History of Lone Pine Road Estates
The 80 acres of Lone Pine Road Estates were deeded to Peter J. Desnoyer in 1824 by the then President of the United States, James Monroe. The 111 lots are occupied by beautiful homes, making our Lone Pine Road Estates subdivision one of the finest and most desirable residential areas in Bloomfield Township.
Wilma Peabody, who lived on Gilbert Lake just south of our subdivision, provided us with many stories. Jim and Wilma’s ancestors, including Ellen Peabody, owned all of our subdivision and the land to the south of it in 1890. At that time it was a working apple orchard with only horse trails running through it.
A study of the deeds of our residents reveals that the 80 acres have been sold and resold many times. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Piper had owned the land since 1909 and wanted to establish an exclusive residential subdivision. So, our history will begin in the 1920’s when roads were laid out and lots on Gilbert Lake were sold. The first nine homes built in our subdivision were on Lots 18, 25, 27, 36, 64, 66, 69, 71 and 106.
The 1929 Depression caused a suspension of building activities, except for a few additional homes along the lake. In 1952 building activity resumed and Frank Lloyd Wright, the renowned architect, designed a home for Lot 15 on Ponvalley Road.
Another interesting home is on the corner of Ponvalley and Deepwood (Lot 36). It was built in the late 1920’s. At the time, General Motors was in financial difficulty and had to borrow money from Dupont. In order to protect their money, Dupont sent one of their financial executives to Michigan to watch over their loan. This home was built for him.
In order to protect the integrity of future homes in our subdivision, the Lone Pine Road Estates Improvement Association was formed and incorporated on May 17, 1954. Its founders were D. Chandler, Everell Fisher, H. Steggal, Donald O’Toole, Arthur Griswold, Floyd Taylor, Karl Richards, Robert Swanson and Joseph Flaherty. A Plan Approval Committee was created by these founding fathers. It has done an excellent job and we have had good cooperation from Bloomfield Township.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that Deepwood Road was originally called Wilson Road? There were three Wilson Roads in Bloomfield Township and the Fire and Police Departments had difficulty when they responded to calls, so the residents of the then Wilson Road changed the name to Deepwood.
History of Gilbert Lake Beach Lot – “Outlot A”
Gilbert Lake covers about 80 acres and has an average depth of 13 feet. It is spring fed and has a peat bottom. Prior to 1961, what is now our beach lot on Gilbert Lake was a water saturated swamp, and our beach and picnic area was originally one of two Gilbert Lake islands. Jack Loviner, with the help of Lawrence Herman, Sr., hired a dragline tractor and bulldozer. They built a road (the causeway) from the main land out to the island with lake bottom dirt. For the past 42 years, we have maintained a sandy beach, picnic area, badminton/volleyball court and boat racks. A sprinkler system, large stone erosion protection wall, tall decorative fence and landscaping have made the beach lot an attractive addition to our subdivision.
History of Lone Pine Road Estates Improvement Association (LPREIA)
The Lone Pine Road Estates Improvement Association (LPREIA) was originally incorporated on September 28, 1953, as a non-profit corporation. The articles of incorporation were filed with the Michigan Corporation and Securities Commission on that date. The Association was created to maintain the Deed Restrictions. Bylaws can be found in the Residents section of this site.
The following persons have served as President of the Association since its inception:
| 1955 | D.W. Chandler | 1982 | George Bihler |
| 1956 | Arthur Griswold | 1983-1984 | John Sillick |
| 1957 | Donald O'Toole | 1985-1986 | David Wright |
| 1958 | Jack Loviner | 1987 | John Hayward |
| 1959 | Howard McDonald | 1988 | Guy Lombardo |
| 1960 | William Lovis | 1989-1990 | Michael Klein |
| 1961 |
Richard Anderson
|
1991 | Don Lambe |
| 1962 | Laurence Herman | 1992 | Ed Chambliss |
| 1963 | Charles Armstrong | 1993 | Jeff Hitchcock |
| 1964 | Thomas Plante | 1994 | Janice Gunther |
| 1965-67 | James Goldsmith | 1995 | Kathy Hitchcock |
| 1968 |
Thomas McKenna
|
1996 | Joan Magee |
| 1969-70 | Vincent Kaptur | 1997 | Kathy Hitchcock |
| 1971 | Russell Longon | 1998 | Harris Mainster |
| 1972-75 | Herbert Schnetzky | 1999 | Larry Smith |
| 1976 | James Vernor | 2000-2001 | Gilles Testé |
| 1977 | William (Bob) Marshall | 2002-2003 | Ken Nisch |
| 1978 | Irene Schnetzky | 2004-2005 | Lou Shoha |
| 1979 | Judith Hayward | 2006-2014 | Jamie Richard |
| 1980 | Antonia Sillick | 2015-2019 | Martha Littrup |
| 1981 | Peg Henry, Al Loff | 2020 | Sharon Li |
| 2020-2023 | Eric Wroldsen |