My family moved to Kentfield in 1977 when I

was 6 years old.  I walked to school along Laurel

Grove Avenue and was always intimidated by a

tall white building on one side of the street that

was obscured by trees and lots of ivy.

It was dark and quiet there and sometimes I

caught glimpses of robed figures moving silently

among the trees and the grounds behind the

building.  To a kid like me this was pretty

strange.  I would run quickly past that building

and can still recall the feeling of relief as I

slowed down once I'd gotten far enough away.

Then one day the building was torn down and

large homes and a tennis club replaced it.

They named the tennis club The Priory after the

building.  My family and I were original members

and sometimes on hot summer days I'd lay by

the pool and look up at the Redwoods and try to

imagine what it was like to live there in the old

days.  What were those robed people doing in

that building? What were their lives like?

Over 30 years later I decided to find out.

Sister Billie, a nun at the Dominican in San

Rafael, suggested I phone Brother Raymond

Bertheaux in Oakland, the archivist for the

Western Dominican Province. 

When I drove out to meet Brother Raymond he

was all smiles. 

"We've had this file on the Kentfield Priory for

over 30 years and you're the first one to ever

call," he said.

He led me into a dark chamber within his

Oakland monastery and fanned a folder of

photos across a table.

There it was!  The Priory!  Not nearly as scary

as I remembered it.

As I scanned the photos with my laptop and

portable scanner, Brother Raymond spoke of his

days living at The Priory from 1960 to 1962

when he was in his twenties.

He told me during the late 1800s The Priory

property was owned by a Sanitarium.  There was

a large mansion on the premises with gardens

and pools for Tuberculosis sufferers.   In the

1920s the lot was sold to the Western

Dominican Province and the monks lived in the

mansion until a fire burned it down in the '40s.   

The monks built a new Priory in 1944 which

lasted until 1977.

JASON: You lived in the Priory in Kentfield

during what years?

BROTHER RAYMOND: Years ago it was called

Ross.  We had to go to the Ross post office to

get our mail.  I was there from 1960 until 1962. 

The tennis courts were just being finished

around 1961.  Behind the tennis courts was a

large incinerator where we used to burn all the

garbage.  All the really wet garbage would go

out.

JASON: Do you remember Marin outside of the

monastery?

BROTHER RAYMOND: Just Marin Junior

College.  They had a little Catholic social club.

JASON: So the tennis courts were alongside the

chapel.  Did the noise bother you?

BROTHER RAYMOND: No, but we didn't want

little children to play on them, you know how

little children fight amongst themselves.  One

time a child came running into the chapel all

bleeding.  It was terrible.  So we said no children

on the courts after that.

JASON:  You mentioned you used to make the

neighborhood kids cookies...

BROTHER RAYMOND: On the side of the

chapel there used to be a carport.  The brothers

would be there baking cookies and cupcakes

and the kids would come by.

JASON: Did you have much interaction with the

neighbors beyond the children that would come

by?

BROTHER RAYMOND: Very little.  At

Christmas time they would send gifts over like

cookies and fruit baskets because they were

using the tennis courts, but that's all.  We didn't

know anybody's name.

JASON: So the tennis courts were built by the

Dominicans.  But the neighbors used them

sometimes?

BROTHER RAYMOND: Yes, we had our hours

of recreation during the week but Saturdays and

Sundays were big days for cleaning the house,

going to church, staying in the chapel.  So the

neighbors would be on the courts enjoying

themselves.  In those days there was no traffic. 

You could dance in the middle of Laurel Grove

because there were no cars.

JASON:  You used to do a lot of hiking in the

Sixties?

BROTHER RAYMOND:  Oh yes, we liked to

hike.  Some days we used to go all the way up

to the top of Mt. Tamalpais.  We used to hike

over the hill from The Priory to catch the bus to

San Francisco somewhere in front of Marin

College on Sir Francis.  The hill wasn't paved. 

Some of the brothers caught poison oak.  One

kid suffered a lot and he couldn't stay.

JASON: Can you describe the physical layout of

the Priory?

BROTHER RAYMOND:  The tennis courts were

almost up to Laurel Grove.  Behind the tennis

courts on the end side of the property was a dirt

road going down to where we did our laundry.  It

was a beautiful little Spanish style building but it

was once (used as) the morgue for the old

Sanitarium.  

JASON:  Were there any myths or stories about

interesting things that had happened at one time

on the property?

BROTHER RAYMOND: Nobody would do their

laundry at nighttime.  I don't know why but

nobody would go there (the old morgue) at night.

JASON: Are ghosts a part of the religion?

BROTHER RAYMOND:  Maybe it was just

superstition! (Laughs)

JASON:  How old would you say most of the

monks were?

BROTHER RAYMOND: Everybody was in their

twenties.  There were a few older Fathers.

JASON: What sort of things would you guys do

that would surprise people who don't know

anything about monks?

BROTHER RAYMOND: (People) didn't know

what we were dressed up like.  They thought we

were Ku Klux Klan or something like that. 

(Laughs hard.)  We were always supposed to

keep silent.  We had certain times of the day to

talk during what we called Recreation.  Most of

the time we had to be silent.

JASON:  What happened if somebody spoke

when they weren't supposed to? Would they get

in trouble?

BROTHER RAYMOND:  No.  Everybody kept

silent. 

JASON: Did anyone ever just start to laugh

accidentally?

BROTHER RAYMOND: Laughter didn't break

the silence.  You could laugh if someone made

a mistake or did something silly.  Like one day

in the morning during prayer somebody had to

go to the bathroom and when he came back his

tunic was (stuck above his rear end).  He came

back and made a reverence (bow) to the alter.

Well... everyone started laughing and, of course,

that ended prayer.  The superior just pointed to

the door for everyone to leave.  We were all

laughing.

And if you came in late or made a mistake in the

prayers you had to put yourself on the floor and

kiss your scapular (cloth over-garment).  One

guy did it but his rosary got stuck on the heel of

his shoe so when he tried to get up he was

hopping all over the place.  Everyone was

laughing and that ended prayer too.

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stated.  Those

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are interested in

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please contact

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