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Back then, Shaikh banked on the promises of developer Art Nobile, who in 1976 promoted the development that spans Hempfield and Unity townships as 'Utopia in western Pennsylvania.'
Westmoreland County's premier address for the well-to-do would offer privacy, security and luxury, promised Nobile, whose name is synonymous with the development featuring spacious homes in a rustic setting.
Instead, some Lago residents claim they've received very little for more than $1 million in maintenance fees paid to Nobile since 1977.
For the past 18 years, Nobile and several dozen unhappy homeowners have been embroiled in a legal battle for control of the development, which encompasses eight subdivisions, a public golf course and a lake.
They want him out. They want him to account for the money. And they want control.
'If I knew then the way it's managed, I wouldn't have moved here,' said Shaikh, a cardiovascular surgeon.
Nobile, self-described as a 'laborer and developer' who 'started out with nothing,' won't talk about the ongoing dispute. He said attorneys have been 'working out a settlement' to resolve overlapping issues in the cases.
Attorneys Stanley Parker of Pittsburgh and David Robinson of Greensburg, counsel for the homeowners, also declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Hempfield Township Planning Commission records list Lago de Vita as a Planned Residential Development, a customized community that allows a mixture of single-family homes, condominiums and apartments within a single zoning area.
The first homes were built in a subdivision also known as Lago de Vita. The development grew to include eight other subdivisions: Casa Vita, Alta Vista, La Costa, Villa Nobile, Lake Ridge, Vista Morada, La Cove and La Pointe. Residents of the subdivisions are represented by homeowners' associations.
The legal battle is complex.
Over the years, more than two dozen lawsuits, countersuits, zoning complaints and appeals have been filed between the developer and various residents. Some have been resolved; several are pending.
Judge Daniel Ackerman is scheduled to hear arguments in May in a case filed by Nobile against nine homeowners over the issues of road maintenance fees and access to the golf course.
In September, Judge Gary Caruso is scheduled to hear arguments in a lawsuit filed by the Casa Vita Homeowners Association against Nobile, the president, and his wife, Lucille, the secretary-treasurer of Lago de Vita Inc. Also named as defendants are Nobile's partners in the golf course, Robert and Eleanor Vrable of New Alexandria and Joseph and Rosella Iezzi of Hempfield Township.
The plaintiffs are seeking an accounting of $840,000 from $1 million in road maintenance fees paid by residents over the years, and a ruling as to whether the roads are private or public.
Another case, in which Nobile sued the Lago de Vita Homeowners Association for interfering in his business and refusing to pay maintenance fees, is pending.
Attorney Pat Mahady, who represents the Vrables, said his clients were named as defendants in the Casa Vita lawsuit simply because they invested in the golf course in 1996 so construction on the nine-hole course could be finished.
'He's shaken and disturbed by the fact that he's been brought into these suits because of his business relationship with the golf course, which is totally benign,' Mahady said. 'He's just a partner and an investor.'
Mahady believes the case isn't about the operation of the golf course but the condition of the roads.
'It all has to do with the roads,' he said.
Iezzi did not respond to requests for comment.
Over the years, Nobile has won nearly every legal challenge, according to voluminous documents filed in the various lawsuits in Westmoreland County.
'We keep on winning,' said Thomas Godlewski, Nobile's attorney. He said that even though both sides are headed for court a settlement is possible.
'Everybody gets tired of a war,' he said.
The stakes are high.
If Nobile wins, he would retain control of Lago de Vita and receive more than $100,000 in escrowed maintenance fees. If he loses, control of the development could go to the approximately 250 homeowners who live there. Residents who sued Nobile contend that, under state land-use laws, Lago de Vita should have been turned over to an association within seven years after the first home was built.
A loss for Nobile also would raise the question of what would become of Lago Links.
Residents contend golfers trespass on private property and enter the course on roads maintained with their fees. The lawsuits allege that residents have been injured and homes damaged by wayward balls.
Shaikh said golf balls have broken tiles on his roof and shattered windows and a skylight.
'Golf balls are everywhere,' Shaikh said, adding that his wife suffered a bruised thigh when she was hit by a ball. 'You can sit outside, but you are taking a risk.'
