Our History

 

 

Mr. Impressive is the horse to thank for Lakepoint. That’s right … a horse. A well-known, world-champion (show and stud) quarter horse, Mr. Impressive roamed the very ground that is now called Lakepoint. He was housed in an enormous, elegant stable that was equipped with everything a horse could want, including a viewing area furnished like a living room and, for his owner, a lavish apartment with luxury appointments, such as gold faucets. Betty Rounds, the widow of Dwight Rounds -- president of Rounds and Porter Lumber -- owned Mr. Impressive.  She also owned the land bordered by Central and 13th and Webb Road and the Wichita Country Club.

 

When Mr. Impressive lived here, the south end of the property was heavily forested and the north end was a treeless open field. Almost everything changed. For that, we have Ritchie Development, Lakepoint’s developer, to thank.

 

 

 

 

The barn sat on the ground in Woodland Estates, in the third cul-de-sac on the left (around 915 Linden Court), until Ritchie Development donated it to Central Christian Church for their school gymnasium.

 

Only two original lakes remain in Lakepoint: one, an extended lake behind Autumn Chase (Upper and Lower Autumn Chase Lakes), and the other, in Cross Creek (Sunrise Lake). Honeysuckle Lake was a swamp, a natural location to dig a new lake, and Ritchie also excavated the remaining lakes -- Picnic Lake, Woodland Pond, Sunset Lake, Turtle Pond and Waterfall Lake.

 

The area’s only entrance was from Central. It led to a Bradford Pear tree-lined entrance to the Round’s property and to the Montessori School. These Bradford Pears were the inspiration behind the Bradfords flanking the entrance at 13th Street.

 

 

Going over old photos of Lakepoint’s progress, Jack Ritchie, CEO of Ritchie Development and Kevin Mullen, president, recalled some humorous experiences while Lakepoint was undergoing its transformation in the late 80s.

 

“At first, the area was a party place for the high schools,” Ritchie said, explaining that a lot of dead-end roads led to secluded areas during construction. When he got a call to break up a huge party, he and Mullen drove up in a CJ5 Jeep, a popular car with area teens. One of guys stumbled up and asked, “Are you guys seniors?”

 

“We were a lot more senior than they thought,” Jack said.

 

In another incident, Mullen bet a contractor that he could drive his Jeep across a drained lake bed. About 30 feet across, his Jeep became half-submerged in muck. He lost $100 and the cost of a tow.

 

And then there’s the brick wall, a distinctive Lakepoint feature along Central. After seeing the wall design in Atlanta, Ritchie and Mullen decided they didn’t want ordinary brick. They wanted street pavers, so they located 400,000 pavers in a big pile in Scott City. They paid their kids a penny per brick to clean and stack them on a pallet.

 

“Today, my kids say, ‘That was just cheap Dad … just cheap,’” Mullen said.

 

Tree-hugging came at a cost to Ritchie and Mullen. Fast talking, persistence and tying ribbons on trees helped prevent the city from cutting down numerous trees in the Central entrance. They saved the forest -- one tree at a time -- driving the path after each cut to make sure it worked. The price? Both got poison ivy. Really bad. Twice. Funny now, but not so funny then.

  

 

While Ritchie Development was negotiating with Rounds, they discovered that the Lakepoint property was already purchased by a Houston developer who wanted to turn the entire 200 acres into commercial development. After more negotiations, the Houston company kept the land for the Lakepoint office buildings on Central, and the Devlin Enterprises office building on 13th and Webb. Ritchie got the 180 acres for Lakepoint.

 

The north end of Lakepoint was originally platted for more homes than there are today and Country Walk Street would have exited on Webb Road. In a last minute bid, Collegiate bought the ground from Ritchie to give them room to build their high school. Ritchie revised the plat to the layout seen today.

 

The heart of Lakepoint – the lakes – was the most visionary part of the development. Until Lakepoint was built, any area developed around a lake in Wichita was designed with houses encircling the lakes. Using advice from a California consultant, Ritchie decided against backing houses up to the lakes and opened them up for all homeowners to enjoy. They installed a wide, lighted, walking/jogging path along the lakes … probably the most used sidewalk in Wichita. Combined with the close-to-town location and appeal to upscale buyers, Lakepoint was off to a running start.

 

 

The first of seven neighborhoods --Woodland Estates – was sold out in 24 hours. Sometimes three or four people were vying for some of the 54 lots. More subdivisions were rapidly developed, with an occasional lull, heading north to 13th street. They are Autumn Chase and Bradford Place -- both maintained patio home areas; Country Walk, Cross Creek; Gatewood; and Woodcrest Estates

 

A lady with a horse and two men with a vision helped create the history behind Lakepoint. Lakepoint's 343 homeowners give it life.