Home Acres History

Home Acres Sky Ranch is a residential airpark with two grass runways that had its beginning in 1947. Three years prior, George and Lois Haveman purchased the Jess Huling farm of 120 acres at the southeast corner of Beeler Road and McGee Road, just two miles east of Lake City, Michigan. They tried dairy farming, but weren’t very happy with that, so they modified their farm to transition out of farming and into aviation. George is thought to be the first licensed pilot in Missaukee County. The ground was level with good approaches for landings and take-offs.

The first task in 1947 was creating runway 9/27 (east/west). Next was creating Erdman Road on the south side of their land and then Taxiways Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta between Erdman Road and the runway. This became Subdivision #1. Soon runway 18/36 (north/south) was established at 2550 feet long, about the same length as the first runway. When visiting friends at Pontiac airport, George told them about his new airport community, and he left with seven lots sold!

The airpark was officially recognized as Home Acres Sky Ranch in 1954. This was one of the first residential airparks in Michigan. In addition to selling lots for development, George built up an aviation business on site where he taught others to fly. He also flew freight and passengers in addition to continuing the airport and airpark development. In 1955, George bought a T-hangar and dismantled it to haul it up to the airport. Ultimately, he assembled four red hangar buildings for rental. Looking for ways to improve their income, the Havemans planted Christmas trees on 23 acres of open fields on their land from 1958-1960. When the tress matured, George sold the saleable ones and the the remainder grow. Many pines remaining in Subdivision #4 are offshoots of those.

Havemans established the Dawn Patrol Fly-in Breakfast in 1963 with the primary purpose of bringing pilots to Home Acres Sky Ranch in hopes of enticing them to buy a lot in his airpark. The Dawn Patrol became an annual event and expanded its purpose to provide a fly-in opportunity for pilots and a community event for locals. It was enjoyed for 57 years until the pandemic caused its cancellation beginning in 2020.

Havemans bought additional land on the east side of the airpark which allowed runway 9/27 to be extended to its current length of 3830 feet. Through the 1970s, additional lots were developed on the north side of runway 9/27 in three more phases known as Subdivision #2, #3, and #4. These lots are accessed from Taxiways Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, Ida, Juliet, and King that all break off from the north side of runway 9/27. There are now a total of 190 half-acres lots. Some people have a home and hangar on one lot while others have multiple lots and spread out their house and hangar(s).

Havemans sold the airport to Don Kohler, a lot owner at Homes Acres, in 1995. HALO members and Don Kohler built an FBO/Pilot Lounge on the airport property in 1998. This new building gave visiting pilots a place to gather, do flight planning, and use the restroom. HALO members use the FBO/Pilot Lounge for social gatherings and meetings.

Home Acres Sky Ranch was sold to another lot owner in 2015. Since then, it is owned by Clear Sky Enterprises LLC. The current owner/manager is Dave Grabowski. The FBO/Pilot Lounge was renovated and drywalled by Dave Grabowski. Grabowski also renovated Haveman’s original home on the corner of Beeler Road and McGee Road and painted the big airport hangar. These three building were sold to a private individual in 2021 and are no longer part of the airport property.