’s report, therefore, serves as both a prelude and a tribute to the rich history of Lupin Lodge, as captured in Glyn Stout’s detailed research.
I trust that these unique materials will enrich your understanding of Lupin’s culture and ethos, developed over almost a century, and deepen your appreciation of its significant role in the broader nudism movement. By sharing these rare writings, we aim to unveil Lupin not merely as a geographical location but as a vibrant community and culture that has a long history of thriving amidst change. And we hope that reading it ignites a fervent passion in you to celebrate and support the preservation of this nude community—in whatever form it may take in its next chapter—for another ninety years. 🚀
Albert Arthur Allen and the hidden roots of Lupin
By Carl Hild, PhD | 2024
Albert Arthur Allen, operating a photography studio in Oakland since the 1910s, was well-known for his striking shots of nudes in nature and his meticulous documentation of body shapes in his studio.
George Marcellus Spray and Serena Almira Meyer Spray made their way to Oakland from Los Angeles around 1927. It is unknown how the Sprays met Allen, but at the time, Allen did advertise that for $1, he would shoot a portfolio for women, including nude studies. Hundreds of women took advantage of this service, aspiring to enter the burgeoning California movie industry. Perhaps Serena was one of those who visited Allen’s studio, and she was reportedly aptly named.
The Oakland Tribune for 15 June 1934 carried a call for members for the "NUDIST Elysian Gardens Health Camp.” In August, the same paper reported a “deer hunter” having a run-in with the nudists in an area not far from Los Gatos. In the November 1934 “The Nudist,” within the I.N.C. Directory was an advertisement for the Delian League listing G. Marcellus Spray as the Director and using an Oakland address. These three documents provide that the organization, while having multiple names, did exist in 1934 and, over time, has had a continuous run as Lupin Lodge.
Elysia Gardens was established in 1934 on rented land within ten miles of Los Gatos, above the headwaters of Guadalupe Creek. Likely located near the current intersection of Hicks Road and Mt. Umunhum Road, it featured a natural grass field at a local high point with great sun exposure.
In 1935, the Delian League rented an old vineyard within walking distance of a railroad stop in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The property featured a lattice-screened swimming pool. Allen contributed his professional skills in creating photographs and text for the booklet “Elysium,” also known as “Elysium Foundation of California Under the Leadership of George Marcellus Spray.” Classified as a semi-annual publication of the corporation, it appears only this first edition was ever produced. The business address was, again, Allen’s.
Allen continued his third-person writing style but now positioned George Spray as the frontman for Allen’s own ideas. The booklet, sent to interested inquirers from ads placed in regional newspapers, provided an overview of social nudism, participant expectations, membership costs, and even a la carte food items available in the dining room. These were distributed widely and contained photos of social nudity, for which Allen fought numerous legal battles to secure the right to send interstate.
In 1936, the old vineyard was used again by the Delian League. By fall, there was interest among a few in purchasing the land. In October, the Sprays were two of the three incorporators of The Elysium Foundation of California, Inc., which had plans to open health clubs throughout the state. The property was purchased with Allen contributing $5,000, equivalent to about $110,000 in today’s money. The third incorporator was Dr. Eugene W. Laisne, an ophthalmologist from Fresno, California. George Spray applied for and had the Foundation join the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce in 1936.
About a year later, Allen was repaid before the bankruptcy trial in 1938. The third incorporator was allowed to retain the company and property, which evolved into Lupin Lodge. The judge ruled that it was solely the Sprays who had mismanaged the funds and were responsible for the debts. The Elysium Foundation of California ceased after just two years, but the remaining owner continued the nudist activities on the property.
In 1940, George Spray sent a letter to the Governor of California advocating for primary school students to go nude. His efforts made the news but led to no changes. In 1941, the Sprays moved back to their hometown of Tacoma, WA. George died there in 1981, while Serena passed away in 1991 in Pierce, WA.
Allen disappeared from public records and died in 1962 in Alameda County, CA.
Dr. Laisne eventually sold the property to an interested nudist member. 🚀
Lupin Lodge: 75 years of body acceptance and natural freedom
By Glyn Stout | 2010
Preface to Lupin at 75
Though the amateur historian is the same (except twenty-five years older, if not wiser), those who have read the Lupin 50th-year history from 1986 may notice some differences in presentation, perspective, and occasionally facts in this 75th-year update.
Not only are there twenty-five more eventful years to account for, but there also have been other history buff contributors, additional research, and new witnesses to the old Lupin who have emerged and related new information and insight.
In short, there is now enough information for a hefty book or more, but time and space considerations limit this effort to a summarized chronology of the events and people who have influenced Lupin’s life and look over an incredible 75-year life span. (Longevity bottom line: So far, so good, but not without scars.)
There are two unsung contributors to Lupin history deserving special recognition.
Bill Nellis joined Lupin Lodge while stationed at Ft. Ord during the Korean War, stayed long enough to have constructed the playground monkey bars which many a child has since enjoyed, and held fond memories of his Lupin experiences long after moving on. While living in Connecticut he has recently contributed vastly more knowledge about this club’s origins and its founder, George Spray, than was earlier known. His thorough research and meticulous organization have filled many gaps. Bill has also generously donated valuable historical artifacts of the era from his personal collection in addition to his edifying work product.
Wil Binkley was a scholarly WWII veteran who joined Lupin in the late 1950s after earlier membership in Zoro, a Chicago area nudist club founded by Alois Knapp. He was one of the exceptional single males Ethel Plant permitted to join, and he later became one of the few friends and confidants she trusted over a long period.
Wil moved to Lupin after retirement from a county desk job and was cheerfully willing to perform any task from trash collection to lawn-mowing to making bank deposits and retrieving the mail for several management regimes. He never expressed an unkind word about others, held a cosmopolitan view of life and history, and read voraciously. He was a wonderful background source for both Lupin and nudist history, especially from the early 1960s, and a dear friend to many members, guests, and the Stout Family.
Elysium
In the summer of 1935, George Marcellus Spray rented the perfect location for launching his utopian Elysium Foundation of California. Sheltered by sunny wooded slopes with a pristine year-round creek and a panoramic view of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the property offered an easy conversion into what would become the oldest naturist resort in California.
