Well, like everyone else here (unless they are Pat Broeker), I have zero first-hand knowledge of Ron Hubbard's exile which began in mid-Jan 1980.
It is not known to me and I have seen no reports as to exactly when the Blue Bird was acquired, but - as a pure guess - I'd imagine he had everything set up exactly to his liking. It would have been a very short distance from his bed to whatever he had been using for an office on the road; and, that would be good for an old man who liked to work late on his writing, I suppose.
Pfauth tells us he bought an inexpensive Subaru BRAT (2WD/4WD) for Hubbard's personal use driving around the ranch. As can be seen in the drone video on Tony Ortega's site, he would definitely need something like that get around the 160 acre property.
Maybe he slept in it because he didn't like the smell in his house while it was being remodeled for three to four years?
Some of this doesn't sound too frugal:
The last resting place of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard has been kept in pristine condition nearly 30 years after his death, and now it is held in the highest regard by the church and its followers
www.dailymail.co.uk
excerpts:
Though there was a beautiful home on the property, Hubbard reportedly chose to sleep in a camper van on the site
'So there we were, we had a full on race track, jockey room, stables, world class horses, and we knew absolutely zero,' Parman says. 'We bought 40 horses and 10 Akita Japanese guard dogs, but then it got out of control. Both Pat and LRH were really paranoid, they started buying all sorts of animals.
'We had a chicken coop, turkeys, ducks, swans, geese, looms, all sorts of birds, buffalo, llamas and cows. I was in charge of them and the trees.
'We even got some thoroughbred show horses and put them into competitions to show that the Creston Ranch was the best horse farm in California. Crazy!'
Pfauth said he would be given hundreds of thousands of dollars from a safe in LRH's office, which he claims always had $2 million in it, for expenditures. He'd be given random instructions to buy animals, plants and even groceries with it.
Before his July death, he said: 'I put five years of hard work into that ranch, it was so rundown when we got it and it was a show place when he died.
'I spent $2.75 million on that ranch. The house had been remodeled to look like a Spanish villa, we spent hundreds of thousands just on the tiles for it.
'He went nuts and wanted a zoo, he kept coming back with all these animals. He just kept bringing more and more. He'd go to dog and horse shows, hobnob with big shots and spend millions.
'When LRH was alive, we got away with murder. We had money in the safe, we'd have maybe one, two million dollars in the safe, and I'd take it when I needed it.
'We'd always have plenty of cash. Ironically, we, the staff, made less than a dollar a day. I did all the shopping and purchasing, I'd fix all the meals, so if I felt lobster, I'd buy it, and nobody said boo about it.'
The property also had huge water cannons with fire fighting nozzles that could blast out 500 gallons per minute to ward off intruders
A controversial leader's time off the radar in Creston
www.newtimesslo.com
excerpts:
Hubbard moved to Creston in 1983. He spent his remaining years writing fiction and researching Scientology. Church representatives said he wrote enough material during six years of seclusion to fill three file cabinets. Those works included the science-fiction novel Battlefield Earth and the 10-volume series Mission Earth, which he completed while in Creston.
He wrote lyrics and composed music for the soundtrack to Battlefield Earth. He also wrote the album The Road to Freedom, in which he sang the final track “L’Envoi Thank You for Listening,” which is the only known recording of his musical voice. The complete album was released shortly after his death.
During his seclusion in Creston, Hubbard also established his literary agency Author Services Inc., which published many of his works. His seclusion seemed to have been a creative spark for many of the writings for which he is now famous. But there may have been another reason for that isolation besides inspiration.
The ranch
Near the time of his death, the IRS estimated Hubbard’s estate and church assets at about $26 million. The church and all its branches have yo-yoed with the IRS, first gaining a tax-exempt status, then losing it in 1967, then appealing over several decades. The church was again granted a tax-exempt status in 1993, which it has continued to hold.
When Hubbard was living on the Creston ranch he was no longer the official church leader. He had stepped down from his corporate position in 1966.
According to county assessor documents, the ranch has been assessed at about $1.5 million. Hubbard’s name, however, never appeared on any county-held document for the ranch. Nor has there ever been direct mention of the Church of Scientology. The church is a complicated set of many organizations dedicated to various functions from archiving and publishing Hubbard’s works to producing promotional materials in a multimillion-dollar studio near the city of Hemet.
In July 1983, the ranch was deeded to Thomas O’Brien, who held no special church position. The property stayed under that name until shortly after Hubbard died. In February of 1986, the ranch was given to Norman Starkey. Starkey was listed as a trustee in the Authors Family Trust-B. The trust is the financial arm of Hubbard’s literary agency, Author Services Inc., based in Hollywood.
It wasn’t until 1993 (the year the church became tax exempt) that the deed was transferred to the Church of Spiritual Technology, a branch of Scientology. The ranch is still under the ownership of the Church of Spiritual Technology, or CST.
CST is a branch of Scientology dedicated to preserving Hubbard’s works and maintaining his estate. There are many such properties, including one in New Mexico, which a Los Angeles Times report says has an underground chamber where Hubbard’s materials are stored.
Yet with the power of the church, and its flamboyant buildings around the world, the place where Hubbard died seems almost a burden. All it’s there for is to be maintained. “It never really was on the radar,” Davis said. “So it never really fell off the radar.”
A reporter’s recent visit to the ranch in hopes of a tour was met with close supervision and a seemingly choreographed response that eventually led to a young woman who arrived by golf cart. She was young, pretty, possibly in her mid-20s, wearing a blue shirt and black pants. She said she’s a caretaker on the ranch and lives with her husband and other caretakers, although she didn’t say exactly how many. They weren’t ready for tours, she said, maybe in a few weeks.
In fact, there likely won’t be any tours of the ranch. Asked about the ranch and what it’s used for, Davis replied, “Obviously it’s a site of historical significance.”
It’s perfectly maintained, right down to the CST symbol engraved in Hubbard’s horse racing track, which can only be seen from an aerial view.
There’s something very tranquil about the ranch, even from the outside. By most accounts, it’s almost exactly the same today as it was when Hubbard lived there.
The Road to Freedom album, which Hubbard wrote while in Creston, was released two months after he died. His lyrics are both a boastful praise of Scientology and a goading challenge to those who don’t believe. Perhaps Hubbard the man can be best surmised in the final lines of the final track. His deep baritone voice breaks through the upbeat horn sections and heavy electric drums.
“For truth is truth and if they then decide to live with lies that’s their concern not mine, my friend, they’re free to fantasize.”
