We arrived at Fancyland, a queer land project 30 minutes inland from Arcata, California, at 2:30 in the morning. In a fully loaded Rav-4, the steep gravel driveway looked foreboding. My friends and co-researchers hopped out of the car and I got a running start and busted up the drive, the three of them running after me holding flashlights and each others’ hands. We were lucky to be staying in the main lodge (pictured above), one of several buildings on the property. We filed in with our things and were greeted in the morning by a new place. What we couldn’t see at night (Fancyland is off-grid) was the lodge, a two story building, the parlor and another cabin in which the project creator lives, and one of the most pleasant outhouses we’ve ever experienced (known as Le Shithole). The project creator, Sacha, took us on a tour and showed us the water system, a wood-heated hot tub, a large garden, a sleeping platform, and an outdoor deck called the Jolly Roger. Afterwards, we were able to sit down and interview her.
Checking out the the greywater system, and the view from the deck!
She has been living on the property that is now Fancyland for 16 years, and when she first started, all she had was raw land. She built all the buildings herself and with the help of others, friends who visited and people who did longer-term work-trade stays. She has taught herself all of the building techniques used on the property, mostly using books. She describes her building process as one in which there was a lot of figuring things out as they came along. No one with prior building experience worked on the project, although she did have someone who worked and stayed with her one summer who went on to work on a construction team. The buildings themselves are an accomplishment, but so are the ideas and intentions behind them. Fancyland and all its buildings are totally off grid. The water is surface water from the property. A little bit of electricity comes from a few solar panels on the roof of the lodge, but most of the buildings are lit by solar and oil lamps. There is no internet on the property, something which is very intentional, Sacha finds that she likes not having it in her home space. She also explained about the limited lighting options at night, “I can be hyper-productive at night. The low lighting is good... it kind of forces me to slow down and go to bed in the evenings.”
We asked her about how she came to create Fancyland. She grew up in a well-off family in Santa Barbara, and she remembers one evening in her adolescence when she was at a party with a friend of hers who had turned her on to the punk scene. “We were laying in this hammock and saying to each other ‘the most punk and DIY thing you can do is live on land and live off the grid’. It wasn’t just having your own label or your own venue but living on land and sustaining yourself.” Today, she still deeply enjoys living on land, citing the enjoyment she gets from working on projects with her hands and doing the work of living on land as an enjoyable part of her days. “I don’t want to live in a city, because what am I going to do there? Go out, or go to parties? Those things just aren’t what I like to do, I’m just not a party person.” Instead, she enjoys the simple pleasures of rural life, working on projects around her property and in her cabin.
Sacha in her beautiful garden, and the greenhouse made out of windows!
We asked how she likes her solitude, since she is currently the only full-time resident at Fancyland. Sacha said that she would like for a few other people to come live full-time on the property. Although she did not say she often felt lonely, she said that she hoped she could develop Fancyland into more of a communal project. Being very generous with her space, she attracts a lot of people for shorter stays or retreats, but also envisions creating a longer-term team of Fancylanders.
We asked her about her philosophy on radical living and activism. Although she feels that what she is doing with Fancyland is not particularly political, she does describe it specifically as a safe space for queer and trans people and also has educational literature on white supremacy, cultural appropriation, and how to maintain an anti-oppressive space on hand. Perhaps echoing the sentiment that Jim Doublesnake expressed, she told us that she had little hope of a project like hers changing the fate and direction of our world. Yet at the same time, she felt compelled to keep the project going, because she enjoys and because it feels important to her.
One of my favorite things about Fancyland is their motto: “In the woods, in the hills. A small place with big heart and big lamplit dreams of resistance.” Couldn’t say it better myself.You can learn more about Fancyland, including how visiting, retreats, and even living there might work, at their website and their instagram. Thank you Fancyland!