It had been a 110-acre, pre-Prohibition winery adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz, near Aldercroft Station just south of Alma. The weekend “Suntan Special” would stop there on request to and from its Boardwalk Beach destination, thus providing roundtrip transportation down the Peninsula from San Francisco to very near the driveway.
Pre-1900 structures included a rustic, uninsulated farmhouse (Lodge) next to a two-story barn/winery (Clubhouse), a livery stable (Office), a gatehouse cabin, and two concrete, natural spring-fed reservoirs for swimming pools. Five small overnight cabins and a snack bar were hastily constructed during the off-season to provide the remaining services needed for launching Spray’s family-friendly nude getaway.
Spray, then 31, was inspired by an expanding European naturist movement—introduced into the US in 1929—which essentially promised healthier body acceptance through recreational social nudity. First opening the visionary Elysium experience to a curious public in the summer of 1936, George was supported by his entire family: wife Serena, preschool daughter Gloria, and mother-in-law Mary. He was significantly assisted by Albert Arthur Allen, a notable figure photographer, and artist who collaborated with Spray on the club’s original brochure.
Elysium was organized as an incorporated private club so that inappropriate behavior (and suspected predators) could be easily screened out by membership rules and interviews. All alcohol use and public eroticism were banned.
There was no electricity. For Saturday night entertainment, camping couples would dance within a circle of headlights and synchronized car radios.
The enterprising Spray sent out Bay Area press releases, submitted articles and photos to “The Nudist” magazine, held open houses, spoke before San Jose Chamber of Commerce meetings, and promoted Elysium membership and naturist values at any public opportunity. He was an articulate spokesman and lucid writer who apparently encountered little or no public opposition of record.
Although Spray had some early success—attracting up to 200 mostly San Francisco members seeking sunny weekend escape from summer fog, the year-round economic struggle of maintaining such an unconventional, highly seasonal enterprise during the Great Depression proved overwhelming. He was forced to end his financial involvement and move his family from the property after his second open summer in 1937, though they remained participants in the surviving club for several years.
The Spray family had optimistically planted their Christmas tree on the Lodge lawn in 1936. It has survived and thrived, a lasting symbol of their Edenic dream left for a freedom-loving naturist posterity to cultivate.
During 1938 Gene Laisne, an entrepreneurial member trusted by Spray, stepped forward to fill the leadership role in keeping the club alive. He floated notions of creating a Polynesian village theme to improve results. He backed off entirely a year later (after he married his bookkeeper), probably for the same limitations Spray could not overcome.
Less than a year later George Spray (as MC) and Albert Arthur Allen (as set designer) would coproduce “Elysium”, an artfully lighted stage presentation of thirty nude models created for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. (Tagline: “Elysium shows you the World of Tomorrow where Fashion is unknown and clothing a thing of the past.”) Theater admission cost a quarter. (A more famous competitor, “Sally Rand’s Nude Ranch”, was also an exhibitor at the expo which celebrated recent completions of both Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.)
Rock Canyon Lodge
In 1939 Gene Laisne turned the club’s operation over to an ad hoc group of dedicated members, who conscientiously passed the hat thereafter for the forty dollars monthly rent. They became an informal co-op of volunteers without much formal leadership, though Walt Weber always personally paid the widowed Oakland landlady, Mrs. Taylor, in a timely fashion.
Some cleared underbrush on the adjacent ridge and built simple summer cabins to replace their weekend tents in what would become Little Village. They called the club Rock
Canyon Lodge (a neutral, less utopian identity), and all marketing outreach regressed to word-of-mouth by mostly secretive members who weren’t very interested in membership growth.
After Highway 17 to Santa Cruz was completed in 1940 (thus replacing the recently abandoned, high-maintenance Southern Pacific rail option), San Francisco members could no longer take the “Suntan Special” to the club’s Aldercroft station whistle stop (now near Alma Bridge). Those without automobiles were out of luck.
After Pearl Harbor changed everything in 1941, wartime disruptions, plus gasoline and tire rationing, would soon make Highway 17’s four-lane driving convenience a moot improvement. By WWII’s end in 1945, a much-diminished membership had become less frequently able to enjoy regular outings at their barely surviving club. It was very nearly another casualty of war.
Villa Paulette becomes Lupin Lodge
In 1946 French naturist members George and Paulette Bouffil surprised the remaining dozen or so couples by privately purchasing the property and becoming the de facto proprietors of Rock Canyon Lodge. After experimenting with the name “Villa Paulette” for a season, they eventually renamed it Lupin Lodge in 1947 (after the lupine wildflower, not the wolf) and resolved to create a more promising future for its loyal naturist members.
George was a professional hair stylist, a bodybuilder, a ham radio operator and an amateur pilot with an inner-directed personality who had immigrated from France to America in his 20s, bringing traditional European naturist values. Paulette, more outgoing and socially adept, provided the positive energy needed to rebuild a club membership.
Paulette, whose English was better, operated the seasonal, weekend-focused Lupin Lodge, while during the week, George managed his upscale Peninsula beauty salon for year-round income. Post-war, Lupin’s membership soon began to recover, as she was a charming hostess, effective manager, and tireless entrepreneur.
The club hosted a Western Nudist Conference in 1949, holding meetings in the old winery/ Clubhouse adjacent to the Lodge and welcoming Rev. Ilsley “Uncle Danny” Boone, a noted US nudist leader and publisher. Tragically, Paulette died suddenly of heart failure in her late forties, only a week after that successful event.
George, devastated by her loss, moved from the property and, in 1950, hired Ray and Ethel Plant to maintain the facilities and ultimately manage the club. A year later, he married Raymonde, a petite Parisian-born San Franciscan whom he had known for many years. While maintaining ownership of Lupin Lodge, they bought a private home in Menlo Park
and installed an unlisted phone. All club communications were thus to be channeled exclusively through Ethel, who alone knew their number.
