Adult Film Locations – Part 18: The Bourn Identity

The Bourn Mansion. Aka The Fortress on the Hill. 2550 Webster Street, San Francisco.

Picture one of the grandest mansions in San Francisco, a masterpiece of bricklayers’ and stonemasons’ arts, and for its first decades, a building that was considered one of the great residential properties in the world. A house that saw glittering society balls and salacious rock n’ roll parties.

So why has it lay in virtual disrepair in recent years, unloved and abandoned?

And while we’re asking questions: what does this historic landmark have to do with adult films, like China Girl (1974), 7 Into Snowy (1978), multiple Swedish Erotica loops, and I Like to Watch (1982)?

This is the identity of the Bourn.

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Yes, this is the story of a film location, but it’s primarily a tale with three principal characters.

First there’s Arden Van Upp. Also known as Dee Rich, Madame Elmalik, or any one of an assortment of names depending on who was asking. She was a society eccentric and wealthy landlord, owner of a portfolio of expensive San Francisco real estate. Or maybe she was a penniless con-woman? No one was quite sure.

Then there’s Laurence Badgley. Doctor to the stars, whose clients included the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. He was the good-looking, party-throwing, porn-loving, highly-sexed boyfriend of Arden Van Upp. Or maybe they were just business associates? No one was quite sure of that either.

And finally, there was Arden’s daughter, Tammy Ann. A precocious teenager, she turned up in an X-rated film, but was better known for appearing across town with Gideon, her six-foot python, in a belly-dancing routine for the highest bidders. Everyone was sure about that.

Facts are fluid depending on the storyteller. So hang in there. This is what is known for definite. Kinda, sorta definite.

Let’s start with Arden Van Upp, she of the aristocratic-sounding name. She was born more prosaically as Arden Rich in 1937, and grew up in Vallejo, northeast of San Francisco. Her parents stumbled into real estate success by adopting an unconventional ploy: they purchased homes slated for demolition because they were on the pathway of a proposed new freeway. Understandably these houses were being sold very cheaply due to their imminent destruction, but that was of no concern to the Richs – they simply bought them and moved them to empty lots. Literally: they disconnected each house from anything that attached them to the ground, lifted them onto heavy-duty moving platforms, and then placed them back on pieces of land several miles up the road. Then they rented these houses to workers from the nearby shipyards of Mare Island Naval Station. It proved to be a cheap and easy way to earn money, and overnight, the unknown Richs earned unexpected riches.

Fast forward three decades, Arden moved to San Francisco with the intention of establishing a similarly profitable real estate empire. In the intervening years, she’d trained to be a nurse, got a job at the Napa State Hospital, and, at age 19, eloped in Vegas, marrying one of her parent’s Mare Island sailor tenants, Gail Van Upp. Arden claimed Gail was the son of Virginia Van Upp, famed movie producer and one-time executive producer of Columbia Pictures. Was that true? Who knows… But she took his name, stuck to her story, and called herself a socialite. A small-time, Vallejo socialite, but a woman of social standing nonetheless. There followed a move to Los Angeles, a daughter – Tammy z- and a divorce, all in quick succession. By 1967, she was ready for another re-invention.

Arden eventually settled in San Francisco, and, taking a loan from her mother, put a down-payment on her first rental building at 1019 Ashbury Street, followed by another at 2807 Steiner, while she worked as a public health nurse in the projects.

The properties were more-than-adequate cash cows, but Arden wanted more. She aspired to real social status – San Francisco social status – and with it, a lavish lifestyle and a home where she could throw extravagant parties. In 1973, she saw her chance when an exceptional house hit the market.

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When it was built in 1896, the famed 28-room Bourn Mansion at 2550 Webster Street had been considered an architectural wonder that was one of the world’s great properties. Perched on the pinnacle of Pacific Heights, the best neighborhood in San Francisco, it had been commissioned by mining magnate William Bourn II, the richest man in San Francisco at the time – and, some said, the richest in the world.

Arden liked what she saw: the house was a steal, available for just $185,000 – a low price because it was slated for demolition as a result of its poor condition.

The problem was that somebody else was also eyeing the Mansion. Enter Dr. Lawrence E. Badgley.

