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Lake Tahoe Real Estate - Ski Peaks And Valets

By J.D. O'Connor
January 22, 2007

Time to get to the retreat up at Tahoe, that special sanctuary where the demands of daily life dissipate into the lake's unrippled waters and quiet shore. Head for the cabin, well, maybe not a cabin actually, but it's really nice, surrounded by pine and greenery, kind of set back from the shoreline, let's say a three iron to the water.

The lawn's big enough to accommodate the DeHaviland Beaver PNH A-Star helicopter. The Kong-sized boathouse at the end of the long pier can handle the 37-foot Nautique with dual 950 Penta-Volva engines that create a wake as high as Red Mountain in Aspen.

The lake is far more than a beautiful place to experience restorative solitude or marvel at the kaleidoscopic displays of color; from summer azure to the slate gray and emerald green that often presage the early light of morning.

Tahoe is where the 25-meter lap pool and Thomson Electronics Proscan 61-inch rear projection TV with six-speaker stereo surround sound was installed above the wine cellar. It's views are best taken in after cracking open a bottle of 1982 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou to help ease the joints on the anti-gravity backstretch/ relaxation table with seven adjustable heat settings.

Funny, right? I'm just kidding about the $300,000 home automation stuff, $160,000 chandeliers and flat stone imported from China? I'm just being caustic, taunting over-the-top wealth and privilege at the lake.

Not really. I'm serious.

Consider Essam Khashoggi's family estate, the largest privately owned waterfront estate on Lake Tahoe. It is on the market for $40 million. Khashoggi, brother of Adnan, notorious arms dealer and Iran-Contra broker, told the Wall Street Journal that the family is selling because their children are grown.

The 20,000-square-foot wood and stone vacation home was built in 1989 on a very secluded South Lake Tahoe site. It has 1,300 feet of shoreline, pier facilities and a private sandy beach. The home, designed by Salt Lake City architect Ashley Carpenter, features a four-room master suite, indoor spa with waterfall, tennis court, indoor and outdoor pools, a wine cellar with a dining room, and gated entry.

"Essam had us travel to Mexico to buy a vintage Chris Craft runabout," says a local contractor who asks to remain anonymous. "It wasn't for fun on the lake. We cut it in half, brought it into the house and made a party bar out of it. In fact, we spent time buying two boats. We found this immaculate 1947 Chris Craft, but after the owner found out what we were going to do to it he called off the deal so we had to go find another."

What a pity the kids went off to college. Essam had a two story pirate ship built for toddlers in their bedroom where they could slide down from the Crow's Nest into bed.

Lakefront homeowners at Tahoe could fill a Fortune 500 list. They are past or present executives of Microsoft, Dryer's ice cream, Coleman camping, Proctor and Gamble, Hewlett-Packard, and newspaper chains, or pro athletes, musicians and Hollywood notables. What they want they usually get, even if it costs a king's ransom. And there's no limit to some of their wants.

"Lake Tahoe's a finite commodity. The price is so high for the property that it forces an owner to build a home comparable," explains Rich Loverde of Loverde Builders Inc. Loverde, a Tahoe architect and contractor since 1970, was awarded by CATT (Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe) for the Residential Project of the Year in 2005 for the 27,000 square-foot Pennington Residence. In 2006, CATT once again honored Loverde Builders with the "Builder of the Year" award.

"Building these types of homes are a lifestyle decision for the customer. Some have families, some are single. Tastes vary and most are expensive. It's not unusual to install an elevator, lap pool, extraordinary water feature, even safe room and stand-up vault on a project," Loverde says.

Lake Tahoe's always been a great getaway. Washoe Native Americans once made camp on the shores of the lake, living in cedar-bark tepees and catching fish and gathering berries. After Fremont came along it didn't take long for home decor to progress. Fortune seekers, trumpeting Tahoe¹s splendors, built hotels and resorts offering high end accommodations around the lake. By the turn of the century some of their affluent guests were constructing their own swank homes.

