Nobody told Lance Allward about the Ford family’s Haven Hill Estate. He stumbled upon it while cross-country skiing in the Highland Recreation Area.

“I was on the trail and all of a sudden, there it was,” he said.

A cluster of buildings or what was left of them, laid out across a wooded area on a hill connected by winding paths and trails. After his discovery, Allward made a few inquiries and soon learned what he had stumbled upon were remnants of the family retreat built by Edsel and Eleonor Ford as a diversion from the hustle and bustle of their city life in Detroit.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” said Allward, while viewing “Haven Hill 100,” a historical exhibit of the estate appearing in the Teague Gallery at the Ford House Visitor Center in Grosse Pointe Shores.

The exhibit is free and open to the public through Feb. 18.

It is a joint venture between Ford House and Friends of Highland Recreation Area, a nonprofit organization that is not only working to raise awareness about this historical but often unknown treasure, but hopes to restore some of its historical structures.

“This is a model of what it used to look like,” said Mark Heppner, president and CEO of the Ford House, who, like Allward, lives near the estate and became enamored by its connection to the Ford family story. “It was a fully operated estate.”

Structures on the property included a gatehouse, which served as the estate’s primary entrance; riding stables and home to the several horses used by the family; a barn for housing sheep, work horses and Black Angus cattle; a carriage house with room enough for three cars or trucks and living quarters for the chauffeur and magnificent lodge with more than 7,000-square-feet of living space. This along with over 2,000 acres of land gave the family ample room for relaxation and creation.

If that wasn’t enough, there was also a 3,000-foot tow-return toboggan run, a swimming pool, a tennis court, trails for horseback riding and a fishing pond.

What also makes the “Haven Hill 100” exhibit unique are the home movies of Edsel, Eleanor, their children and family and friends enjoying their time at the retreat 100 years ago.

Julie Skene, who is a member of the Friends of Highland Recreation Area board, said the exhibit gives people an opportunity to see a different side of the family.

“It shows a different mindset than what the public is used to seeing,” Skene said, while watching the home movie showing Eleanor and her sons, who were just boys at the time, playing in the snow. “You can see she’s being a little goofy at times, just like any mom would be,” Skene said of Eleanor, who was quoted in a letter to Edsel (1934) to say: “We all went to the country for Saturday night. It was a nice rest and I feel a little more human again.”

Visitors also can see what the lodge looked like in its prime.

“You go out there now and it’s just the foundation,” she said.

Jay Fitzgerald, secretary and webmaster for Friends of Highland Recreation Area, said if all goes as planned, the nonprofit will soon have the gatehouse on the estate, sold to the state park system shortly after Edsel died in 1943, restored for visitors and events.

“We also talked about rebuilding at least one of the chimneys,” Skene said.

However, what she and her group are most excited about is that the Ford House created the exhibit on their behalf, thus recognizing the estate’s importance to the Ford family story.

“I’m excited,” said Skene, not only because of the awareness it will bring to their mission to preserve the historical gem, but by the support shown by the Ford House. “We’re part of the family now.”

FYI

The Ford House will be hosting a special lecture featuring details about Haven Hill at 7 p.m. Feb. 8.

The “Haven Hill 100” exhibit in the community gallery is free and open to the public, but the lecture will be a ticketed event.

The Visitor Center has two other exhibits open to the public, including a permanent display inspired by the family’s story and an exhibit featuring the people who lived and worked on the Ford Estate in Grosse Pointe Shores.

For holiday hours and further information, visit fordhouse.org.