Family’s Feud With Nudism: Shades of Hatfield and McCoy

Almost from the beginning, when unfamiliar cars first began rumbling past Harvey Anderson’s home toward the Elysium nudist camp, the Anderson family has struggled to put things right again.

It was 17 years ago that Anderson, a county fire chief who had lived on one-lane Robinson Road for years, made his first call to the county about “the nudists up the road.”

Anderson’s daughter-in-law Janet, who lives nearby, said she remembers holding her baby in her arms and worrying about the strange new tenant whose activities she feared would disrupt their peaceful life.

“My baby was 9 months old then, and now he’s in college,” said Janet Anderson. “That’s how long we’ve been fighting this.”

The bitter feud waged against Elysium by the Andersons and a few friends has dragged on seemingly without end, from the courts to the county Regional Planning Commission to the Board of Supervisors.

Janet Anderson said the feud has sometimes dominated their lives, “and now we are just completely drained.”

Family members have spent weekends counting and photographing the cars that turn up Robinson Road, hoping to prove to the county that Elysium is intruding upon their quiet enclave of a dozen or so homes. They have journeyed to downtown Los Angeles numerous times to testify against Elysium at zoning hearings.

“It has really been a thankless task,” said Jan Moore, a family friend. Moore, one of a handful of local residents who has joined the fight to close Elysium, said the Andersons “waged a courageous battle.”

But around Topanga, residents say that the feud, once fueled by complaints over nudism, traffic and noise, has taken on a life of its own.

Immorality Issue

“Harvey is a nice guy, and I respect him, but he is thoroughly convinced there is something immoral going on at Elysium,” said Jim Coulson, a Topanga engineering contractor. “It’s the old Hatfield and McCoy thing, and it’s really become emotionally overcharged.”

Anderson, 77 and now retired, refused through his wife to discuss the Elysium controversy.

However, at a public hearing last year, Anderson said that his fight to close Elysium “has consumed my life.” He and his wife moved to Malibu last year, he said, because they were driven away by Elysium.

Ed Lange, who founded Elysium in 1968, said the feud has become a personal one.

“I’m saddened by all the bitterness, but I can see how it happened,” Lange said. “Harvey was king of the hill on Robinson Road, and suddenly it was like having two bulls sharing the same pasture.

“To Harvey and his family, I’m the guilty one,” he said. “I’m sin personified. I am the pits.”

Janet Anderson said her family places the blame squarely on Lange.

Feels Besieged

“My husband Larry is so upset over it he can’t even talk about it to you,” she said. “Ed Lange has friends all over town, and everyone’s against us because of him, including the media.”

Nevertheless, their angry battle may finally be won.

The county district attorney’s office is ready to charge Elysium’s owners with a criminal misdemeanor if they fail to close when ordered, a county official said.

Elysium, meanwhile, is preparing to sue the county to remain open.

If Elysium prevails, one 22-year resident of Topanga said, “I hope the Andersons will finally let this thing go.

“They put up quite a struggle, but it’s over,” she said. “Topanga is saying, ‘Hey, enough is enough.’ ”