(excerpt from the 2015 Institute of Investigative Living reader)

Garth (Clyde Garth Bowles) has been living on 640 acres of high desert land for the last 30 years. His primary residence is a very small Teepee made out of concrete, skimmed over newspaper and cardboard. The interior is elaborately decorated, partly with his mother’s old Christmas ornaments. Adjacent to the teepee is an outdoor kitchen and living room area. The area above Pioneertown, where Garth lives, is higher in altitude and gets very cold in the winter, which makes his ongoing outdoor lifestyle even more exceptional. There is no power or phone reception up at Garth’s so people who wish to visit him generally approach without any advance notification. It is generally appreciated and expected that visitors make a financial contribution.

I’m curious to know more about the circumstances under which Garth came to the desert. I remember he once explained that he came to this land after living homeless on the streets, while wearing all white and engaging in a spiritual quest. We should ask him about this on our visit. The road that leads to Garth’s was originally named “Devil’s Gate” but Garth re-named it “Gods Way Love”. Garth is deeply invested in permaculture and has slowly been “greening” his land by building tiered walls across a long valley in order to catch the water when it rains, and adding organic matter to create soil. The valley still appears fairly natural but now has an orchard and vegetable gardens. Giant strawberry and asparagus plants look as if they are growing wild.

When we visited Garth in 2012, there were 14 people living on his land in various structures. Nicademus, from South Africa, was building a sustainable house out of concrete and dirt packed into sand bags along the road that enters Garth’s Property. Another former guest built a house on top of a large boulder that appeared to be part of the rocks. Others live in trailers and RVs tucked around the property.

Garth’s overall ethic is to respect the land, although much of his land is “tended”. It is interesting talking to him about the parameters of what he considers appropriate interventions. For instance he was unhappy when a former resident built a wooden deck on top of a rocky outcropping because it was clearly a man-made structure. However he has also built an amazing swimming pool and sauna out of concrete that is directly grafted onto the boulders. “My spiritual theory is my life,” he told photographer Alec Soth in 2008.

Originally working under the professional pseudonym Women, designers Scott Barry and Neil Doshi were awarded a Creative Capital Grant for a five-year initiative in which they planned to inhabit a different location and set of working conditions each year.  Their house, which was begun as the first phase of the project, has been sited on Garth’s land. They called this phase “Connections” - the structure will one day culminate into two living structures, which will operate as a design residency and a library. The buildings began with no plans or drawings, the terrain’s large rock formations and natural environs were used to dictate the form. Aiming for a “total design”, from the construction of the buildings, to the furniture that fills the interiors, to the utensils that are used for eating, each component is considered part and parcel of the whole. The project, which began in June 2012, remains unfinished. Scott left the project in late 2013 and since early 2014 Neil’s been working with Jaime Beechum, a photographer, to complete construction.