John A. Boll, Sr.
Retired CEO & Chairman of the Board
Chateau Communities, Inc.
Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan
After serving as a corporal in the United States Army, 23 year-old John Boll saw opportunity in
development, so he founded Lakeview Construction Company, an underground contracting firm in
1957.
The young entrepreneur soon recognized the demand for affordable housing, so further capitalized
on the necessity by founding Chateau Estates, a developer of manufactured home communities in
1964. This foresight and initiative produced over 20,000 homes for families throughout Michigan and
Florida, and in 1993 presented the opportunity for it to go public, carrying the new moniker of Chateau
Properties Incorporated, a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).
Thanks to a booming economy, the New York Stock Exchange listed corporation continued to enjoy
enormous growth and in 1997 merged with ROC Communities to become Chateau Communities,
Incorporated, the largest developer of manufactured home communities in the United States.
The multi-billion dollar conglomerate had a portfolio which consisted of 240 communities in 36 states
with an aggregate of 100,000 residential home sites, and in 2003, was sold to the State of
Washington Pension Fund under the name Hometown America Communities, which currently
operates its portfolio.
Active in a number of civic boards, Mr. Boll has served the Young Men’s Christian Association
(YMCA) for many years and been chairman for four years. Along with his wife Marlene, he
established the Boll Family YMCA and is currently active in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and
Michigan Cancer Foundation.
Mr. Boll has received numerous awards including YMCA’s Man of the Year (1968), Lakeview High
School’s Citizen of the Year (1968), Who’s Who listing (1974-75), and National Manufactured
Housing Institute Hall of Fame recognition in 1992, and was honored as Citizen of the Year for
Vail/Beaver Creek, Colorado in 1996. This honor was presented to Mr. Boll by former President
Gerald R. Ford. In 2004, John and Marlene Boll received the Max M. Fisher Award for Outstanding
Philanthropists from the Greater Detroit Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and
in 2006 they received the William Booth Award, one of the highest awards bestowed upon an
individual by The Salvation Army.
He and his wife Marlene recently celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary with their three children
and eight grandchildren. They currently spend time between their residences in Key Largo, Florida;
Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan and Beaver Creek, Colorado.