Badgley was no vanilla open-your-mouth-and-take-two-Tylenol quack. The charismatic, Yale-educated doctor had acquired a reputation on the rock ‘n’ roll scene, becoming known as ‘Dr. Feelgood’ on account of his generosity with prescription drugs. He’d accompanied the Rolling Stones on their 1972 tour, documented by Robert Frank in the film Cocksucker Blues (1972). The debauched road show of backstage booze, drugs, and teenage groupies was also recounted in sleazy detail by Truman Capote for Rolling Stone magazine in April 1973. Through today’s lens of #MeToo, Epstein, Spacey, Hammer et al, it bears re-visiting:

“They had this doctor on the plane who was a young doctor from San Francisco, rather good looking. He would pass through the plane with a big plate of pills, every kind you could imagine, everything from vitamin C to coke. He had just started practice in San Francisco, and this seemed sort of a dramatic thing to be doing.

“It developed that he had a super-Lolita complex. I mean 13-, 14-year-old kids. He would arrive at whatever city we would arrive at, and there would always be these hordes of kids outside and he would walk around you know like a super-fuck and say ‘You know I’m Mick Jagger’s personal physician. How would you like to see the show from backstage?’ He would get quite a collection of them. Backstage, you know, he would have them spread out, and every now and then he would bring one back to the plane.

“The one I remember the most was a girl who said she’d come to the Rolling Stones thing to get a story for her high school newspaper, and wasn’t this wonderful how she’d met Dr. Feelgood and got backstage. Anyway, she got on the plane, and she sure got a story, all right, because they fitted up the back of the plane for this. The plane was flying along and there was Dr. Feelgood screwing this girl in every conceivable position while Robert Frank was filming.”

Dr.Feelgood, avec shit-eating grin and his supplies

Despite his dubious sexual predilections (or perhaps they were not known to Arden), Arden and Badgley supposedly found romance together – as well as a common, glittering vision for the mansion. That vision centered around lavish hedonism, a decadent crash-pad populated by rock stars, movie stars, porn stars, and overflowing with high-grade drugs, fine wines, and sexual abandon.

In July 1973, they became partners in purchasing the Bourn property – though their respective financial contributions to the purchase were oblique. Arden claimed that Badgley contributed only $20,000, just 10% of the purchase price, while Badgley claimed otherwise. Regardless, they were both listed as equal partners on the deed of ownership, and whatever the source of the initial down payment, the two agreed that, in the event of them splitting up, one would buy the other out. If they couldn’t agree on who should get the house or a fair buyout price, an arbitrator would get to decide.

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When the mansion deal was cut, Arden was in her mid-30s and Badgley was 29, and as soon as they took control of the property, the parties began. Once a classy, Georgian-style home with its second-floor ballroom and two-story stained-glass windows, the mansion turned into a swinging, debauched party venue. Naturally Badgley’s celebrity connections brought in big names, with stars such as the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, Sly Stone, and the Pointer Sisters showing up to partake in the excess.

The house came lavishly furnished, with leather sofas, crystal chandeliers, and exotic orchids in long-stemmed vases decorating the dark wood-paneled rooms. The opulence wasn’t contained to the inside either: for years, neighbors talked about the chorus line of women in ostrich feathers and low-cut outfits who would walk out of the mansion to greet elderly gentlemen party guests who arrived in a waiting row of black limousines.

And then there were the mannequins: life-sized fashion mannequins that populated every floor and silently gazed in each room. They were mostly female-shaped, usually partially-dressed, and invariably heavily made-up with blood-red lipstick and sky-blue eye-liner. Sexually precocious party guests took advantage of them at every party.

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Amidst the decadent madness surrounding Arden and Badgley’s partying was Arden’s underage daughter, Tammy.

Tammy Ann Van Upp was 15 when they moved into the Bourn Mansion, and was already described by the New York Times as ‘San Francisco’s most famous belly dancer’ – an activity she performed with Gideon, her hungry python. Gideon wasn’t Tammy’s only pet, but was part of a household menagerie that included five green frogs, two large gecko lizards, and too many exotic cats to mention.