Though George met weekly with Ethel at Lupin on business and loved to tinker with the water system in Hendry’s Creek, he and Raymonde did not actively participate in the club as a couple, and she had no interest in its management. Since the absentee owners were rarely seen, Ray and (especially) Ethel became the onsite face of Lupin Lodge to most members and the public. Many assumed Ethel owned it.
In 1952 the club lost the northwest corner of the property to the completion of Lexington Reservoir Dam, Alma Bridge, and Alma Bridge Road. Two old logging towns, Alma and Lexington, and the abandoned Southern Pacific rail bed alongside Los Gatos Creek were thereafter submerged, and Lupin Lodge had to reroute its driveway entrance onto Aldercroft Heights Road.
Volleyball fervor
Two volleyball-loving members, Stan Sohler and Sol Stern, were most responsible for a membership growth spurt up to about 700 during 1954-61. They promoted three publicity-rich American Sunbathing Association conventions (assisted by the San Jose Chamber of Commerce), in which volleyball competition among nudist clubs was a central feature. They recruited skilled players (with families and friends) from Santa Cruz County beaches and the Marina grass courts in San Francisco.
Sohler, who had formerly played on Southern California beaches, helped rebuild a relocated clubhouse from recycled winery materials and paved the volleyball court in anticipation of those ASA regional and national conventions. Stern, a successful retired entrepreneur, was a master of both marketing and pithy press quotes, and he promoted Lupin Lodge like no one since founder George Spray. He was also an excellent setter for Stan’s power hits and had coached at the Olympic Club.
Both became elected leaders in the American Sunbathing Association and, in 1958, had led a pioneering nude excursion (called “XB-58”) onto a sheltered beach near Davenport with sixty members from Lupin Lodge and a Southern California travel club led by Ed Lange (who would in 1962 open “Elysium Fields” in Topanga Canyon). Despite George Bouffil’s initial misgivings about supporting free competition, nearby nude beaches would become commonplace in the 1960s, providing good sources of new club members who preferred Lupin’s facilities and sunnier weather to the foggy coast.
George was even less pleased about other social changes occurring nationally, however, especially the use of provocatively posed professional models for some of the new ASA-sponsored nudist magazines then “barely” competing with a still emerging Playboy Magazine. Supporting traditional naturist body acceptance presentations over Hugh Hefner’s sexy Playmate imagery, Bouffil withdrew Lupin Lodge’s affiliation with the ASA in 1961. Given reduced outreach and less public visibility, the club’s membership growth trend soon peaked and reversed.
Ethel’s era
In 1962, manager Ray Plant died, leaving wife Ethel as the sole authority figure on the property, which she maintained with only a caretaker’s assistance for many years. There were about twenty-five weekend cabin owners and a scattering of sunshine members who regularly visited in season and not many first-time visitors. With few guest services offered, even in summer, Lupin Lodge was mostly a nudist park with a vigilant gatekeeper who lived in the loft over the office.
Ethel loyally managed the club according to George’s conservative policies throughout globally turbulent times until 1977 while zealously providing him absolute privacy from any unwanted direct contact. Ethel was queen of the realm, and her word was law. She also employed a one-way loudspeaker to the Upper Pool area to fortify her word.
Alcohol remained a prohibited substance (despite a growing preference by many members for dinner wine or a poolside beer). All cameras were still strictly forbidden. Only first names were used among members. No open affection was allowed, even between spouses. Universal social nudity (with sanitary towel-sitting) was expected around the pools, weather permitting.
Ethel conducted all membership interviews, and only married couples, families, and single women of good character could hope to be invited to join. Most acceptable members were referred by word of mouth, and very few visitors or applicants were minorities. She rejected most single males without much consideration (except for a few favored military veterans). Each membership file was confidential, known only to Ethel. She never forgot a name or face.
By the end of 1976, the Bay Area-wide membership profile Ethel had selected represented mostly inner-directed, well-educated, well-off white couples of ages 25-55, some with children. They included artists, engineers, attorneys, musicians, cops, educators, teachers, clergy, students, entrepreneurs, CPAs, bureaucrats, realtors, programmers, builders, writers, bankers, medical professionals, high-tech pioneers in an emerging Silicon Valley, and many homemaker moms and spouses. There were a few millionaires and environmental minimalists at the extremes.
Most never discussed their careers, politics, or religion, as Lupin was their secret sanctuary from all those otherworldly stresses best left at the gate. Lupin was a great place to just “Be Here Now” in an unspoiled parallel universe, even if it was a little rustic.
Passing the baton
During the first half of 1977, Raymonde Bouffil confided to Ethel that George had suffered two disabling strokes (causing English-only aphasia, though retaining his French capabilities.) His precarious health threatened the future of the club with an uncertain fate for the property, which would have been worth far more in another use, such as an upscale rehab clinic being quietly considered. Ethel was so concerned that she shared George’s plight with two long-term members she trusted, Lora Boswell and Glyn Stout, and swore them to secrecy.
Lora Boswell, who had raised three kids at Lupin, cofounded two family retail businesses (including The Good Earth natural food store in Los Gatos), and co-built an innovative Aldercroft Heights home nearby, had recently become single and taken on the thankless job of Lupin Lodge resident caretaker as a mid-life change. For her, it was a healthy labor of love, and she had become an invaluable assistant manager to Ethel, then growing arthritic and less mobile. A spiritually evolved, multi-talented Renaissance woman, Lora was very popular with fellow members who admired her remodeling, landscaping, and culinary talents and were inspired by her cheerful, can-do energy.
Having recently ended a ten-year marriage and a stressful corporate CEO career at age 39, Glyn Stout was enjoying a liberating transition retreat at Lupin in early 1977. In partnership with an old Navy friend, he was engaged in launching a new consulting venture in high-growth strategies for emerging businesses when Ethel and Lora had informed him of the risks to Lupin’s existence posed by George’s lack of estate planning and Raymonde’s uncertain intentions for the property.
