The Storment family purchased this land in the 1950s. David Storment inherited the property when his father passed away in 1980. For much of his adult life, David lived in a house trailer just north of the current preserve and built a rustic cabin around 1975 for use as a weekend getaway, the remains of which are its foundation and concrete slab. According to his son, James Storment, David was a solitary man who preferred the peace of the woods. He had a passion for these woods and was particularly fond of its resident amphibians and reptiles, and he wanted the woods to be protected in their natural state long after he was gone. In Illinois, such high-quality rare habitats are eligible for permanent legal protection as a registered Illinois Nature Preserve. In 2002, Storment-Hauss Nature Preserve was formally dedicated and named in honor of David's father, Storment, and mother, Hauss. David passed away in 2019, and Clifftop acquired the nature preserve in October 2020 from his estate. David also loved dogs, especially his purebred German Shepherds Leo, Duke, and Jake, which are buried in the preserve.