L. RON HUBBARD LANDMARK SITE

Alexandra Park, Harare, Zimbabwe

“Everything was going along all right. Technology was all wrapped up; I knew it was wrapped up. And so I decided, why, I would take a short vacation. But actually what I wanted to do was to find and locate an alternate base or OT base. So I went down to Rhodesia.” —L. Ron Hubbard

The momentous events that would follow are captured at L. Ron Hubbard’s estate in what was then Salisbury, the capital of Rhodesia—today known as Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

Mr. Hubbard landed in March 1966 and began immediate actions to scout out and establish that OT (Operating Thetan) base. As he further recounted, “Some guy came tearing up the drive one day and told me that I could buy a hotel that was entirely surrounded by elephants on Lake Kariba which was going very cheap indeed. So I bought that.”

Rhodesia was then a segregated nation under repressive white rule. Accordingly, and within days of arriving, L. Ron Hubbard proffered a new Rhodesian Constitution, along with a Bill of Rights and Penal Code. Those documents called for exactly what White Rhodesia prohibited, i.e., universal suffrage regardless of race, color or creed. They also called for universal human rights—and a guarantee those rights would not be broken with impunity.

Although one might presume such documents would alienate Mr. Hubbard from Rhodesia’s ruling class, yet it did not (at least initially). On the contrary, whether by dint of personality or the eloquence of his argument, Mr. Hubbard was applauded and his Salisbury address soon saw a veritable gaggle of white Rhodesian ministers, financiers and advisors to Prime Minister Ian Smith.

The estate itself stood at 31 John Plagis Place, Alexandra Park, Salisbury. The former owner was John Plagis himself—World War II Royal Air Force ace. In addition to drafting his Rhodesian Constitution, Bill of Rights and Penal Code, it was also here Mr. Hubbard provided for a first black Rhodesian furniture factory, transport company and fishery. The none‑too‑subtle point: he was working to instill a spirit of self-sufficiency among an otherwise-dependent native population.

That L. Ron Hubbard was eventually, if not inevitably, banned from Southern Africa as a threat to white supremacy provides an especially poignant ending to his Rhodesian adventure. That is, and albeit he was never to return, he was also never forgotten. Thus the reverence his name still evokes among black Africans. And thus this L. Ron Hubbard site in Rhodesia as a symbol of hope for Zimbabwe.

Beyond all L. Ron⁠ Hubbard accomplished for the people of Rhodesia were the milestone Scientology advancements at this landmark. For it was also here that Mr. Hubbard gave what would be his only filmed interview—now famously known as An Introduction to Scientology.

Here, too, L. Ron Hubbard issued a landmark announcement: “A one-time Clearing Course in Africa.” The course marked a milestone for all eternity. Right at this exact address Mr. Hubbard delivered the legendary Clearing Course lectures—confidential filmed lectures and Solo Auditing Demonstration—seen by every Scientologist on the Advanced Courses.

It was here at L. Ron Hubbard⁠’s Alexandra Park estate that he set the stage for further technological advances. And that same Landmark Site today is meticulously restored in this Southern African land he once described as “a small jewel in the midst of a howling wilderness.”