![]() ![]() ![]() They didn’t have any one person in charge and, as Wehrheim stated in his book, it was “a community guided by a spirit that created order without rules.” A Place Like Any OtherĪlthough that sounds optimistic, Wehrheim isn’t shy about removing the romantic lens that is often placed around counterculture communities from the 1960s and 1970s. The compound had several buildings and tree houses, a mayor, a co-op, water and septic systems, and a sheriff. When they reached the camp, they were able to shed their clothes and partake in a different type of communal society. The Perfect Setting For A New Way Of LifeĪt the time when people were fleeing from the mainland to Taylor Camp, many of the community members were looking for a way of life separate from the war, violence, and mainstream materialism that occupied much of America in the late 1960s. In addition to putting together a stunning photo book, Wehrheim also produced a documentary about Camp Taylor alongside Thomas Vendetti and director Robert C. One of those people was photographer John Wehrheim, who meticulously documented life in Taylor Camp. ![]() Photographer John Wehrheim Documents Life At The CampĪs time went on, word got out that there was a hippie paradise where one could live rent free amongst a gorgeous beach-front setting, and over 100 hippies joined the community. The hippies, however, seized the opportunity and didn’t hesitate to erect a charming, self-sufficient community full of tree houses and psychedelic artwork. Many of the vagrants were radicals from Berkley, California, and had already been arrested for everything from protesting to vagrancy. ![]() Moving From Berkley To A Hawaiian Paradise In a way, he passed the hippies off to the local government in an attempt to piss them off-and it kind of worked. Bitter and a little dramatic, he decided to move in some hippie vagrants and allow them to live on the land without paying rent. However, the local government had a different idea and wanted to turn the area into a public park, so they denied his requests for building permits. Howard Uses The Counterculture Against Local Government By that time, Howard Taylor had made a name for himself as an oceanographer and artist, and was planning on extending his property to include a large estate building. The community began in 1969 when famous actress Elizabeth Taylor’s brother, Howard Taylor, decided to get back at the Hawaiian government by allowing a group of 13 hippies to set up shop on his beachfront seven acre property. Elizabeth Taylor And Her Brother Howard Taylor Taylor Camp has been described as everything from a “hippie haven” to a swanky “tree house village,” and is perhaps one of the closest real-life representations of Leonardo DiCaprio’s “The Beach.” In an article for Slate magazine, writer David Rosenberg explores how Taylor Camp embodies the loving, peaceful counterculture movement that set roots in Hawaii in 1969. Taylor Camp, Tucked Away In The Hawaiian Jungle However, one community, known as Taylor Camp, managed to pull together a group of like-minded people and create a thriving environment that operated without rules, weird religious doctrine, or a maniacal dictator dressed in hippie robes. Unfortunately, many communal living situations started as idyllic utopias but ended in a mess of corruption, scandal, and sometimes even murder. If there’s one thing that captures the alternative culture of the 1960s and 1970s, it’s communal living. After a beef with the Hawaiian government, Howard Taylor allowed 13 hippies to move into his beachfront property to live rent free-and they built a tree house paradise. ![]()
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