The Fountaingrove Winery was established in 1875 in Sonoma County (California) by Thomas Lake Harris. Harris believed he was chosen by God to grow grapes and to make rare wine “filled with the divine breath.” He also believed himself to be immortal. The winery became home to the Brotherhood of the New Life, a “cult” that believed God is bisexual and that each person has a counterpart in heaven. Harris expected complete surrender from his disciples, including the surrender of all their their material wealth to him. He was eventually, perhaps predictably, forced to leave the winery after a sordid sexual scandal. When he died in 1906, his followers earnestly declared he was only “sleeping.” The winery closed in 1934. A fire destroyed about half of the remaining ruins in 1991. Today, the winery is mostly visited by local teens who like to get loaded and spray colorful graffiti.
Give me a severely dilapidated building, some broken bottles and cryptic graffiti, and I’m pretty much mentally and emotionally revitalized.
Quotation from Gabe Meline, The Fountaingrove Winery
Although the sun shone high and strong, I got a serious case of the heebie jeebies. I kept expecting to see ragged, misty faces looking at me through the cracked window panes. I love that feeling.
Quotation from Leilani Clark, Ghosts in Our Midst
Gabe Meline sounds like my sorta person
Great picture story/documentary Sera. Surely God(dess) is a hermaphrodite at the very least.
Very very interesting, is Sera passed out somewhere?
What is it about abandoned dwellings that speaks to our souls?
Drawn to them as a child, drawn to them now…
Your photos always kick some major ass. This winery could be a fantastic series of images.
I love the 2d photo, so strong, feeling of chaos and nostalgia of past times, superb
Why is it that some people learn just a little, in this case apparently a taste of the Gnostic belief in the separation of the soul from it’s heavenly equivalent, and turn it into a self based cult? The Valentinian rite, called the bridal chamber, celebrated the reunion of the lost spirit with this heavenly counterpart.
The photographs are very cool.
The winery is definitely a ghost of days long gone. The blackberries and ivy are doing their best to reclaim it. Nice photos.
Fabulous shots of the winery. Some of your best work. It must be the subject matter
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Wow – great shots! don’t you find it amazing that these places still exist? Seventy-six years later and its still around and the barrels are still there.
Great series, dig these kind of shots. One of the reasons when religion may turn away from what it stands for…. thanks to one individuals skewes interpretation . Nice
this is a different presentation of life on your part seraphine,and I am still loving it!:)
The first picture is my favorite… the image seems to have a story to tell… after reading your text…I now know it must have a few great stories to share.
It is a pity that to some like me it will remain a mystery how that wine tasted.
And you shots and story raised that desire even more.
The donkey loves wine so much… These pictures are clother from a nightmare than from a dream, fot him!
Wonderful images and most engaging history to them Sera! Luv the stuff you come up with:))
Cool pictures of ruins on what must be a proposed redevelopment site? From what you posted Thomas Harris seems to be a highly creative soul (if not completely mad or simply consumed with greed) who would never be in fear of teetotalers adversely effecting his fine wine brand since it was “filled with the divine breath“ to ensure all noxious influences were neutralized.
Best wishes
bisexual? lol i didn’t know that God was sexual at all!! i’m sure He would have had a girlfriend by now if He was
cults are so strange, even stranger ideas come up inside people who other people FOLLOW for some equally strange reason…….. strange….. have you ever made wine from scratch with special grapes and a wine press and the whole deal? well i have, and boy oh boy is THAT a stone, an ‘I LOVE YOU ALL!!!’ and i’m going to fall as soon as i get up to go to the bathroom type stone… but no hangover the next day!!!
That is amazing history and a very haunted building! Great shots!
I like urban decay. I sometimes think every time is too new and too polished in some city. We need space for history, for spooky places etc.
beautiful photos! it seems like the place is quite dilapidated. well done capturing it
What a tragic story. the images are sad too.
I have never heard of this one, Seraphine. Wow! Where have I been (I even lived in California for 12 years!). It makes you realize how, sadly, history repeats itself. Don’t some people ever learn? I guess we all fall into the same boat in some area of our lives. A good lesson here, I think…hmmm…..
Wow, idiots and their idiot followers. There is only one thing worse than someone who says they know everything and that’s people who follow that freakin moron.
all the imagery is fantastic.