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Published on 07/13/1998 All articles from this issue

Hidden Villa's lessons

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By Linda Taaffe

Town Crier Staff Writer

Preserve maintains programs to discourage racism; capital campaign begins Saturday

rowing up in East Palo Alto, Herman Harris said he was surrounded by death and violence nearly every day as neighbors killed neighbors. He said people in his neighborhood learned at a young age "to talk one way and act another."

At 15, Harris said his perspective forever changed after he received a scholarship to summer camp at Hidden Villa, a 1,600-acre organic farm and wilderness preserve in Los Altos Hills.

"It was very strange," he said about his first day at Hidden Villa. Harris said there was a sense of peace at the preserve that he had never experienced. He said there were no shootings, just open wilderness.

"The people there were different. They listened to you and took time out. They gave you enough room to express yourself. I know how to talk and react to people with different attitudes, now."

Harris, now 23, has returned year after year to Hidden Villa. He currently serves as a counselor in the farm's day-camp program.

His story is not unique. Harris said he has seen his experience played out over and over again in the thousands of children who come to the farm each year from all over the Bay Area, from inner cities, middle-class neighborhoods and wealthy suburbs, to learn about farm life and the environment.

"The animals and (farm) chores are secondary. They're really just tools that help (kids) express themselves and build confidence," Harris said.

Set in the foothills on Moody Road, just a few miles from Silicon Valley's high-tech corporations, Hidden Villa is the largest private preserve in California.

It is home to the first multicultural camp in the nation, houses the oldest youth hostel in use in the United States and provides environmental awareness and understanding through numerous programs, camps and community events that draw about 50,000 visitors a year.

"Some people come here for the peace, some come to remember what the area used to be like. For others, they come to experience something they never knew existed," said Judith Steiner, executive director at Hidden Villa. "To have a farm and a multicultural center in the suburban hills is quite unique."

She said the reserve has become known in places as remote as Costa Rica.

And Hidden Villa is moving forward with its programs, Steiner said.

The Trust for Hidden Villa, a nonprofit corporation that operates the farm's programs, will kick off its first-ever fund-raising campaign this Saturday to raise $6 million over the next three years, to expand programs and restore historic buildings on the site. The trust has already raised $3 million from individuals and corporations.

History

Steiner said Hidden Villa has provided innovative programs for community members since Frank and Josephine Duveneck settled on the property in 1924 and opened it to the public.

"In a sense we do not own the land, but only take care of it," Frank used to say.

The Duvenecks' belief that building relationships between people would lead to a more peaceful and just society was the basis for their establishing the many educational programs at Hidden Villa, Steiner said.

The Duvenecks opened Hidden Villa to Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism in the 1940s; and to Japanese-Americans who had been interned during World War II, by providing them with a safe place at the ranch. The Duvenecks also championed environmental consciousness and conservation by launching the Hidden Villa Environmental Education Program that today teaches children about ecology, plants, animals and the need to show nature reverence.

"This was just unheard of during that time," Steiner said about the programs started by the Duvenecks.

After the deaths of Frank and Josephine, the couple's four children gave the property to the Trust for Hidden Villa in 1985 to continue the programs that their parents had begun.

Frank and Josephine's eldest daughter, Liz Dana, stops by Hidden Villa at least twice a week to lend a hand. She also serves on the board.

Last Friday she cooked pancakes for a group of campers.

She said that except for the development around the reserve, Hidden Villa hasn't changed much since she was a child. She said the programs still reflect her family's original ideals that young people of all races and backgrounds should get to know each other before racial prejudice is learned.

"I'm quite pleased," she said. "It's a much bigger operation."

Programs

Hidden Villa provides programs year-round including entertainment, community forums, weekend nature and farm activities, family camps and after-school programs. Steiner said about 120 families participate in the community supported agriculture program, a farming model studied by farmers throughout the region.

The reserve also hosts four agricultural and environmental interns from throughout the country annually.

About 550 children ages 7-17 participate in the reserve's day camps and 12-day residential camps during a nine-week period each summer.

Steiner said Hidden Villa members provide scholarships to one-third of the 900 summer campers each year to maintain a culturally diverse programs.

Michael Lewis, director of family and youth programs, said the reserve is all about education and preservation.

"If you boil it down, (the kids) are going away with a greater awareness that they are part of something bigger than themselves," he said.

Lewis said generations of families have gone to camp at Hidden Villa. Lewis said about 60 percent of the day campers return year after year and about 50 percent of camp counselors were once campers themselves.

Elisabeth Mooring, 7, who was attending camp for the first time last week, said she is already making plans to return to Hidden Villa next year. The Los Altos Hills resident talked about how to pick up a chicken, "from behind." She told stories about making a "garden burrito" from strawberries, carrots and rhubarb that she picked in the farm's garden.

Campaign

Steiner said Hidden Villa receives more than half of its annual budget from outside contributions. She said these gifts are just enough to maintain the reserve's basic programs, but are not enough to support any expanded programs or physical upkeep.

Over next three years Steiner said the board hopes to raise $6 million for an endowment, deferred maintenance projects and additional program support.

Most of the reserve's 40 buildings have not been renovated since they were built between 10-40 years ago. A portion of the funds would be used to structurally repair two barns, the youth hostel and the "White House," a building constructed as a stage coach stop in the late 1800s.

Funds would also be used for irrigation, plumbing and electrical wiring and to maintain the Duveneck House.

Steiner said some of the restored building will be used to house interns who can not afford housing in this area and otherwise would not be able to study at Hidden Villa.

Steiner said the money would also be used to build an educational center. Using a technique popular about 100 years ago, architects will design a permanent building from straw bails and other earth-friendly materials such as bamboo floors, soy bean counter tops and composting toilets, she said.

"The whole focus (of the building) is to educate," Steiner said. "We want to make people think about doing things in a way not done before. And to think about creative ways of being friendly to earth."

Hidden Villa will kick-off its capital campaign from 3-5 p.m. this Saturday at Hidden Villa. The celebration will include music, food, children's activities, farm demonstrations and animal visits. The event is free. Because of parking limitations, reservations must be made. For reservations, call 949-8650. Hidden Villa's Humanitarian Awards, another fund-raiser that honors local and regional contributors to the preserve, is scheduled for Sept. 19.