Two years before his retirement in 1926, Crouse, with the assistance of Emil Lorch, Dean of the College of Architecture at the University of Michigan, returned to the home of his boyhood days to erect three stately lodges on the shores of Brophy Lake (later renamed Lake Walden). The property was part of the Crouse family’s 1500 acre homestead obtained from the government in 1844.

Crouse then created the Cromaine Society which he described as “an honorary organization composed of leaders of every rank of the Crouse-Tremaine business interests.” He defined the objective of the Society thus: “to implant in the minds and hearts of every member a greater love of country, a bigger and broader outlook on life and the desire to play fairly in the games of business and living.”