Raised in the barren Texas Panhandle, Stout relished the amazing variety of Lupin’s trees and wildlife, especially along the Nature Trail. He regularly enjoyed the club’s friendly, competitive volleyball and tennis matches on his weekend getaways from corporate wars. A pragmatic libertarian who had perforce skinny-dipped at a pre-coed Yale (1956-60) and at the Amarillo YMCA before that, he cherished the rare natural freedom of Lupin too much not to become involved in extending its life. It was a challenge for even a battle-scarred Stanford MBA (Class of ‘66) just beginning a new consulting career.
Glyn had known Lora and her family as friends since joining Lupin in 1967 with his ex-spouse, Sandra. He admired Lora’s exceptional talents and intelligence and had earlier helped her with some member-supported projects, including fundraising for a redwood hot tub and tennis court improvements. They each shared a deep respect for Lupin—both the beautiful natural space itself and the enlightened, humanistic values it nourished. A Lupin Lodge survival project led by these two concerned members seemed a fortuitous ad hoc partnership worth risking.
Fortunately, Raymonde and her executive son Grayson were ultimately helpful in negotiating a reasonable 5-year lease and purchase option with Glyn and Lora (which also pleased George, who resisted any direct sale of his beloved Lupin).
Necessary changes
The new operating partnership knew significant changes would be necessary before the 1978 season began, in order to shape a viable business model from George’s long-subsidized hobby (and also make members happy about higher dues and a new direction).
A look at the books revealed woefully inadequate revenues. All 378 club members (only about half the 1960s peak) had already prepaid their very modest 1977 dues to the Bouffils. Working capital was thus nil in October when the baton was passed.
The venture could not reasonably project a future profit from past performance. Both partners were circumstantially illiquid at the time and lacked sufficient capital for the significant deferred maintenance and marketing tasks ahead.
Their bootstrap survival strategy was to upgrade Lupin from a secretive, seasonal, weekend nudist park to a publicly promoted, year-round, clothing-optional club and resort. They mailed a lengthy announcement newsletter with a member survey and requested a forty-five-dollar club assessment to get through the rainy season. Most responded positively and ultimately accepted the necessity of higher monthly dues for a better club that is always open for members.
Lora shingled cosmetic facades over both the weathered Lodge and the recycled Clubhouse, in which she installed a remodeled restaurant kitchen and a corner lounge with a fireplace, along with a beautiful wood mural on one wall and a new false ceiling hiding the leaky corrugated metal roof. The Lower Pool received a deck repair with a shingled sunburst backdrop, a translucent air-dome cover, and year-round heating, which, combined with the new redwood hot tub and the upper sauna, offered much more inviting winter visits.
The remodeled Clubhouse Restaurant opened in 1978 with a fresh natural food menu, eclectic antique dining-table-and-chair sets, and taboo-breaking beverage choices of beer and wine. It also became a varied weekend entertainment venue, including concerts, dances, comedians, slide shows, wine tastings, talent shows, and plays, mostly after Saturday night dinners. Ethel, a trained pastry chef, made weekly reserved-in-advance desserts until she retired in 1980 after three decades of service.
Lupin Naturist Club
In 1979 the official name was changed to Lupin Naturist Club primarily because the Lodge’s rustic quality negated featuring it as a brand, whereas “Naturist Club” reflected Lupin’s traditional European origins and pre-empted an ignorant mainstream media label of “nudist colony.” Most members simply called it “Lupin” anyway.
Changing Lupin from best-kept secret to best-known nude getaway in the Bay Area required cosmopolitan outreach via diverse media. Resident member Veny Vlasak (a “Prague Spring” émigré) produced varied new graphic arts: logos, letterheads, monthly newsletters (Random Times, California Naturist), brochures, handouts, ad layouts, signs, posters, and Lupin booth presentations for Whole Life Expos and other public venues.
The club reestablished national and regional affiliations with the venerable American Sunbathing Association (later renamed the American Association for Nude Recreation, or AANR), and embraced the emerging Naturist Society, which promoted designated clothing-optional beaches on public lands with the clarifying mission: “Body acceptance is the idea... Nude recreation is the way.”
Lupin and Llasa, a local travel club, cohosted a 1981 Western Sunbathing Association Convention, and Lupin became a well-favored site for multiple Western Gatherings of the Naturist Society. Marilou Aguirre eventually became Lupin’s ASA/AANR/TNS representative and served in several regional and national elective offices.
The most fruitful public relations idea to emerge in the early 1980s was National Nude Weekend, first promoted by writer/publisher Lee Baxandall, founder of the Naturist Society and author of “World Guide to Nude Beaches and Recreation.” Lupin celebrated NNW with an annual Open House, which almost all Bay Area media eagerly publicized for free at one time or another.
Lupin’s NNW press releases by publicist Helene Kane prompted articles in the SF Chronicle, SJ Mercury News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Good Times, Los Gatos Observer, SF Bay Guardian, and radio interviews over KGO, KCBS, KNBC, KPIG, KSJO, KLIV, and Open House announcements over countless others. Every network TV affiliate broadcast one or more generous news stories, including discrete nude sign-offs from the hot tub by veteran reporters such as Vic Lee and Don Sanchez. A roving KNTV reporter wore only a necktie while interviewing willing visitors.
Though not yet self-sustaining by 1982, Lupin membership totals had doubled, revenues had increased six-fold, and all available cash flow had been reinvested in repairs and maintenance, improvements, and marketing. Volunteerism and a barter system with a diversity of talented members had helped scarce funds go further.
The Bouffils were thus delighted as reliably compensated landlords to extend the lease-option agreement with the Stout-Boswell partnership for another five years. Sadly, George died only a month after signing it, leaving Raymonde as sole property owner and widowed landlady.
Lupin loses Lora
In October 1983, a Goldman Sachs IPO of his former employer (Synergex) helped Stout obtain long-sought liquidity for his private shares, providing him with new capital and investment choices. Lora Boswell, who had handled the sweat equity role of general manager for six stressful years (risking full “uber-mom” burnout), requested a buy-out of her interests in their partnership at a fair price, which Glyn reluctantly accepted, thus leaving him as sole proprietor of the operating enterprise, dba Lupin Naturist Club. His overlapping consulting career effectively ended with the added Lupin responsibilities.
