The Mysterious Hermit of Devil's Slide: Extreme shack may be a remnant of 'colony of homes' from 1980s
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: While the world is marveling at the structure made of driftwood and other debris on the side of precarious rocky cliffs at the Devil’s Slide of the Pacific Ocean in California, travel author Ruth Carlson is hypothesizing it to be a "remainder of a colony of homes" from the 1980s.
Recently mesmerizing footage by the drone imagery account @ParallaxEffect has been gaining traction on the Internet as a three-storeyed ramshackle shanty was seen standing on the Devil’s Slide cliff edges at Pacifica, about a 30-minute drive from San Francisco, as per Daily Mail.
Even though the aerial footage of the property was captured in December 2022, it is believed that the structure has been standing there for at least ten years.
How does the property on the Devil’s Slide look?
The incredible structure is perched in a nook of the cliffs of Devil’s Slide - infamous for its recent landslides - facing the breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean.
It's a three-story structure made with driftwood poles, tarpaulins, and other debris. From the drone images, at least a covered room, walkways, and passageways are visible.
Moreover, the sighting of a solitary chair and a punching bag hint at the human presence in a not-so-distant past.
The drone operator posted the video with the caption, "We were hiking along the California coast in a spot familiar to us and I noticed something odd down on the cliffs," and praised the structure calling it "one of the most incredible human structures" he has ever seen.
Who lives at the Devil’s Slide home?
In the absence of a definitive answer, there are several theories regarding the identity of the occupant of the Devil’s Slide structure.
Interestingly, the President of the Pacifica Land Trust, Samuel Castillas, told The San Francisco Chronicle that the structure has been present there for at least 10 years.
Although he has not met the occupant of the house, he believes a hermit lives there.
Castillas opined, "We were aware there was something down there, but we didn’t know whose it was or whose property it was on," before adding, "It’s in a dangerous location that is really not accessible."
He further claimed that they respect the occupant’s wish to be left in the solitude, saying, "So we’ve done that."
Castillas continued, "We weren’t bothering a person who wants to be a hermit. We know someone’s been there, but we just don’t know who it is," along with, "The dude should just be left alone."
Per the comments obtained by the New York Post, many people showed their concern regarding the existence of the home after the massive rainfall and flood in January since the video was captured in late 2022.
One person, Dan Sullivan, remarked, "This shack has been there for many years, but it was almost completely destroyed during last year’s winter/rains," before adding, "This video was either taken before last winter, or the shack has been rebuilt over the past couple of months," under @ParallaxEffect's video.
"A trail docent told me that some ‘crazy Russian hermit’ built it and lives there on and off," shared Sullivan regarding the possible occupant of the shanty.
The video poster replied by commenting he would also imagine it to be destroyed and added that there wasn’t anyone during filming, saying, "First of all, there was no sign of someone being present from any of the footage."
He continued, "Second, the wind and waves in the winter would obliterate this. It may already be gone, the images I shot are almost a year old."
"Third, the resources needed to get all that material to that place, albeit driftwood and ocean debris, are not superficial, nor would the skill and effort required to build the structure," added the poster.
He further stated, "I concluded, and still do unless shown otherwise, this was done as a project by someone, or a group, during the pandemic," giving his own hypothesis.
California native and travel author Ruth Carlson, however, has a different view about the structure.
In an X (formerly Twitter) post, the author of ‘Secret California: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure’ insinuated the idea of the structure being the "remainder of a colony of homes."
She wrote, "In my book! Secret California: a guide to the weird, wonderful and obscure. Also Devil's Slide shack-may be a remainder of a colony of homes that were there in the 80's. Gov told them they had to leave -I lived in Pedro Point then marveled at how they got groceries etc."
in my book! Secret California: a guide to the weird, wonderful and obscure. Also Devil's Slide shack-may be a remainder of a colony of homes that were there in the 80's. Gov told them they had to leave -I lived in Pedro Point then marveled at how they got groceries etc
— Ruth Carlson (@talkintravelgal) September 14, 2023
Indeed, the video also focuses on a rope attached from the shanty with the Pacific trail situated at the top.
What might have given rise to the ‘colony of homes’ in the 1980s?
During the 1980s, San Francisco witnessed an influx of homeless people because of several factors, including the closing of state institutions for the mentally ill, the reduction of Section 8 housing benefits by the Reagan administration, and the easy availability of drugs.
Moreover, the generous welfare policies of San Francisco attracted people, and the city saw a population blast. After the Loma Prieta earthquake, Mayor Art Agnos initially tried to deal with the problem by allowing the homeless people to stay at camps in the Civic Center park.
Then the next mayor, Frank Jordan, brought the ‘MATRIX’ program through which he started evicting the homeless people with police action, which dispersed them to the outskirts.
Later, another mayor, Gavin Newsom, created the ‘Care Not Cash’ program, which hoped to end the welfare policies, further making the people scatter toward the outskirts and constructing homes, such as the one at the Devil’s Slide.