Green Hill Farm

These stone walls and steps, as well as the old tennis courts, are all that remain of Green Hill Farm, the seasonal home of Elizabeth and Allan Shelden II. The Sheldens purchased the farmhouse in 1926. They hired James and Mary Wilcox, a pair of Scottish immigrants, as caretakers. By 1958 the Sheldens had expanded the estate to 846 acres. At the farm, they enjoyed hunting, horseback riding, and other outdoor activities. Allan died of pneumonia in 1935, leaving the estate to Elizabeth. The Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority (HCMA) negotiated with Elizabeth in 1958 to add Green Hill Farm to the new Stony Creek Metropoark. Elizabeth donated 178 acres to the authority and sold it an additional 222 acres. The remaining 444 acres were turned over to HCMA in 1981 after James´s death. HCMA demolished the structures on the farm due to their remote locations.

[Back]: In 1915 Elizabeth Warren (1894-1982) married Allan Shelden II (1890-1935). A first lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War I, Allan later worked in the banking and real estate. He was a director of the National Bank of Commerce of Detroit and the vice-president of the family´s Shelden Sons Real Estate Company and Shelden Sons Sales Company. Elizabeth, a collector and patron of fine arts, was a board member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Her frequent patronage to the DIA included a large donation in 1978 for the creation of the Elizabeth and Allan Shelden Outdoor Sculpture Garden. The philanthropic legacy of the Sheldens continued after their deaths with the Elizabeth, Allan, and Warren Shelden Fund.