Lora reinvested her stake in a remote Sierra Mountains property far from expectant people, which she would develop in environmental simplicity with Jim Hurst, who had been a resident member contributor to Lupin’s revival. Her son Tyler became the licensed Lupin water system operator and later expanded his expertise to other nearby community water systems.
Raymonde was saddened by Lora’s decision while accepting the change. She welcomed the continuity of the lease-option agreement with Glyn, who weekly escorted her to lunch at her favorite Palo Alto restaurant in heartfelt friendship, and would renew it again in 1987.
After 1983, Glyn funded a talented, constructive resident, Sunny Skys, to begin a renewal project for Upper Area facilities and infrastructure, including retaining walls, decks, natural drains, re-surfaced sports courts, and roads. Sunny replaced shabby dual outhouses below the Upper Pool with a beautiful redwood bi-level bath house and restrooms (tagged by wags as the “Taj Mahal”) and installed the highly popular Upper Spa. Several rental cabins were also purchased from members and creatively improved.
Fire!
On July 5, 1985, Lupin became a much-televised fire-fighting base in the frightening four-day Lexington Hills wildfire, in which much of the upper Nature Trail was lost to bulldozed fire breaks and perimeter flames, but no structures were burned. Club manager Seth Teicher stayed on after evacuation to cook the remaining restaurant inventory for the gathering fire crews battling the 15,000-acre arson-ignited blaze.
A Lupin member, fire captain Walt Coker, commanded part of the heroic effort to control the inferno’s rapid advance until a wind shift and a rare July rain could finally quench it. The following weekend Lupin members hosted an open house thank you celebration for the firefighters, attracting a record crowd of 1,000, also well covered by local TV news stories. Aldercroft Heights neighbors were invited to shower at Lupin until fire damage to their community water system could be repaired, and some later became members.
Despite post-fire restoration of slope drainage and broadly sown ryegrass, a record rain run-off flooded Hendry’s Creek and washed out the entrance culvert for several days. Between storms during that winter Glyn and member Maureen Hilker repaired and re-routed the bulldozed Nature Trail and added new steps and view benches.
Outreach after fifty
In early 1986 Glyn, a history buff, began writing newsletter articles serializing a fifty-year history of Lupin from club research sources and interviews of old-timers, including Walter and Alcinda Weber. They had been newlyweds who had interviewed with founder George Spray on his opening day in 1936 and were still married, enthusiastic, contributing resident members. (Walter also later remembered Lupin in his will.)
Walter had been George Bouffil’s best friend and, in the 1950s, had helped build the club sauna and the relocated Clubhouse, and Alcinda had edited and produced an early mimeographed version of The Lupin Blossom newsletter. Both Lupin and the Webers enjoyed special attention and many media interviews during the 1986 Golden Anniversary events.
Later that year, Lupin became one of the founding members of TANR International (aka Trade Association for Nude Recreation), which included about a dozen serious entrepreneurs seeking to grow self-sustaining entities in that still-emerging niche market. TANR would evolve into a cooperative advertising program in upscale travel magazines, and Glyn remained active in its leadership as the international outreach program developed.
In 1988 a special 1-hour afternoon TV show called “People Are Talking” was taped at Lupin by five KPIX (CBS ch5) camera crews before a nude audience of about 150 Bay Area naturists who were informatively and entertainingly interviewed by co-hosts Ross McGowan and Ann Fraser (who briefly considered doing it nude themselves). Skillfully edited and well-promoted days before airing, the program won record viewer ratings, good press reviews, and eventually an Emmy. (Plus a lot of Lupin friends!)
Channel 5 proudly rebroadcast it multiple times as a popular slot filler during insomniac hours. It was a memorable free Lupin infomercial that attracted prospective members for many years to come.
A shaky rebirth
Lupin lies at the center of a creative energy vortex sixty miles south of San Francisco, halfway between Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz. There the Lupin land slopes into the San Andreas Fault rift at the very edge of the North American Plate.
The scenic summit ridgeline observed just across adjacent Los Gatos Creek is in fact the Pacific Plate (aka “The Ring of Fire” which includes Baja, southwestern California, and all the best beaches) perpetually slip-sliding laterally northwestward towards Alaska. Alma Bridge, spanning the creek just below Lupin, uniquely straddles the transform fault line visibly bisecting the Peninsula’s continuously developing Santa Cruz Mountains, all spasmodically created by Mother Earth’s seismic releases along her most famous tectonic boundary, The San Andreas.
At 5:04 pm, October 17, 1989, Lupin was shaken for fifteen violent seconds by the nearby 7.0 Loma Prieta Earthquake, which was nationally televised during the Bay Bridge World Series. Though no one was injured at Lupin, thirteen structures, including the Lodge and the Clubhouse, were jolted several feet off their inadequate foundations (and soon afterward red-tagged by the County, as was the badly cracked Upper Pool). A damaged Highway 17 was closed for a month to non-residents, and so too was the club for the first time in its history.
The ramshackle Lodge and the recycled Clubhouse were deemed more economical to demolish and relocate than to prop up and repair, so without basic food preparation and overnight accommodations, the full-service resort was instantly reduced to a membership campground without swimming options. All paid staff members were laid off, and some with damaged dwellings simply moved on.
The County preconditioned Lupin’s reconstruction upon undertaking a full Use Permit process before any significant building permits would be issued, excepting for the pool and cabins. Use Permit completion meant the development of a complex Master Plan, including surveys, maps, environmental and geological studies, site and building plans, and jousting with the requirements of fifteen different bureaucratic agencies to win County Board of Supervisors approval, not counting FEMA and the Federal SBA disaster aid financing (i.e., a libertarian entrepreneur’s worst nightmare).
The redevelopment task required ownership, so Stout reluctantly informed Raymonde of the need to exercise his purchase option on the property in early 1990. He had also found the perfect person to lead the Use Permit project, fortuitously residing at Lupin during the quake. Mollie Moore-Sullivan, who had replaced him as “California Naturist” newsletter editor, was also a former city planner who well understood the real estate development game (which can take years and risk millions).
