Peninsula In Passage

Life in Wonderland Halfway between downtown Suffolk and Chesapeake Square Mall, Wonderland Forest is on the northern edge of the Dismal Swamp. Tall pines, gravel roads, and deep ditches – as well as an abundance of wildlife - give the small subdivision a unique, woodsy ambiance that breathes privacy with a touch of mystery.The mystique heightens with street names – Robin Hood, Little John, Buckingham, and Sherwood – straight from the classic forest adventures of Robin Hood. John Maupin, president of the local civic league, loves the ambiance. Huckleberry, the Maupin horse, grazes near his house. Pileated

Woodpeckers gather in his yard, a certified wildlife refuge and one of about 70 lots in the secluded neighborhood. Maupin grew up in Portsmouth and worked at the GE plant in North Suffolk for 14 years. He started on the assembly line and worked up to engineering systems before the plant closed. He discovered Wonderland Forest and bought a house there 25 years ago, a few weeks before his daughter, Christina, was born. “It was real quiet out here – so quiet we got scared a couple nights with sound traveling,” he remembers. “Some of the properties have been inherited but most of the people have lived here for a while – good people, most own, some rent. Neighbors help each other.” “We didn’t know a soul out here but the day after we moved in a lady comes out of the woods bearing soup and another lady comes by with her new-born. We had so much fun out here - used to have hayrides and haunted houses for the kids at Halloween. “ “It’s a different way of life out here. We have people from West Virginia, Arkansas and Oklahoma – it’s the people who make it special here,” Maupin adds. “Now new houses are going in and when the leaves come off the trees you lose your privacy.” “This is my home and I loved this place when I was growing up,” says his daughter, Christina Maupin. “It’s secluded and not a lot of bad influences but when I was in high school no one else from school lived out here so social interaction was tough.” She works as a job coach at her alma mater, Nansemond River High School, and still enjoys coming home to Wonderland Forest but “For me it’s time to branch out and find a chance of pace.” Peace and privacy came at a price. Back in the 1960s, according to John Maupin, real estate developers, Coleman and Lassiter, sold the lots in Wonderland Forest after the Nansemond county board of supervisors signed off on a zoning approval with the proviso that there would be no county services. “It’s called Wonderland Forest because when it rains you wonder where the land went,” Maupin jokes. “The only city service we get is garbage pickup,” he says. “We have five miles of private roads and ditches to maintain.” Maupin, now retired, volunteers to maintain the roads and pushes the city for help with storm water management for the neighborhood – then kicks back to enjoy the symphony of birds in his backyard. John and Christina Maupin and Huckleberry

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