The First Bungalows

first cedarwood bungalows arrived 1967 photo Findhorn Foundation

 

During 1967 and 1968 seven cedarwood bungalows arrived in the bare duneland. Joanie’s was the first that went up in April of 1967, Evelyn came in November, Godfrey in May 1968 and in June 1968 four other bungalows were put up. Slowly people arrived to live in them. The first owners of the four bungalows were the ross Stewarts; Betty Macpherson (whose bungalow is now called treetops); the guest space Sunrise; and owner Anthony Brooke named his bungalow after the foundation, Universal. At the end of December 1969 a bungalow was bought for the Caddys.

The three bungalows on the other side of the runway Katherine Inglis’, Caroline Shaw’s and Doris Oulton’s arrived in 1970. As Craig Gibsone remembers, “the older folks bought the bungalows for about £10 – £12,000 and we young wild ones just stayed in caravans or sheds. But we all lived very peacefully together, despite those differences.”

JOANIE

Eileen’s best friend Joanie Hartnell-Beavis arrived in the late 60s. She was a very private person so she said she would try living with the group just for a year; in fact, she stayed until her death in 1996.

Joanie was a fragile, slender and proper English woman, as Judi Buttner remembers her, having met her in the early 80s while working in Park Kitchen when Joanie was caretaking the community’s laundry. She also bought all the linen and was a great supporter of buying things locally. She had an adventurous past, having driven an ambulance during WW2, and had a strong spiritual background. She served as the Foundation’s treasurer, and she was generous. “If someone’s gonna make a smart remark about manifestation in the early days … a lot came from Joanie’s chequebook!” says Judi.

Joanie’s bungalow was the meeting place for members until the Community Centre was built. When she fell ill and was unhappy in her hospital ward, Eileen decided to bring her home and take care of her with the support of the community. It was the first time a terminally ill resident was cared for at home, an amazing experience for everybody.

When Dorothy returned from the USA to Findhorn in 2009 she moved into the renovated Joanie’s bungalow.

EVELYN

Evelyn Sanford was one of the very early members of the Findhorn Community. She came in 1967 in her late 60s, having been told some 30 years prior that she would end her days in a community in the north of Scotland. At Findhorn she spent a lot of time in meditation and doing healing work. Her bungalow (which was later named Evelyn) was always an open space for people to call by. Henrietta Rose remembers: “Every newcomer had to drink tea with her and Alice, as a kind of stepping over the threshold.” Craig Gibsone also remembers Evelyn well. “She was a lovely woman with a deep esoteric belief. She was eccentric. I mean she was normal of course, but also very peculiar, like all of the old members here at that time, because of their spiritual worldviews that included the Masters of the Rays, fairies, connecting with space beings . . . I still have her little hand-turned Singer sewing machine that I use to repair my clothes,” he says with a smile.

In 1983 Evelyn passed away at the age of 92. The bungalow Evelyn is now a Foundation guest space and still used regularly for meetings and groups.

GODFREY

“Peter and Eve Godfrey were already here when I arrived in 1974,” says Michael Shaw. “Peter was in charge of Maintenance at The Park. I had just joined as a student then and had started working in Maintenance as part of my programme. Peter was older and very knowledgeable and skilled about bungalows, boilers and equipment. He taught me: Trust your intuition and your focaliser! When I asked him where to find a certain boiler tool in a shed full of everything, he instructed me: Walk into the shed, close your eyes, visualise the part and walk straight to it! I did it,” laughs Michael, “and it worked, much to my amazement.”

 

GENESIS

Jonathan Caddy: “After seven years with the six of us in the caravan, at the end of ‘69 we moved into a bungalow, which then became called The Caddy’s.” After Eileen moved to Crystal in 1979

Jonathan moved back into the bungalow with his then wife, Karen. Their son Jason was born there. In 1987 Karen still lived there, but wanted to go back to Canada, while Jonathan travelled around the world.

“I was an LCG then,” says Janice Eddy, “but that summer I became an Associate and began renting the bungalow from Karen. I continued running the B&B, which she and Jonathan had done, with a capacity for six guests. The Visitors’ Centre, at that time in the Universal Hall, was closed in the winter, so guests often came to Janice’s, as it was known during my three years there, and I would orient them to The Park. In 1990 the Foundation acquired the bungalow and has used it for guest accommodation ever since. The bungalow was renamed Genesis after I moved out.”

In 1990 Eileen moved from Crystal into her newly built house Cornerstone, which was built for her by her sons Jonathan and David.

Adriana Sjan Bijman