Journal 34: Four Faces of Pinehaven

Just as Mount Rushmore’s four presidents represent foundational eras and ideals in American history, Pinehaven has been shaped and sustained by four remarkable individuals. Each one has left their own enduring imprint on its story.  Let's take a look at who they are and why they matter. 

Like the granite faces carved into Rushmore in the Black Hills, Pinehaven has been build upon the contribution of four men. Standing side by side, they  the complete history of how this community came to be. Without any one of them, Pinehaven’s story would be incomplete and the community we know today would look very different.

John L. Powell – The Founder

Like George Washington, John L. Powell embodies Pinehaven’s founding spirit. A Union Civil War veteran, Powell claimed the land under the Homestead Act of 1862 in 1905, meeting the challenge of carving out a life on rugged, forested terrain north of Cuchara. He built a home, cultivated the land, and fulfilled the legal requirements to secure the deed, ensuring the property would remain in his family for decades. Though he never developed the land beyond light logging, his act of securing and protecting it laid the groundwork for Pinehaven’s future. He transformed wilderness into a permanent homestead, making him the first chapter in the community’s story.(1)

John C. Vories – The Visionary

Like Thomas Jefferson, John C. Vories saw beyond the present into a bold and imaginative future. Purchasing the Powell property in 1943, Vories envisioned a “haven among the pines” where families could build cabins and escape to the cool mountain air. With limited funds but boundless determination, he plotted Pinehaven Filing #1, creating 11 cabin lots along a steep dirt road and selling the early parcels that would form the nucleus of the community. His efforts, though modest in scale, transformed a solitary homestead into a budding resort development. When health challenges forced him to step away, Vories entrusted the land to his friend Steve Pierotti, ensuring his vision would live on.(2)

Steve Pierotti – The Builder

Like Theodore Roosevelt, Steve Pierotti embodied energy, resilience, and grit. Taking over Pinehaven from Vories in the late 1940s, Pierotti invested decades into transforming it from a fledgling idea into a thriving mountain community. He located and piped a spring to early cabins, completed Filing #1, and launched Filing #2 with expanded roads, larger lots, and essential waterline installations. Acting as Pinehaven’s unofficial “mayor,” Pierotti maintained roads, advocated for utility upgrades, and fostered a strong neighborly spirit. By the end of the 1970s, his work had propelled Pinehaven into a well-established alpine retreat whose rustic charm and livability still bear his mark.(3)

Bob Pierotti – The Statesman

Like Abraham Lincoln, Bob Pierotti has brought unity, integrity, and steady leadership to Pinehaven’s modern era. Picking up where his father left off, Bob oversaw thoughtful planning for new development, strengthened infrastructure, and played a pivotal role in integrating Pinehaven into the Cucharas Sanitation and Water District. As a founding CSWD board member, he helped secure clean water and reliable sewer systems, culminating in major upgrades between 2007 and 2008 that improved quality of life and environmental sustainability. Bob also helped establish the homeowners’ association, transferred key properties for community benefit, and built the Pierotti Pavilion as a gathering place for residents. His decades of quiet, strategic leadership have ensured Pinehaven’s continued growth while preserving the sense of unity that defines it.(4)

Carving the Next Chapter

Together, these four figures, —Powell the Founder, Vories the Visionary, Steve Pierotti the Builder, and Bob Pierotti the Statesman—form the bedrock of Pinehaven’s past and present. Their combined efforts turned a rugged wilderness mountainside into a welcoming community, laying foundations that have endured for more than a century. But the story of Pinehaven is still being written. Each cabin owner, whether by maintaining a cabin, lending a hand to a neighbor, volunteering on Fire Wise workdays, or preserving the natural beauty of our surroundings, has the opportunity to carve their own place in its history. The next chapter belongs to all of us. So, let’s honor their legacy by making our own positive and lasting contributions to Pinehaven’s future.(5)

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Footnote

 

Parenthetical numbers in the text (e.g., 5) correspond to the sequentially numbered citations listed below.

1. Gene & Rhonda Roncone, “Journal 4: From Battlefield to Backwoods: Homesteader John L. Powell,” Cabin in the Pines (blog), February 1, 2025, https://cabininthepinescuchara.blogspot.com/2025/06/part-4-homesteaders-dream-john-l-powell.html.

2. Gene & Rhonda Roncone, “Journal 5: John Vories and the Beginnings of Pinehaven,” Cabin in the Pines (blog), January 1, 2025, https://cabininthepinescuchara.blogspot.com/2025/06/part-5-john-vories-and-beginnings-of.html.

3. Gene & Rhonda Roncone, “Journal 6: Steve Pierotti: A Pioneer of Pinehaven,” Cabin in the Pines (blog), December 1, 2024, https://cabininthepinescuchara.blogspot.com/2025/06/part-6-steve-pierotti-pioneer-of.html.

4. Gene & Rhonda Roncone, “Journal 29: Tribute to Bob Pierotti, Patriarch of Pinehaven,” Cabin in the Pines (blog), July 1, 2023, https://cabininthepinescuchara.blogspot.com/2023/07/journal-23-tribute-to-bob-pierotti.html.

5. Author’s note: In preparing this article, the author used AI-assisted tools for research support, proofreading, fact-checking, and stylistic refinement. The narrative, analysis, and historical interpretations are the author’s own, and responsibility for accuracy rests solely with the author. The blog’s research methodology statement is available at:

https://cabininthepinescuchara.blogspot.com/2019/03/methodology-sources-and-use-of-research.html