Pinewood Lake is a natural lake located on the west side of 330 feet (100.6 m) tall Mischa Hill in the Nichols Farms Historic District

Nichols Farms Historic District

According to Stratford land records, Abraham Nichols purchased several old farms and large parcels of land in 1696. Nichols exchanged his land for of Lt. Joseph Judsons old farm which had a barn on it, or half the land owned by Jeremiah Judson, and of land from Benjamin Curtiss...

 section of Trumbull, Connecticut

Trumbull, Connecticut

Trumbull, a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut in the New England region of the United States, is bordered by the towns of Monroe, Shelton, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield and Easton along Connecticut's Gold Coast. The population was 36,018 according to the 2010 census.Family Circle magazine...

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Pinewood Lake Association

Pinewood Lake and its facilities are the center of a private recreational community with no public access. In addition to the lake, Pinewood Lake Association maintains a clubhouse, several boat racks, two dams, a common access beach and several access parcels interspersed between houses that border the lake.

History

The Pinewood Lake area was the home of Mischa, a member of the Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation

Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation

The Golden Hill Paugussetts are the Connecticut state-recognized tribal descendents of the Paugussett Nation of Native Americans that occupied much of western Connecticut prior to the arrival of Europeans...

. The natural lake was later called Old Farm Pond by the English who settled the area in the 17th century. Old Farm Pond was about 1150 feet long and 775 feet at its widest part, tapering to points at both ends. This pond was fed by Booth Hill Brook and Bears Den Brook, which joined about 1550 feet above the pond.

Pine Brook Country Club

Benjamin Plotkin purchased Pinewood Lake and the surrounding acreage and built an auditorium

Auditorium

An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...

 with a revolving stage

Revolving stage

A revolving stage is a mechanically controlled platform within a theatre that can be rotated in order to speed up the changing of a scene within a show...

, forty cabin

Log cabin

A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...

s and incorporated as the Pine Brook Country Club

Pine Brook Country Club

-Introduction:Pine Brook Country Club began when Benjamin Plotkin purchased Pinewood Lake and the surrounding countryside on Mischa Hill in the historic village of Nichols, Connecticut. Plotkin built an auditorium with a revolving stage and forty rustic cabins and incorporated as the Pine Brook...

 in 1930. Plotkin's dream was to market the club as a summer resort for people to stay and enjoy theatrical productions. Pine Brook is best known for becoming the summer home of the most important experiment in the history of American Theatre. The Group Theatre (New York) was formed in New York City by Harold Clurman

Harold Clurman

Harold Edgar Clurman was a visionary American theatre director and drama critic, "one of the most influential in the United States". He was most notable as one of the three founders of the New York City's Group Theatre...

, Cheryl Crawford

Cheryl Crawford

Cheryl Crawford was an American theatre producer and director.Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation, she moved to New York City and enrolled at the Theatre Guild's school...

 and Lee Strasberg

Lee Strasberg

Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...

. The group was made up of actors, directors, playwrights and producers and gathered every summer at Pine Brook from 1931 until the early 1940s. During this time, the Group produced works by the most important American playwrights of the time on real life subject matter which changed stage and film forever. Some of the artists who summered at Pine Brook Lake were; Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...

, Harry Morgan

Harry Morgan

Harry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...

, John Garfield

John Garfield

John Garfield was an American actor adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City and in the early 1930s became an important member of the Group Theater. In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner...

, Francis Farmer, Will Geer

Will Geer

Will Geer was an American actor and social activist. His original name was William Aughe Ghere. He is remembered for his portrayal of Grandpa Zebulon Tyler Walton in the 1970s TV series, The Waltons....

, Howard Da Silva

Howard Da Silva

Howard Da Silva was an American actor.-Early life:He was born Howard Silverblatt in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Benjamin and Bertha Silverblatt. His parents were both Yiddish speaking Jews born in Russia. He had a job as a steelworker before beginning his acting career on the stage...

, Clifford Odets

Clifford Odets

Clifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, socialist, and social protester.-Early life:Odets was born in Philadelphia to Romanian- and Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Louis Odets and Esther Geisinger, and raised in Philadelphia and the Bronx, New York. He dropped out of high...

, Lee J. Cobb

Lee J. Cobb

Lee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...

 and Irwin Shaw

Irwin Shaw

Irwin Shaw was a prolific American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best-known for his novel, The Young Lions about the fate of three soldiers during World War II that was made into a film starring Marlon...

. In 1944, Pine Brook Country Club was sold, reorganized and chartered as the Pinewood Lake Association.

Environment

Pinewood Lake is fed by three streams that bring sediment, chemical pollutants such as phosphorus and nitrates from fertilizer, and biological pollutants such as E. coli from humans. The lake is dredged periodically to reduce silt and to slow the natural tendency of the lake to fill in and become a meadow. The waters are home to endemic species of snails, leeches and insects. Hardy fish such as Sunnies and Perch survive year-round. Other fish such as Trout and Bass are stocked each spring. Intrusive organisms are a constant concern. Over the years the lake has seen waves of water weeds like Valisineria, and Algaes. Changes in climate, runoff chemicals, silt levels and other large scale environmental factors not to mention non-migratory Geese make it a dynamic challenge to keep the lake clear for swimming and boating. Fortunately the lake is largely able to dilute, buffer and cleanse itself, and through careful practices designed and implemented by the Lake Water Quality Committee, the water is safe for enjoyment. As of 2006 we are fortunate to have no appearances of Zebra Mussels.

Governance

Pinewood Lake Association or PLA is registered as an operating company in the State of Connecticut. Business activities are managed by a Board of Governors consisting of Owner Members elected from the various properties that are eligible for owner membership status within the Association.