
The secret spiritual home of the Church of Scientology can now be seen for the first time ever in photos exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com.

The ranch sits in Ceston, a remote area of San Luis Obispo County, California, and has been dubbed the 'Scientology Graceland', or the 'Garden of Eden'.

It is the last resting place of founder L Ron Hubbard, and has been kept in pristine condition nearly 30 years after his death, held in the highest regard by the church and its followers.

The property has been shrouded in secrecy for decades, and it is unknown what now goes on at the estate, but DailyMail.com has the exclusive first photos of the compound.

Some believe that celebrity Scientologists such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta use it as a retreat and will return there full-time when it's the 'end of the world'.

But the 'end of the world' described by Hubbard may never come to pass. In a shocking interview Hubbard's devoted servant claimed that Hubbard admitted on his death bed that the religion was 'a monster he couldn't control' and was was sorry for ever creating it.

Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard’s Californian ranch has been kept in pristine condition nearly 30 years after his death

The property features a running circle (top right), which is infamous in Scientology. The circles are allegedly used as punishment for anyone who commits supposed offences against the church

The main house in the center of the estate took four years to build and was to be used as Hubbard’s main residence and office

The property was preserved after Hubbard's death and has been shrouded in secrecy for decades. It is unknown what now goes on at the estate

He was tired of being chased by the FBI and IRS for unpaid taxes and accusations infiltration, wiretapping and theft of government documents, according to servant Steve 'Sarge' Pfauth.

Pfauth, who died in July, was a member of the Church's Sea Org and worked under Hubbard for four years until the church leader's own death in January 1986.

Pfauth told DailyMail.com he was with Hubbard during his final days when he was dying of pancreatitis and suffered a fatal stroke.

The assistant said he signed the death certificate and Last Will, and was there for one of Hubbard's final conversations in which he bitterly regretted ever having set it up.

For years, Hubbard had been on the run from the FBI and IRS, who were chasing him for millions in unpaid taxes.

Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard died in 1986 following a stroke

He was also besieged by lawsuits from companies that the Church had fought in the 1960s and 70s.

Before his July death, Pfauth told DailyMail.com that Hubbard felt guilty about duping thousands into believing the religion that he made up.

He said: 'LRH told me that he had failed. He wanted to leave his body, he was going to go somewhere else, it was all over here. He said: "I'm going to drop my body, I just want to get out of here." He just said he failed. The founder of Scientology just wanted to leave Scientology.

'He told me he wasn't coming back to Scientology - "I don't want to do it anymore". This was on his deathbed. Scientology became this monster that he couldn't control, he regretted ever creating the thing.

'He was very unhappy about not being able to run Scientology because he was on the run and had these lawsuits.

'He wasn't supposed to have contact with anyone, he was taken pretty much off it, he'd lost control, and he knew it. He didn't care about it anymore.'

Responding to DailyMail.com's request for comment, media relations representative Karin Pouw said, 'Oh, please. Steve Pfauth was a drunk handyman and was not a credible source.'

Hubbard chose Creston because it was away from prying eyes in the middle of California's ranch country.

To blend in, his dedicated team of followers pretended they were horse racers and farmers.

As our exclusive images show, they had a ready made racecourse and stables, but typically they put a Scientology touch to it.

The 160-acre site was made into a fortress and Scientology symbols put in the middle of the race course and on the gates.

Just before he died and said Hubbard (above) said bitterly regretted ever having set it up, his servant Steve 'Sarge' Pfauth told DailyMail.com

Those being 'punished' were allegedly forced walk round and round in the small circle for hours on end without food or water

The massive estate has a ready-made racecourse, stables and a zoo, despite the staff having no experience caring for animals

A watch tower made the perfect guard against any authorities trying to raid the place.

Meanwhile poorly paid staff from the Sea Org - the hardcore Church followers - would sleep with the animals, which were bought in by the hundreds to show that they were just regular farmers.

Some believe that celebrity Scientologists such as Tom Cruise uses it as a retreat and will return there full-time when it's the 'end of the world'

They also put in huge water cannons with fire fighting nozzles that could blast out 500 gallons per minute to ward off intruders.

There is also a running circle. Even though this one was meant for horses, a 'running circle' has been allegedly used in the past by Scientology as punishment for anyone who commits supposed offences - and they would be made to walk round and round in a circle for hours without food or water.

Scientologists are led to believe that Hubbard will return to Creston, which is owned by the Church of Spiritual Technology [CST], a separate umbrella especially created to preserve the Church's scriptures.

