Set at the quiet end of the road, this expanded 1926 mountain cabin pairs enduring character with the kind of space that turns weekends into traditions. Sunlight fills the home, decks open toward the trees, and family and friends have room to settle in.
Beyond the main living spaces, a bright sunroom, expansive game room, loft and additional sleeping areas make the home equally suited to lively gatherings and slow, peaceful mornings.
Comfort, character, and generous gathering space.
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Forest at your back door
The oversized, mostly level lot borders National Forest land, offering privacy and nature just beyond the decks.
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Made for gathering
Five bedrooms, a great room, sunroom, game room, loft and flexible sleeping spaces welcome a full house with ease.
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Outdoor living
Two large decks look toward the forest, while more than ten mature fruit trees add a rare garden element to mountain life.
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Practical mountain comfort
A detached garage, dedicated laundry, 12′ × 14′ Tuff Shed, central cooling and a sunny, early-plowed street.
Inside & out
Mountain character, through every season.
Stone, timber and sunlightThe great roomA bright place to lingerWinter at the cabinFireside eveningsThe loftRoom to playFlexible spacesThe lake, close to homeQuiet eveningsTrails in every directionThe San Bernardino Mountains
Green Valley Lake
Small mountain town. Remarkably close escape.
Near the lake and only six homes from the campground, the property feels tucked away while remaining part of one of Southern California’s most intimate mountain communities.
A secluded community tucked nearly four miles from Highway 18 and surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest, Green Valley Lake is known locally as the mountain’s “hidden gem.” Its high elevation, compact village and uncrowded setting create a rare sense of escape between Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear.
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On the water
The stocked lake offers fishing, a small swimming beach and non-motorized boating—simple summer days without the crowds of a large resort lake.
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In the forest
Hiking, quiet roads, fresh mountain air and the surrounding National Forest invite exploration in every direction.
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Across the seasons
Warm-weather lake days, colorful autumns and snowy winter weekends give the community a distinct rhythm throughout the year.
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A real community
Local fairs, concerts, artisan events, a community garden, museum and gathering spaces preserve the village’s welcoming, small-town character.
Green Valley Lake is small by design. The village sits away from highway traffic, surrounded by National Forest, with the lake at its center. Summer brings fishing, swimming and non-motorized boating. Winter brings snow play and quiet fireside weekends.
Community traditions give the town its character: the famously short Fourth of July parade, summer fairs with live music, artisan studio tours on holiday weekends, a community garden, and the Lilleberg Museum. Wildlife is part of daily life, with the surrounding forest supporting bears, coyotes and other mountain species.
7,000′mountain elevation9 acresapproximately, at the lakeYear-roundmountain recreation
A century in the mountains
From Green Valley to Green Valley Lake.
The lake that defines the community was created as an act of reinvention. When a new highway redirected travelers away from Green Valley, local visionaries imagined a mountain destination built around water, recreation and a lasting sense of place.
Timber, trails and a toll road
Timber claims shaped the valley’s earliest recorded era. A horse trail toward Big Bear became a toll wagon road, and the area took the name Green Valley.
The logging railroad
Brookings Lumber & Box Company built a railroad between Heaps Peak and Green Valley to move timber. By 1912, much of the area had been logged, while the Tillitt homestead remained among the trees.
A road changes the valley
The Deep Creek Cutoff—now part of Highway 18’s Arctic Circle—sent Big Bear traffic around Green Valley. Harry “Green Valley Mac” McMullen responded with an idea: build a dam and give the valley a lake.
Green Valley Lake is born
The dam was completed, creating an approximately nine-acre lake for water and recreation. Lots began to sell and the community became Green Valley Lake. During this founding era, the cabin at 33846 Green Valley Lake Road served as a hostel for logging workers helping build the community.
A resort takes shape
The lake was stocked with trout for members of the Top of the World Club. After difficult Depression-era years, land promotion resumed, and Southern California Edison brought electricity to the valley in 1934.
A landmark is lost
The original Top of the World Clubhouse burned. Its former site later became home to the Green Valley Mutual Water Company, which continues to operate the lake.
The Slide Fire
The Slide Fire damaged part of Green Valley Lake, including homes and local businesses. The mountain community rebuilt while preserving its close-knit identity.
One hundred years
Green Valley Lake marked the centennial of the dam, lake and community name—a celebration of a small mountain town that adapted, endured and remained distinct.
This first collection brings together scenes from Green Valley Lake and neighboring San Bernardino Mountain communities. Together they document the region’s transition from timber, mining and wagon roads to lakeside recreation, village life and year-round mountain homes.
ConfirmedProbableUnidentified
Timber eraLogging crews and early automobiles in the San Bernardino MountainsEarly settlementA cabin among the pinesWorking mountainSteam-era logging operations1896Gold mining in Holcomb Valley1906Silver mining in Holcomb ValleyVillage lifeAn early view toward the waterGreen Valley LakeThe village marketAt the lakeEarly days along the shoreRecreationSailing on a mountain lakeMountain hospitalityThe Red Pine clubhouse1920s · Big BearVillage Drive1930s · Big BearA growing mountain village1920s · Big BearArrival by automobileBuilding the regionMountain dam construction1946 · Snow ValleyThe mile-long chair liftHorse countryWagons outside a mountain cabinMountain stablesEquestrian life in the high countryCommunityA village paradeResort eraSummer at the mountain poolFire serviceAn early mountain fire engineConfirmed · Green ValleyThe Green Valley Snow BowlConfirmed · Green Valley LakeThe public campConfirmed · Green Valley LakeA scenic drive through the pinesConfirmed · Green Valley LakeA summer day at the beachConfirmed · Green Valley LakeA year-round playgroundConfirmed · Green Valley LakeThe beach and shorelineConfirmed · Big Bear LakeFrom the Cliff Lynn chairliftProbable · Regional ski historyAn early mountain liftProbable · Regional ski historySkiing among the pinesProbable · Regional ski historyA lodge in winterProbable · San Bernardino MountainsEarly roads across the mountain slopesProbable · Regional historyHorse-drawn travel in an early settlementConfirmed · Big Bear LakeAn early San Bernardino Mountains postcardConfirmed · Circa 1950Fishing from atop the old rock damConfirmed · Big Bear ValleyBartlett’s CampProbable · Regional villageA commercial street in the motor-car eraProbable · Regional lodgeGathering around a monumental stone hearthConfirmed · October 2, 1940Lake Arrowhead Hatchery · Photograph by Leo SheppelerConfirmed · Green Valley LakeThe village beneath the pines
People of the mountains
Named when the record allows.
Portraits are identified only from original captions or supporting historical records. An unknown name is preserved as unknown rather than guessed from appearance.
ConfirmedBenjamin Davis Wilson and Margaret Hereford WilsonCirca 1852 · Identified by the original printed captionUnidentifiedMountain pioneerName and location not established in the supplied recordUnidentifiedMountain-area residentName and location not established in the supplied recordConfirmedLes SalmMill Creek Ranger Station, 1929 · Builder of Green Valley Lake’s 1937 rope towConfirmedLarry FergusonCo-founder of the Green Valley Lake Snow Bowl with Joe Fox and Ernest C. “Doc” VawterConfirmedBen Pitts and his wifeKeepers of the Green Valley tollhouse · Circa 1900UnidentifiedMountain settlersNames and location not established in the supplied record
Complete contributed collection
Every unique photograph, kept together.
The featured selections above tell the story at a glance. These expandable albums preserve every other unique image supplied for the home and its mountain archive. Exact duplicate files are shown only once.