Financed in part with donations from members and nationwide naturist sources, the Upper Pool was the first quake-damaged facility to be restored in May, 1990, thus achieving a fairly complete family activities area in time for the prime season. Over ninety percent of the members renewed, more than usual, despite lost facilities.
During 1991 varied cupcake-shaped yurts (inherently quake-resilient by design) were introduced as transitional replacement structures. Functionally substituting for the demolished Clubhouse (with a thirty-foot “NuDome”) and the missing Restaurant (with a twenty-four-foot “Chez La Ronde”) and replacing thin-walled Lodge bedrooms with ten sixteen-foot luxury camping cabanas, the yurts achieved instant popularity as a charming first step back to comfortable resort services.
Talented members donated professional skills to the County-imposed paper struggle. Len Lincoln (Clubhouse Restaurant design), Jack and Kathy Becker (Lodge and Restroom designs), Dennis King (contour maps and signage), Dave and Ardis Williams (drawings and building models) were among those who made significant contributions to the Lupin Master Plan, comprehensively compiled by Mollie Moore-Sullivan for Glyn Stout’s presentation to the County Board of Supervisors in February 1992. The Use Permit and Master Plan were unanimously approved before a packed chamber audience well-seeded with Lupin supporters.
After all the planning expenses, permit fees, and new fire and earthquake requirements were met, the maximum FEMA disaster aid financing remainder enabled only the restaurant half of a larger planned clubhouse restaurant to be rebuilt. The clubhouse addition and an eighteen-room Lodge replacement would have to be delayed indefinitely as unfunded future projects.
The Restaurant site was strategically relocated about one hundred feet uphill, thereby revealing a spectacular sunset view of the 1,800-foot summit ridge to the West and a large lawn with perimeter trees framing sunrises (and full moon rises) over Mt. Thayer (3,483 feet) to the East. The new site offered adjacent parking with ADA access, while the old site became much-needed additional parking. The expanded lawn would provide a vital leach field and replace dusty trailer parking, formerly shielded by a dense acacia grove.
The beautiful new Lupin Clubhouse Restaurant was finally unveiled in March 1994 with a very solid foundation, a professional kitchen, a fire-protected ceiling, and a back-deck view of a redwood rainforest. Its reopening was celebrated by a very patient, loyal membership. New surroundings included a varied fruit orchard on the down slope, decorative trees, shrubs, and natural rock retainers, mostly installed at minimal cost by resident landscape designer Dan Borowski, who also developed local expertise in deer-resistant planting.
Outreach to Lupin first-timers and membership prospects continued unabated throughout the mid-1990s despite quake recovery limitations. Lupin hosted open-air concerts and festivals ranging from Blue Grass to Reggae to Classical, establishing itself as a scenic, viable music venue.
Glyn, often accompanied by artist member Lori Kay, annually presented a slide show about Lupin, Body Acceptance, and Nude Recreation to a class of about 700 psychology students in the San Francisco State Auditorium and gave away free introductory passes. Similar presentations were made at Whole Life Expos and other promising New Age venues for the Lupin Booth, all staffed by enthusiastic member volunteers.
Promoting a Learning Annex class on “The 10 Best Nude Vacations” earned Stout a little overexposure: a live nude roadside interview on a KTVU (FOX ch2) drive-time morning news show conducted by an also nude (and brave) comedic reporter, Brian Copeland, at the Marin Headlands in the teeth of a frigid wind blowing through the Golden Gate. Any shrinkage effects were modestly censored by studio-applied fuzzy spots. The touted class did not sell very well.
The web blossoms
In 1995, two insightful Silicon Valley techies and the emerging Internet offered Lupin and Nude Recreation previously unimagined marketing opportunities. Member Rich Pasco (also Bay Area Naturists’ leader) packaged Glyn Stout’s content in developing www.lupin.com and became Lupin’s first webmaster.
Dave Rossow (Cybernude founder), who consulted with Glyn and fellow TANR entrepreneurs, developed www.tanr.com for the Nude Recreation cooperative outreach program. That network portal, advertised and visited by millions, would eventually become the top Google search site for Nude Recreation and quickly became Lupin’s best source of web traffic, as it was for other featured sites.
Prior to the web, the greatest marketing obstacle for all nude recreation enterprises was simple ignorance of their existence, their underlying purpose, and how to visit them. Bookstores rarely gave shelf space to naturist guidebooks and publications, which sold mostly to the already knowledgeable. The greatest source of new memberships for most clubs was word-of-mouth, as even the cheapest print advertising was an economic stretch for most. Nude recreation was thus a too well-kept secret for over six decades.
Suddenly with a website, Lupin gained mouse-click proximity to an exploding cyber world accurately represented by a complete, uncensored, visual source of information about itself. Any individual anywhere could anonymously explore at leisure this unique window to the world and determine whether any further interest in Lupin existed without requiring a wasteful, expensive brochure. The web was virtually free, flexible, self-selective, unlimited, and tireless.
The Internet quickly became the number one source of new prospects for all nude recreation enterprises like Lupin, leaving word-of-mouth a distant number two. It was no passing techie fad. The long-suppressed secret was at last revealed, although it took Google’s magic search algorithm to distinguish nude recreation from pornography.
Hundreds of virtual eyeballs visited Lupin’s website each day, and some portion eventually became literal visitors and prospective members. Despite the dot-com bust, nearby Silicon Valley mostly flourished throughout the rest of the 20th Century, and Lupin ended it with over 1,000 members.
A big hole in the New Millennium plan
In late 1999 the state EPA (as represented by Lupin’s water district neighbor) required excavation of a thirty-foot-deep hole adjacent to the front office and removal of all gasoline-contaminated soil for remediation or disposal. It had been the site of a small 500-gallon underground fuel tank (with a leaky hand pump) installed after the 1979 Iran Hostage gas shortage. To avoid problematic new regulations, the tank was removed in 1992 (and certified air-tight). To Glyn’s surprise and dismay, the underlying soil tested petrol-positive down to twenty-eight feet in 1999, and large penalties were looming for inaction or further delay.
