There's Always a First Time

      Our first experience with PMC was almost 40 years ago. We rode up to Pine Mountain from the San Fernando Valley with Mike Schmidt, who had previously told us all about it. He owned a lot that he planned to build a home on some day, and he thought we should take a look. Property in PMC was a good investment then (real estate almost ANYWHERE in California was a good investment in the early 1970's!).
     Mike had a Jeep CJ5, and it was a lot of fun (NOT!) riding on the old road from the freeway. When we got to the "Y", the turn-off onto Mil Potrero Highway was backed up with cars to about White Rock Road (it was spring, and there was a lot of snow on Mt. Pinos). Our first experience with snow bunnies (yippee!!). Mike took a "shortcut" through the trees around the roadblock and on to Mil Potrero (don't try this at home, kids).
     Pine Mountain was as beautiful as any description I had heard. The sky was blue, the air was crystal clear, and scented with something between pineapple and vanilla (one of the "up" sides of Jeffrey or "sugar" pines---they have their "down" sides, too.) And trees, LOTS of trees.
     We pulled in to Pine Mountain General Store, where we met Floyd Bolton. Floyd was an ex-LAPD who decided to trade the security of a pensioned job for the unknown future of an entrepreneur,  moving his wife Pat and young boys to a tiny no-stoplight town in what almost seemed like wilderness compared to the San Fernando Valley.
    At that time, the General Store was one of only three buildings in the Village (although it was commonly referred to as the "Commercial Center"; there were no signs). The other two structures were the Pine Mountain Real Estate office (a 3-room, one-story building where the Jennings Realty building, that was built over and around it) stands, and the Gold Coast Realty office, which consisted of the one-room front portion of what is now Montana Joey.

Chuck & Marge Tidwell next to Pine Mt. Real Estate Bldg.    

     We drove by the PMC clubhouse, about a quarter of the size it is now. There were just 4 houses on Beechwood Way, near the clubhouse, and the only near structure across Mil Potrero Highway was the KCFD fire station.
     We drove over to the Stables (it wasn't the Equestrian Center, then), turned around, and went up the hill on the street next to the corral. One of the only houses on the street, nestled in the pinons, belonged to Rick Young. It was early on a Saturday morning, but Rick was up working around the house. He invited us in, and asked if we would join him in a Bloody Mary. We did, and come to find out, Rick considered Bloody Mary mix to be a garnish! ;-).
     Thus fortified, we went to the Pine Mountain Real Estate office (above), and met the Tidwells-- Chuck and Marge. They, along with son Tommy, sold most of the property in PMC. The commission on real estate sales, homes or empty lots, was 10 percent then. Actually, the Tidwells got ten percent of most everything then. Dave Peters owned Pine Mountain Real Estate, but the Tidwells did most of the selling
     We met Fred Westlund, a local building contractor. He built many of the homes in PMC-- as many as 54 in one year! Fred never met a corny joke he wouldn't tell you. When you bought a lot from Pine Mountain Real Estate (not affiliated in any way with the current Pine Mountain Realty), the Tidwells got a 10 percent commission. They would recommend (strongly) that you have Westlund Construction build your home or cabin on that lot. They (the Tidwells)would get a ten percent commission from Westlund Construction on the construction contract. They would sometimes have to persuade Fred to cut his price to make the deal, but they still got their full commission. Thus, it happened that in one particular year Westlund Construction built over 50 homes and lost money!