About

Woodland Lake, Inc. is a unique community formed as a private, land-owning cooperative in Mendham Township, New Jersey.  Our community spans 28 acres and comprises 36 individual homes. There is a heated swimming pool, playgrounds, fields, a lake, and miles of nature trails that connect directly to our property.

What does Woodland Lake offer?

While most co-ops are large structures resembling apartment buildings or townhouse complexes, Woodland Lake offers distinct single-family homes enclosed by acres of lawns and wooded glens- giving our community a true neighborhood feel. Our land is adjacent to Dismal Harmony Natural Area, a 146-acre preserve in the Brookside area of Mendham Township. This preserve, in turn, abuts and connects with the Morris County Patriot’s Path parkland system. For the nature-lover or avid hiker, there are plenty of walking trails a moment away.

The property features a fenced-in heated swimming pool measuring 60’ x 30’ that was renovated during the summer of 2011, children’s playgrounds, and fields for soccer or ball games.  The Community Clubhouse serves for monthly official meetings and social gatherings.  Levitan Lake, on the corner of the property, is a man-made lake that is no longer available for swimming but is a wonderful area with its own duck residents.

How did Woodland Lake begin?

In the 1930s and 1940s, northwest New Jersey became populated with resort hotels and summer bungalow communities for New Yorkers seeking relief from summer heat. In 1969, a group of 36 families decided to purchase the summer bungalows they had been renting. This group formed a cooperative and founded today’s Woodland Lake, Inc. Renovations followed as these summer bungalows were expanded and winterized. In some cases, the original bungalows have been replaced by new houses. Today, all of the homes are available as full-time residences with most residents living in the community year-round.

How is Woodland Lake governed?

Woodland Lake is self-governing, with a Board of Directors elected from and by our pool of shareholders and various volunteer committees. Each “cooperator” possesses a long-term proprietary lease for the use of their house. In practice, this functions similar to a condominium, but with single-family homes that each individual family enjoys.  Through the contribution of each home’s monthly association fee, services such as snow plowing, pool maintenance, and landscape/tree maintenance (in addition to other services/benefits) are provided through the cooperative. There is also a resident care-taker that is responsible for some of the maintenance work throughout the community.

Taxes are paid to Mendham Township and our children attend Mendham Township public schools.