Harbin Hot Springs, Middletown, CA 95461

by Carl W. Nelson

Harbin Hot Springs
18424 Harbin Springs Road
PO Box 782
Middletown, CA 95461
707-987-2477
http://www.harbin.org

In 1972 Robert Hartley, after first visiting the picturesque, beautiful Harbin Hot Springs valley with its severely run-down buildings, made an intentionally very low offer of $120,000 for this 1600-acre property in order to hold it until his two partners returned from their European trips. To his great surprise the owner immediately accepted this offer. Robert Hartley then used his own financial resources to lovingly and magnificently restore all the old buildings, build several new ones, design and build the world’s most advanced water-treatment facility in providing both chlorine-free, bacteria- and virus-free, oxygenated hot-springs and cold-springs water. Gardens and flowers are found everywhere from adornment at the large hot-springs pool to the vegetable growing areas and to small niches among the buildings. The massage school was started in 1977. Harold Dull arrived in 1980, creating, the same year, watsu (coined from water and shiatsu) for which he and Harbin became justly famous, and he is still teaching.

Several watsu massage DVD titles produced by Harold Dull at Harbin Hot Springs are available. A marvelous book describing Harbin history in surprising detail that required many library searches: Ellen Klages, Harbin Hot Springs: Healing Waters, Sacred Land, 1991.