Tammy loved to perform, as she told the journalists who frequently trekked up the hill to interview her: “I like to dance as often as I can. I enjoy it and I’m good. I want to make it.”

She’d started studying dance and performing with local companies from the age of 7, before taking up belly-dancing – with a twist: “I decided I needed something extra: it was either a sword, fire, or a snake. So I chose Gideon.” Buying the serpent for $150, the semi-clad teenage girl with the snake became a local hit, and every week she donned exotic scarves and tinkling bells, and took off to different parties where she bared her torso and danced with Gideon. She charged $30 for a half‐hour performance, good money – even after she rewarded Gideon with a live weekly rat. (“He eats the head first,” Tammy pointed out.)

Tammy Van Upp (and Gideon)

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Turning the Bourn Mansion into a movie location was Badgley’s idea: they’d be able to earn income without having to do much, he argued, and the mansion’s wood-paneled walls, high ceilings, dramatic rooms, and elegant furnishings made it an obvious and attractive offering. Badgley took photos of the interiors and shopped it around to movie studios – with instant success: one of the first shoots at the Mansion was an episode of the TV hit show, ‘Streets of San Francisco’, a season three installment, ‘Mask of Death’ (1974).

The income was handy, but Badgley wanted more excitement: if they were going to have their lives interrupted by cameras, lights, and disinterested crew members, shouldn’t it be more fun? More sexy? After all, he was a fan of the city’s sex film business, a regular at the Mitchell Brother’s O’Farrell Theater, and known for his propensity to take nubile dancers home when Arden was away. So Badgley put word out, and came across a young couple making their first porn film: Edwin and Summer Brown. Their movie, more ambitious than most run-of-the-mill grindhouse fuck-flicks with a plot including an international crime syndicate, sexual torture, and the CIA, required an opulent house. Badgley offered them the Bourn Mansion and the Browns gladly accepted, shooting China Girl (1974) there, which starred Annette Haven in one of her first roles. There was even a small non-sex role for Tammy – who appeared with Gideon of course.

China Girl (1974) – with Tammy Van Upp and Gideon (left)

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Behind the façade of parties and sexual adventure, there was a growing tension between the mansion’s two owners and party hosts. Badgley and Arden were feuding – and it was becoming increasingly vicious. On New Year’s Eve 1975, Badgley abruptly moved out of the mansion, claiming he was suffering unbearable emotional and mental stress, and feared for his well-being.

The split launched a nasty, bilious legal struggle. Badgley filed the first of his many lawsuits against Arden in 1976, claiming wrongful eviction from the premises. The succession of legal claims and counterclaims filed by both of them would last for the next 40 years, making it the longest running legal case in San Francisco history.

As the fight escalated, Badgley argued that Arden was unfit to own the house. He claimed she was illegally renting out rooms and never shared any profits with him. Some rooms were rented without his consent, he said, while others were let in exchange for food stamps, maintenance work, or even flower arrangements. Taking a surprisingly moral tone, Badgley further alleged that Arden threw parties where booze was sold illegally and teenagers smoked marijuana. It was true: Dr Feelgood, provider of illicit drugs to rock stars and inveterate shagger of underage groupies, was concerned about teens smoking joints in a house he’d moved out of years before.

Bizarrely, Badgley was also upset that the house was still being used as a set for a large number of porn films, which he claimed could expose him to personal liability. Court documents dutifully listed a number of XXX features and 8mm loops that had supposedly been filmed in the Mansion after he left.

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In terms of sex movies finding a regular, copacetic home for location shoot at the Bourn Mansion, Badgley was correct.

Needing money to pay her mounting legal bills, Arden had leaned into the adult film industry, becoming friends with many of the city’s mafia of porno producers and directors – including Alex de Renzy and Jim Mitchell – offering the house as a backdrop to the horizontal hanky-panky. In 1978, for example, it was prominent in Swedish Erotica loops, including Moving Parts (with John Holmes, Johnny Hardin, and Mimi Morgan), Tea Time (with Cris Cassidy and Johnny Keyes), The Swizzle Stick (John Holmes and Laura Leslie), and The Vixen (with Jon Martin, Paul Wain, and Rock Steadie).

