The Diamond Sufi Ranch was located in Oakville, in the Napa Valley. It was owned by Bill Hamm, of the Hamm's Beer family, and Kurt leased the property for many years. The 3-bedroom main house on the property, pictured above with Kurt's psychedelic VW Bug in the circular driveway (under the 700-year old Valley Oak), was actually the caretaker's house. A much larger estate home had burned down long before Kurt took up residence. Other buildings remained on the property, which was in walking distance from the Napa River. A stable housed Misty Moonlight, the ranch horse, and the stable had one small living unit in it. An enclosed pool house was across the grove of timber bamboo (Phyllostachys bambusoides) at the rear of the main house, and it also contained a small, living unit. The same was true of the garage/barn, where artist Noble Richardson spent many hours painting.
The configuration of places to live lent itself to communal life, and a number of people took up residence for periods of time. This resulted in big dinners, orchestrated by Kurt, of course, served around the kitchen table or on the back deck. And there were kids, too. At one time a pack of 4-year-old blonde toddlers ran the ranch.
The Diamond Sufi ranch became a gathering place for thinkers, artists and an odd assortment of healers, yogis, body workers, massage therapists, students and musicians. People were always dropping by, including notables like Alan Watts and Tibetan Buddhist Lamas, including Lama Chime of the Kagyu lineage, who renamed the ranch Samten Chöling.
During the summer, a Native American-style sweat lodge was built from bent bamboo and coverings; rocks would be heated during the night, and at sunrise placed in the sweat lodge and doused with water to produce hot steam. A quick dash to jump into the cool water of the indoor pool closed the pores opened by the heat of the sweat lodge. For more information and photos read more.