A knowledgeable member recommended a professional consultant who helped devise an on-site remediation plan that would save Lupin $1,000 per truckload at a toxic waste dump. Rented earth-moving equipment was used to create retained terraces to spread out the excavated bad dirt where it could be roto-tilled and aerated until it was sufficiently de-contaminated for appropriate reuse, a process lasting about six months. It created a very rocky ending for a good riddance millennium and carried over into the next century.
Lupin’s New Year’s Eve party celebrants for 2000 (Y2K) drove by an office teetering on the edge of a large unsightly pit with a crude loading ramp cut down into one edge. Mounds of staged earth and stones were scattered around the property, reminiscent of a WWI battleground.
The biggest hole created by the unplanned remediation process was financial, however, even worse than the ‘89 quake impact. Though a state reimbursement fund existed, Lupin eventually received less than half of the total project costs from it. Glyn tapped into all available credit sources to survive the off-season expenses, and General Manager Jay Roth spent a very stressful year juggling competing demands and looking for new sources.
The debt-financed millennium money pit was a significant setback to all quake redevelopment, including replacing the recently demolished, out-of-compliance Lower Pool, a sore point with many members who had lost their traditional “Quiet Area.” In partial compensation, The Terraces became an unplanned new yurt and camping area after the decontaminated dust settled in late 2000.
The art of Earth Motherhood
Glyn (whose mother was a late-blooming landscape painter) had long viewed Lupin itself as a living art project blending natural people, landscaping, wildlife, and forest preservation. He deemed its management to be an arcane art form.
Frustrated by finances, he channeled some of his creative energy into beginning an ambitious landscape art project in early 2000: a twenty-five-foot-high natural rock waterfall featuring a varied array of stones found mostly on the property. It would become a goddess-inspired centerpiece for the Lower Area multi-tiered, rock retaining wall background, which Dan Borowski had artfully constructed to correct a contractor’s grading mistake.
Glyn was conceptually honoring Mother Earth’s seismic energy and Lupin’s still emerging post-quake rebirth in his original design. After witnessing the awe-inspiring, all-natural births by his wife Lori Kay of their daughters in August 2001, he would fittingly name his half-finished fertility fountain and waterfall “San Andreas Source.”
A well-respected Bay Area sculptor and art teacher for troubled kids, Lori added breastfeeding to her daily schedule but continued her career after moving to Lupin, though losing considerable studio time to double-diaper infant care for a couple of years. Glyn continued his waterfall construction with help from others, received added exercise from uphill carriage-pushing and sling-wearing, and fell in love with their new baby girls.
Lori and Glyn, (both egalitarian feminists as well as naturists), were interested in developing Lupin’s potential contribution to creative arts and consciousness evolvement, and so founded Lupin Cultural Center as a non-profit vehicle. A Lupin sculpture garden concept also began emerging in their plans.
Post-9/11 potholes
On September 11, 2001 (less than a month after the Stout daughters’ arrival), nineteen radical Muslims armed with box cutters degraded international airline travel, Western culture, and US military strategy, ultimately inducing two questionable Middle-Eastern wars which financially crippled the US economy while maiming and killing thousands, thus creating many new martyrs. (Mission accomplished, Osama Bin Laden. Enjoy your cave.) Like almost all resorts, Lupin suffered lost tourism revenues and encountered credit crunches in the lingering aftermath.
Glyn sought less stress and more time for fatherhood and landscape art projects, so in October 2003, daily club operations and management were turned over to an incorporated concessionaire (dba Lupin Naturist Club, Ltd), a former GM who later turned out to be mostly a clever con man seeking control of the property for other uses. Club memberships dropped steadily under “E.D. Ltd”’s unfortunate regime, so Glyn terminated the relationship at the end of 2005 and appointed Lori Kay as CEO of Lupin Lodge in reorganization. The club’s former identity (including a new web domain, www.lupinlodge.org) was adopted by the Stout Family during the 2006 transition, which became an expected legal battle complicated by an untimely health crisis.
In early 2006, as the battle loomed, Glyn developed some abnormal neurological symptoms and lost over twenty-five pounds in a very short period. A sobering MRI of cervical stenosis and arthritic spondylosis revealed a pinched nerve path partially disabling his shoulders and fingers. A C2-T2 spinal fusion was deemed necessary to arrest further damage and avoid a high risk of total paralysis.
In March, he underwent a ten-hour cervical laminectomy surgery, which required his wearing a head-stabilizing metal halo for 120 days of institutional rehab. He spent almost a month in the surgical hospital and another three weeks in a Los Gatos convalescent facility in recovery, all while Lori, in his stead, led a talented cadre of loyal members engaged in an epic struggle for control of Lupin.
The incorporated ex-GM (“E.D. Ltd”) had sued the Stout Family over his ouster, claimed he owned the club, and resisted his eviction by physically occupying the Lupin office 24/7 with his wife. He sent inflammatory newsletters to the club membership list, urging members to send their dues to him.
The prior year he had fraudulently renewed the lupin.com domain in his own name and thereby could intercept Glyn’s e-mail and control all other club internet communications. He was also a skilled photographer and printer and forged Glyn’s signature on a phony bill of sale of Lupin for ten dollars. He vowed to bury the Stout family in court costs and adverse judgments.
Lori Kay defends under fire
Of religiously conservative, English/Filipino heritage, Lori Kay became a naturist as an exchange student living with a Swiss family which enjoyed public saunas. She had adopted European attitudes towards nudity from her travels and saw the human body from a natural sculptor’s perspective. She had initially joined Lupin while studying art at UC Santa Cruz in 1982.
Lupin friends watched her art career blossom throughout two decades of creativity and asymmetric struggle as a female artist seeking recognition and gallery space controlled by patriarchy. Talent and persistence had enabled her to survive as a professional artist, producing an impressive body of work, including several public sculptures, and she had learned to navigate within the complex art community of makers, shakers, and collectors.
Though she and Glyn had long been very close friends, he had never talked to her about Lupin's business before they married. She had merely experienced Lupin as a weekend member for two decades. She remained blissfully ignorant until reality settled in that her maternal role might involve more than just raising daughters. Glyn often likened managing Lupin to parenting a large dysfunctional family (most lovable, though imperfect). Now she truly had it all on her shoulders, and all Glyn could do was coach from his bedside as she went to court with able counsel.