Even better, almost the entirety of Antonio Shepherd’s 7 Into Snowy (1978) was shot there too in June 1977 – at a fee of $300 per day.

Arden apparently liked the adult film productions because they were quick and efficient, and didn’t have the large numbers of people traipsing all over the house. And so, over the years, the Bourn Mansion continued to be used by local sex film makers, such as I Like to Watch (1982), starring Lisa De Leeuw, Little Oral Annie, and Bridgette Monet. The property was always obvious in the movies – in addition to the wood-paneled rooms, sweeping staircase, and fireplace, the same furniture and props are evident in all the productions. And no matter what the script said, the ubiquitous mannequins always ended up being part of the on-screen action.

Apart from being paid in advance in cash, Arden’s perennial stipulation was always that the property name and address should be kept out of all publicity: she would insert a clause that read, “No address mentioned and no nude scenes outside.” She also requested that nothing should be filmed which might give away the location of the mansion. (This was contravened in the ‘I Like To Watch’ production, when Mike Horner was filmed sat on the front stoop – which had the property address etched into the step.)

Property release form for ‘7 Into Snowy’ (1978) for the Bourn Mansion – signed by Arden Van Upp, with her added requirement on left side

Mike Horner, outside of the Bourn Mansion in ‘I Like To Watch’ (1981) – with the address showing on the step

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The adult film income may have helped Arden, but both sides in the legal war were now spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, burning through multiple attorneys in their real estate partnership-turned-death match. Each wanted to buy the other out, but neither side was willing to sell their half to the other. Sordid allegations of harassment and abuse entered the picture and were added to the pile of legal paperwork.

After the first twenty years of fighting, the multi-million legal costs far exceeded the amount it would have cost to settle the affair for either party. Arden was running out of money and tried to refinance the Bourn Mansion to raise funds, but by that point, there was a million-dollar default judgment against her – and the amount she owed kept increasing. The litigation eventually put both Arden and Badgley into bankruptcy.

By the 1990s, Arden was the only person living inside the 28-room mansion along with dozens of her white Chinchilla Persian cats. By then, the formerly grand four-story Bourn Mansion was in a state of extreme disrepair: the garbage piled up, matched only by the debt and the lawsuits. The life of the once nouveau-riche socialite had become a Grey Gardens facsimile. Arden no longer answered the phone or the door to visitors, who included inspectors serving building code violations and rental property tenants filing their own lawsuits. According to newspaper articles at the time, former friends avoided her – many sued her – and her family refused to speak to her, except through attorneys. It was said that by 1998, the mansion was so dilapidated that the homeless people who had taken to squatting inside had to move out into the yard for their own safety.

Eventually in 2010, a foreclosure auction for the property was ordered to be held on the steps of City Hall. The mansion was sold for $2,790,000.

Despite assessments that repairs would cost more than the house is worth, the building remains a designated historical landmark. Locals who are attached to the mansion with the hard-luck story still hope that new owners will restore its former beauty – despite the cost.

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Arden Van Upp died in 2021 at the age of 83, while Dr. Laurence Badgley continues to practice medicine in Hawaii. He returned to the news again when he invented a pain-killing machine – which was subsequently discredited by the FDA. More recently, he claimed to have found a cure for AIDS through natural therapy: the California Medical Association called his claims “borderline quackery”.

Tammy Van Upp became a make-up artist and hair stylist, largely staying out of the real estate soap opera of the Bourn Mansion.

2025

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The Bourn Mansion in… ‘The Streets of San Francisco’ (1974)

Michael Douglas and Karl Malden at the Mansion

Michael Douglas at the Mansion

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The Bourn Mansion… in adult films

China Girl (1974):

Tammy and Gideon (left)

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Swedish Erotica – Moving Parts (1978) (with John Holmes, Johnny Hardin, and Mimi Morgan):

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Swedish Erotica – Tea Time (with Cris Cassidy and Johnny Keyes):

Swedish Erotica – The Swizzle Stick (John Holmes and Laura Leslie)”

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‘I Like To Watch’ (1981):

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The Bourn Mansion… in recent times

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