When Nobile first promoted Lago de Vita in 1976, he indicated in a sales brochure that buyers would live in a gated community protected by around-the-clock security, with private roads and access to a private golf course, hiking, biking and riding trials, a swimming pool and a lake for boating and fishing.
In return, homeowners would pay an annual fee that is currently set at $338.
In their legal pleadings, some homeowners contend they're not getting what they're paying for - well-maintained roadways that would be off-limits to the public.
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Minutes of a 1976 meeting of the Hempfield Township supervisors indicate that Nobile stressed Lago de Vita would be a private enclave with a golf course for exclusive use by members.
Homeowners also point to Nobile's testimony in a May 13, 1976, public hearing before the township planning commission in which he outlined his plans for the course.
'So, it's going to be a private club?' asked a planning commission member.
'Private golf course,' Nobile said. 'No, it is not public. No, sireee.'
Robert Mentzer, a retired auto dealer, asked Ackerman in 1998 for an injunction to block Nobile from operating a public golf course. Ackerman refused to grant the injunction, and the case is being appealed to the Superior Court.
Meanwhile, Lago Links is open to the public, with greens fees set at $14 for nine holes and $24 for 18 holes of golf.
The plaintiffs in one lawsuit accuse Nobile of using the road maintenance fees as a 'profitmaking scheme' for his own benefit, 'intermingling personal and corporate affairs' and using $225,000 'for the payment of unpaid taxes.' The lawsuit notes that eight federal tax liens pending against Nobile in November 1991 had been paid by Jan. 20, 1992.
In 1998, Ackerman ruled in Nobile's favor that the residents owed the road maintenance fees. Homeowners appealed to the state Supreme Court, which refused to hear their appeal and sent the matter back to the county court. The plaintiffs' road fees are being held in escrow pending a ruling.
In court papers, Nobile said that the road system is 'and always has been open to the public.' He said when he raised the issue of creating a gated community with residents in 1997, they voted it down because of the expense.
Godlewski said the homeowners' interpretation of Nobile's promises is incorrect and that the court has ruled the course was set up in keeping with 'clear restrictions in the deeds.' He said the golf course was to be privately owned, not a private course.
'But they want the golf course to be for residents only,' Godlewski said.
Parker said homeowners want control over their development because they're the ones who have paid to maintain the housing plan. He said if roads are not maintained, property values could decrease.
Some homes in Lago de Vita cost as much as $1 million, according to a review of real estate transactions.
'When you see homes like that, you expect the roads to meet certain expectations,' Parker said. 'They want to have a say in what's done with their money.'
Homes in Lago de Vita are a variety of architectural styles and values - including vinyl-sided colonials, modern cedar-and-stone ranches and palatial brick and stucco estates.
Nobile purchased the land from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County at a public auction in 1976 for $1.5 million, records show.
He later sold off the Unity Township portion to developer Wendell Hager, who developed that section of Lago de Vita separately. The Unity Township portion is not involved in the current legal disputes.
Nobile doesn't live in Lago de Vita.
He lives in Farmington Place, a nearby Hempfield Township community that he developed. The sign at the entrance to his home - La Casa del Nobile - leaves no doubt who lives in the spacious Spanish-style dwelling with a tennis court and swimming pool.
Real estate signs indicate the expansive property is for sale.
The luxurious home is far from Nobile's humble roots, according to his son, Arty Nobile Jr., who now lives in Florida.
Nobile Sr. is a high school dropout who once painted bridges for a living. He later owned Harley-Davidson and Mercedes-Benz franchises, according to his son.
He began his career as a developer by building a home, borrowing money against it and building another, his son said. He also developed Starboard Villa, Nobile Vista and the site of the former Hills Department Store east of Greensburg, records show.
According to family history, the Lago de Vita development was named by Nobile's wife's grandfather, an Italian peasant who took one look at the body of water and said, 'Arthur, Lago de Vita,' which means 'Lake of Life.'
'I think Lago de Vita is Art Nobile,' said Arty Nobile Jr. 'This is a man who built it all himself. He'll never give up. It's his life.'
