The Property: Malibu's Other Colony

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This book is an innovative ethnohistorical study of an artists colony located on a 132-acres in Malibu. It was originally the site of Coffee House Positano where avant-garde theater, political debates, lectures and art displays were located. After Positano closed in 1962, John Wilder and Jerry Ziegman, aspiring screenwriters, established an artists community at this location that they simply called “The Property.” Initially, Ziegman’s intention was to use the place as a weekend retreat to relax and have parties. This evolved into an attempt to invent a new kind of artists colony. Ziegman believed that creativity was insufficiently rewarded and wanted to rent spaces to artists he thought could benefit from having an inexpensive place to work and live. In his uncompleted memoir, Malibu Book 1962-1982, he characterized his creation as a “Commune of Autocrats.” For the next thirty-one years over fifty people lived at there. Among the residents were scriptwriters such as David Seidler and Jacqueline Feather; Rosa Jordan, a writer; Lita Albuquerque and Elyn Zimmerman, environmental artists; Jim Fiorito, a painter; Bond Johnson, a musician/poet; Susan Farrow, a weaver; actors such as Arthur Malet, Patrick Farrow, Mia Farrow and Michael Greene; Steve Kahn, a photographer; Aino Paasonen, a poetess; Pamela Burton, a landscape architect; Richard Hertz, an art historian; Bruce Dath, a Buddhist truck driver/contractor; Don Singer, a Zen rabbi; and Karla Conway, a Playmate of the Month. The Property was unique among artists colonies in that it was not funded through private means or foundations. Artists were allowed to stay indefinitely, and families with children were welcome. The colony was destroyed in the 1993 Malibu fire. Many of the residents reported that living at The Property had a profound impact on their lives. They returned annually to the ruins to remember their lives at this place and to renew old friendships.