Former Scientology construction engineer Dylan Gill helped build other secret CST bases, and says: 'Creston is the Graceland, the Garden of Eden. That's where LRH is supposed to go when he returns.

'That's where he's supposed to be raised again and taken care of; the symbol [on the racecourse] is a way for a spirit to find its way back to where it belongs.

'Creston was always all over the top, extraordinary. If the end of the world did come, as Scientologists believe, all the celebrities and David Miscavige [current church leader] would be here.

'It's a beautiful property, no one can gain entry easily, it's a really sweet set up. Even Tom Cruise could make it his home.'

The horses were bought for the property as a pretense for all the neighboring farmers to actually believe they knew what they were doing

Mobile homes were constructed for contract workers, while staff members often slept with the animals on the property

Despite the property being in a dry, land-locked location in California, the estate still had a large pond and green grass

Steve ‘Sarge’ Pfauth (left), who worked under Hubbard for four years until the founder's death in January 1986, said his owner regretted ever making up the Church. Hubbard's former chef and 'runner', Sinar Parman (right), says that everyone on site was so paranoid of the outside that they'd even bury their own vans

Hubbard's former chef and 'runner', Sinar Parman, worked on the Creston property for two years.

He says that everyone was so paranoid of the outside that they'd even bury their own vans - and he had to learn to scuba dive just in case someone was hiding in the lake.

'We used the vans for different things like to travel to HQ near Los Angeles. Instead of selling them, we buried them in the ground, that's how nuts it was,' he says.

'One day in '84, LRH told me I had to go buy wetsuits, tanks, regulators, buoyancy control devices, for practical dives in the lake - it was freezing. I still have no idea why, but you never know, they were so paranoid.'

A zoo and world class horses were brought in on Hubbard's lieutenant Pat Broeker's orders even though the only staff - Parman and Pfauth - had no animal experience.

The horses were there as a pretense for all the neighboring farmers to actually believe they knew what they were doing. They spent more than $1 million just on horses.

They also put in mobile homes for contract workers, which are still present today.

The main house in the center of the estate took four years to build and was to be used as Hubbard's main residence and office.

But, according to former members, he insisted on living in his Bluebird camper van.

'So there we were, we had a full on race track, jockey room, stables, world class horses, and we knew absolutely zero,' Parman says. 'We bought 40 horses and 10 Akita Japanese guard dogs, but then it got out of control. Both Pat and LRH were really paranoid, they started buying all sorts of animals.

Though there was a beautiful home on the property, Hubbard reportedly chose to sleep in a camper van on the site

The Scientology leader's massive property also featured symbols associated witht the church on gates and on the race course

'We had a chicken coop, turkeys, ducks, swans, geese, looms, all sorts of birds, buffalo, llamas and cows. I was in charge of them and the trees.

'We even got some thoroughbred show horses and put them into competitions to show that the Creston Ranch was the best horse farm in California. Crazy!'

Pfauth said he would be given hundreds of thousands of dollars from a safe in LRH's office, which he claims always had $2 million in it, for expenditures. He'd be given random instructions to buy animals, plants and even groceries with it.

Before his July death, he said: 'I put five years of hard work into that ranch, it was so rundown when we got it and it was a show place when he died.

'I spent $2.75 million on that ranch. The house had been remodeled to look like a Spanish villa, we spent hundreds of thousands just on the tiles for it.

'He went nuts and wanted a zoo, he kept coming back with all these animals. He just kept bringing more and more. He'd go to dog and horse shows, hobnob with big shots and spend millions.

'When LRH was alive, we got away with murder. We had money in the safe, we'd have maybe one, two million dollars in the safe, and I'd take it when I needed it.

'We'd always have plenty of cash. Ironically, we, the staff, made less than a dollar a day. I did all the shopping and purchasing, I'd fix all the meals, so if I felt lobster, I'd buy it, and nobody said boo about it.'

After LRH died in January 1986, David Miscavige preserved the Creston Ranch in honor of the Church's spiritual leader.

Ms. Pouw added that for credible information about Scientology and its Founder, L. Ron Hubbard, go to www.scientology.org.

The property also had huge water cannons with fire fighting nozzles that could blast out 500 gallons per minute to ward off intruders

A staff member said that he put five years into the ranch to fix it up, because it was 'run down' when the church bought it

Staff said they would be given hundreds of thousands from a safe in LRH’s office, which he claims always had $2 million in it