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In July 1904, Mrs.
Elizabeth Blake of Chicago opened a resort hotel in the former
William M. Peck house located in Maple Grove. She named it “White
Lake Villa”.
The home-like
summer retreat was situated on a plateau and offered the finest view
of White Lake. The villa was surrounded by majestic shade trees and
spacious grounds.
The rooms of the
Villa were large, airy and well furnished. The table service was
second to none. You got all this at the reasonable rate of $1.00 per
day.
In the early
morning hours of Saturday, December 23, 1911, the summer home and
resort hotel of Mrs. Blake was burned to the ground with all its
furnishings. No one was home at the time as Mrs. Black had gone to
Chicago for the winter.
The origin of the
fire was a mystery. Articles of clothing were found at various
places along Prospect Street (now Old Channel Trail) leading toward
town. Authorities speculate that the house was ransacked, looted and
then set on fire, either accidentally or intentionally.
The house had been
built by Mr. Joseph Heald of the lumber firm Heald, Crippen & Murphy
(1854-85) who operated the largest saw mill on White Lake at the
time. The house was then owned by William M. Peck, son of Franklin
House hotel owner William Peck. Mrs. Blake had made substantial
improvements to the house while she had it and, with the assistance
of her daughter, had established quite a good summer hotel business.
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