Lori became a quick study in legal tactics, a useful skill in fending off later predatory attacks. A classic chauvinist, “E.D. Ltd” badly underestimated her investigative skills and her “Mama Bear” will to defend her family and Lupin.
He had boasted of his past successful businesses, $17 million in offshore assets, and his ability to fly below the radar, leaving no trace. Lori uncovered his actual fraud-filled history of multiple business failures and trash-filled evictions in four states. He had never held a job or completed a college course. He had also financially victimized all his close relatives and had always lived off some woman’s income, divorce settlement, or inheritance. He had bilked or sued more than one of his former attorneys. He had no assets, having squandered all he had previously conned.
The Stout Family attorneys prevailed in the commercial eviction trial, winning a substantial judgment, but not before “E.D. Ltd” was able to strip the club of fixtures, equipment, computers, tools, and records and move them into a storage barn in chaotic disarray. Later in 2006, the Stouts also won a seven-figure default judgment against him in their countersuit for fraud (including the return of the lupin.com domain), but the loser, of course, had no assets to satisfy damages or pay legal costs for either case. Glyn considered that trusting him had been his worst lifetime mistake.
Restoring direction
Lori helped earn great legal wins for Lupin’s future, but she found no opportunity for a victory lap. Lupin needed another financial turnaround, and nothing was easy, especially given high seasonal rainfall and low cash flow in a depressed leisure economy. Though she knew the club membership well, controlling Lupin’s overall management (much like cat-herding) required grasping several elusive learning curves simultaneously.
She first needed to legally reclaim Lupin property and restore operations, which she accomplished with help from grateful member volunteers like Dave and Ardis Williams. Though the purloined paper file copies were scattered beyond normal audit, Dave Rossow quickly helped with backup computer records for all member accounts, enabling billing and communications to resume with relative ease.
In the short run, the club needed to win back recent ex-members, especially couples and families, and then somehow introduce a younger, non-joining odyssey generation to replace the one aging out. A new marketing strategy involved outreach to leaders of compatible groups (such as “Burning Man”), which might like to use Lupin for periodic clothing-optional events that enhance or do not debase member enjoyment and generally comply with club rules.
The peace and scenic view of Lupin members and neighbors were preserved in a rare grassroots victory over corporate arrogance through a local common cause organized by N.A.I.L. (Neighbors Against Irresponsible Logging). The mountain communities’ civil action group was formed in 2005 to prevent San Jose Water Corp. from perpetually logging redwoods within the adjacent Los Gatos Creek watershed. Lupin leaders hosted fund-raising events, attended meetings, and wrote letters. N.A.I.L. employed the Internet very effectively, especially a Google Earth flyover endorsed by Al Gore and a redwood acreage study which ultimately disqualified SJWC’s original logging application, denied on appeal by the California Department of Forestry in 2008.
That year Lupin was selected to host a Bay Area site of Earthdance Global Festival for Peace, a simultaneous peace consciousness-raising event at over 200 locations in more than fifty countries. Glyn, who had visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his US Navy service in Japan (which also overlapped the perilous Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962), considered all modern warfare insanely immoral and welcomed another utopian cause worthy of support. Why not embrace peace and love instead of endless, barbaric war? A clothing-optional Earthdance became an annual Lupin outreach event.
Occasional dance party camp-overs, produced by and marketed to a younger audience via Facebook, exposed many first-timers to Lupin, who were pleasantly surprised by their experience. One such event attracted about 1,000 (most in their twenties or thirties) for a Halloween party.
Preparing for a new opening
After left knee replacement in 2008, Glyn’s health improved markedly, as walking Lupin’s slopes offered him the best healing exercise. Though his back surgery in 2006 could not fully restore the pinched nerve damage to shoulders and hands, the other muscles responded well to rehab, and he was soon able to wield a weed wrench on the tall invasive broom that had flourished after the ‘85 fire swept over the Nature Trail. He also completed “San Andreas Source” (after adding some special lucky rocks from Lori and daughters) and turned on the water in 2009.
Also in 2009, Lori Kay added two large signature pieces to nine other works by four other Bay Area artists to form the nucleus of the Lupin Sculpture Garden. “Broken Wishbone” was moved from the SFSU campus, where it had been a student favorite for a decade. The “Running Chair” had once been exhibited at the Yerba Buena Garden in San Francisco near Moscone.
Some seventy-five years after George Spray found his ideal Elysium site and began converting it for his 1936 opening, the Stouts were preparing to restore the club’s original recreational water feature, missing for over a decade. The surrounding area will also be transformed and available for wider use.
In 2010 Will Clark, an Aldercroft Heights neighbor and member with both law enforcement and construction skills, became General Manager to reduce Lori’s stresses and undertake the long-delayed Lower Area project, including a new pool, spa, and restrooms with indoor/outdoor showers. With financing led by long-time member Clifford Pastor, the project plan seemed more auspicious than ever.
Obtaining County permits for the plan is the next step.
To be continued.............
WOW - what a great article! I am merely a new-comer to the naturist world, but enjoying hiking at Lupin over the last year.
Thanks Evan for sharing this chronology and for your work on the larger history of Lupin with Lori Kay. It’s such an interesting and important history to curate and archive. I look forward to grabbing a copy once it’s available.
I’ve enjoyed visiting Lupin over the last 8 years, and playing VB on the Glyn Stout memorial court. There’s an aging group of former VB standouts that still enjoy dusting off our court shoes monthly in summertime. Many of us use to play with Glyn and Tyler Boswell back in the day, and interestingly our youngest player is Shane Boswell, Tyler’s son and Lora’s grandson. It’s so fun to trace Lupin’s history back at least three generations of membership!
I shared your Naked Age podcast interview with Lora, both with the Lupin office and with Shane, and everyone was really thrilled that you had a chance to chat with her. Again, I can’t thank you enough for the important work you’re doing in preserving both the written and oral history of Lupin 🙏🏻