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In the summer of 1962, Mark and Irene Ravitch first visited the Vineyard, renting the Burt Barnhouse on Look's Pond with their three teenaged children, Nancy, Michael and Binnie. They became hooked on the island atmosphere and determined to find their own special place there. Frustrated in their search for pond-side property, Mark and Mike finally climbed the fire tower and spotted Old House Pond. They learned that Fred Fisher, Jr., of Nip 'N' Tuck Farm, had some land for sale near the pond. Fred agreed to sell Mark a portion of the pond land, but as they walked the land together, the growth was so thick they could hardly make their way through it. In the end, Mike scaled a tree to confirm that the land was truly on the pond!

A glacially formed kettle pond, Old House Pond once provided ice for much of the island. Indeed, on older maps, it is identified as Ice House Pond. Nearly ten acres in size, it is located in a wooded setting in West Tisbury.

In 1964 when the Ravitches first built on the southeast shore of the water, they built a summer home for themselves and a smaller house, which they planned to use for rentals. At that time, the Ice House was the only other structure on the pond, so they called the main house "New House on Old House Pond." The rental property was named “The Dacha” (Russian for “cottage”.) Nancy married Ned Schwentker that June, and their honeymoon marked the first use of New House.

The plans provided for Mike to inherit New House eventually, for Nancy and Ned to design their own home, and for Binnie to take ownership of the Dacha. In 1968, Mike married Myrnice McCormick and they spent their December honeymoon in New House, their future Vineyard home, continuing a family tradition!

A few years later, the land on which the old Ice House stood went up for sale and Mark and Irene decided to add it to their original property. A road led from Upper Lambert's Cove Road to the Ice House at the southwest shore of the pond. The Ice House itself was removed when the land was purchased and all that remains of the Ice House now is a lovely naturalized meadow of grasses and wildflowers that grows where the foundation once was.

With the Dacha always rented and New House in use by Mark and Irene, their guests and other family, a new tradition was established: Ned and Nancy, and their children, Ann, Pam, and Mark; Mike and Myrn, along with their daughter, Lara; and various friends began camping in the woods on the bluff overlooking the ice house meadow.

In 1976 the “Studio House” was built for Nancy and Ned across the road from New House and the Dacha, and all three houses shared the dock and sunny beach at the pond's edge. While their children were small, the Schwentkers often rented their house out during the summer and continued to camp on the Ice House bluff.

Good friends of the family who had visited often expressed their wish to retire nearby. Mark and Irene agreed to sell them a portion of the land, on another hilltop across the meadow from the campsite bluff. Their lovely home was built in 1977 and they lived there year-round until 2001. Arriving then at the difficult decision to leave the Vineyard and relocate closer to their children and grandchildren, they offered to sell the house and land back to the Ravitch/Schwentker family, who accepted their offer, made some renovations, and christened their newest holding “Hilltop.”

Meanwhile, with Binnie, Nancy and Ned free to choose whether to rent or occupy their respective houses, and New House not yet available to Mike and Myrn for their exclusive use, Mark and Irene decided to build another rental house on the campsite, reserving it for Mike and his family to use during their visits. The newest addition was named “La Cachette” (French for "the hideaway"). It was finished in 1982, the summer Myrnice was pregnant with their second daughter, Katie. In order to provide easier pond access for La Cachette residents, a flight of stairs was later added where the old ice chute had been - from the meadow down to the pond.