08/27/2026
Staff Spotlight ~ Lucy Zhang:
August 27, 2026 marks my 19th year working at Hidden Villa.
I often joke that I spend my days “counting the beans” in my office. But the moment I step outside, my eyes are wide open like a child’s. There is always something to notice—light and shadow, changing seasons, or simply something worth stopping to photograph.
Almost every morning, before crossing the little bridge to my office, I look at the White House and the mountain above it. I have photographed this view countless times—in fog, sunshine, winter rain, spring green, and summer gold. Somehow, it is never the same picture.
Some of my favorite memories:
Walking through foggy fields in the early morning.
Meeting camp counselors from across the country and around the world.
Giving tours to visitors, friends, and new staff.
Showing Foothill photography students the hidden treasures I’ve discovered—including the little heart-shaped iron fixture on the tin barn.
Discovering colorful wild mushrooms and watching ginkgo leaves dance in the wind.
Tasting delicious food and sharing memorable conversations over a CSA potluck, then picking a CSA basket full of fresh produce.
Reconnecting with coworkers who have become lifelong friends.
These little things have made 19 years so rich.
I have lived in three countries and traveled to many places, but Hidden Villa has given me some of the best eggs, Sungold tomatoes, and peaches I have ever tasted—and so much more.
Nineteen years later, I still walk through the gate with the same sense of wonder.
Josephine Duveneck captured that feeling beautifully in one of her poems from 1924:
“What strange and willful fate
has led us through that gate?
What secret potent pull
makes consciousness so full…
that here is home?”
Maybe that is what Hidden Villa has become for me:
A place I came to work, a place I learned to see, and a place that feels like home.
📸.q.z
