Clothing Optional: Seller Hopes To Shed Naturist Resort in Silicon Valley for $32.8M

Here’s something you don’t come across every day: a naturist, aka clothing optional, resort is for sale in Los Gatos, CA.

The list price for the 112-acre property, and everything on it, is $32.8 million.

Joe Pollifrone, with Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno-Willow Glen Office, recognized the property as soon as he heard the name.

“I was born and raised in the area, so I was like, oh my, the Lupin Lodge,” he says.

(Just a quick note that if you do decide to Google the lodge, its website is NSFW.)

‘Haven for nudists’

The Lupin Lodge has been a nudist resort since 1935. Current owner Lori Stout has been operating the place since her late husband, who had owned the property since 1978, died.

It’s getting to be a bit too much for her. So she’s parting ways with it.

“It is a beloved haven for nudists in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and they have a really big following,” Pollifrone says, adding that a nearby highway makes for easy access. “It’s a beautiful site, and it’s serene and private.”

There is a restaurant with a large deck as well as 19 cabins, 16 yurts, and campsites. There are also several sport courts, including tennis, pickleball, and volleyball, plus a large pool and hiking trails.

“It’s got outdoor stages, so they’ve had concerts there,” Pollifrone says. “And they’ve got plenty of room for parking, with 242 parking spaces.”

And a permit already in place can sweeten the deal for a potential buyer.

“It’s got this extensive user permit, which allows for the addition of an 18-room lodge and a conference center and also eight more cabins, a gym or multipurpose building, a bathroom facility, another pool, and two spas,” Pollifrone explains.

The serene setting, nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, is in Silicon Valley.

Pollifrone thinks the property could morph into a conference center, wellness or recovery retreat, or even an entertainment venue.

“It was a vineyard a long time ago, so we’re thinking a vineyard with a winery and a lodge with a music venue for possible concerts,” he says.

Unfortunately for the resort’s current guests, though, all of these potential facilities would probably require clothing.

Pollifrone adds that he doesn’t believe the place will remain a naturalist resort.

The members “would love to do that, but there’s a very small chance of it, because [the asking price] is such a big number,” he says. “We are going to hit up a lot of these other nudist resorts, but I just I don’t think they’re going to have those kinds of funds.”

The property could use some updates and catch-up on deferred maintenance. Pollifrone notes that while everything is in working order, the place will “need an infusion of money” before it can reach its full potential.

Pollifrone says many fellow agents have asked him how he got the listing.

“No, I was not a member of the Lupin Lodge—that’s not how I got the listing,” he laughs. The seller “found me off the internet, because I have recently sold quite a few [unique] properties.”

Speaking of the listing, taking property photographs of a clothing-optional setting was a bit of a challenge.

“There were little issues—like when my photographer and videographer and drone guy went over there, we had to notify everybody,” Pollifrone says. “With the drone, we had to make sure we had no naked people in the video.”

He adds, “It really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for somebody to develop this property. There’s just nothing else like it out there.”

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