Between 1890 and 1930, hundreds of elaborate homes sprang up at Lake Tahoe. San Francisco banker Isias Hellman built Pine Lodge on a rise of what is now Sugar Pine Point State Park in 1903. Up to 25 servants attended guests who played all day outdoors, but attended dinner in formal attire. Other mega-mansions followed such as the Valhalla, Pope and Baldwin estates at Camp Richardson, Vikingsholm at Emerald Bay (complete with stone castle on Fannette Island), and Henry Kaiser's estate, Fleur du Lac, so grand and cool that Coppola filmed the Godfather II on its grounds.

In 1938, George Whittell, scion of a pioneer San Francisco family who'd inherited a fortune amassed by his father from banking, railroading and real estate, built Thunderbird Lodge. Situated just south of Sand Harbor on Lake Tahoe's East Shore, the landmark stone edifice was designed by F.J. DeLongchamps. The 16,500 square-foot main house featured an 800-foot tunnel carved by Cornish hard rock miners. The tunnel included secret passageways to the club and boathouse as well as a steel barred cage for George's pet lion.

Needless to say, today's architects have a lot to live up to next to Gatsby-like digs like Thunderbird Lodge. It's only fitting that Whittell's Estate remains the single most expensive dwelling ever to be purchased at Lake Tahoe.

"The Thunderbird Lodge estate sold for $50 million," says Trinkie Watson, a Tahoe realtor familiar with the historic property. "However, now there is even another listing at Lake Tahoe for $100 million in Zephyr Cove. It sits on 210 acres and is the third most expensive piece of residential property for sale in the country."

Trinkie sold her first lakefront in 1978. Now owner of two Chase International real estate offices in Truckee and Tahoe City, her company is the leader in luxury real estate, focusing on selling exceptional properties. Last year, Chase International captured 60 precent of all Basin sales over $10 million. Trinkie topped out as the biggest agent in the Reno/Tahoe region with sales of $58 million.

"The high end real estate market at Lake Tahoe is a reflection of the turnaround money made in Silicon Valley and the stock market. A lot of young people were proud of their success and what they accomplished. These people wanted all the amenities of their primary urban residence in their country home," explains Trinkie." As it turns out their Tahoe homes became more and more elaborate."

According to Trinkie, although the real estate craze that enveloped Lake Tahoe for much the last half decade appears to have peaked, high-priced homes are selling well. A 5,358-square foot lakefront home on Lakeshore Drive sells for $10.5 million. For another $8.5 million, the lot next door with 100 feet of lakefront and buildable space - can be purchased for $8.5 million.

"If you buy the property for that much, just what do you think the owner is going to build on it and for how much?" asks Trinkie.

Off hand, one could expect a home theater complete with candy and popcorn bar, full a/ v and comfy leather seating, hydronic heat, AC and humidification, exercise room, indoor rifle range, full-court basketball court, epoxy garage floors, wine cellar, helicopter pad, spa's (indoor and outdoor), lap pool, security system, fountains, waterfalls, eco-systems, lap pool and, of course, the biggest trend going, home automation, all of these things which have been installed in homes around the lake.

"Steve Wynn can control with home automation his home at Tahoe from his penthouse in Las Vegas," adds Trinkie.

Maybe not for long. His 20,000-square foot residence on Lakeshore Drive is up for sale. At 20,000 square feet, it's by far not the biggest residence up for grabs ­ South Lake's 52,000 square foot Tranquility Estate can be bought for a few clams, but it's bigger than his buddy Mike Milken's Incline place next door.

It was junk bond dealer Milken who bought and then tore down the old Auchenslauss house owned by the Kennedy family (and supposedly site of JFK and Marilyn's trysts).

"We potted six 100-foot high trees on his property and moved them so they wouldn't be cut down. We rented a gigantic crane, one of only three on the West Coast, to move them to another piece of the property," says a contractor who worked on the project and who remains anonymous. "I guess he's quite the environmentalist, especially when it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Flying over Lake Tahoe the brilliant water reflects the deep color of the sky, slicing into the gray of surrounding peaks. The lake's stark beauty reminds one of the reason people continue to reverently visit, build their homes and settle around this body of deep water. Only in what direction are they really heading as Tahoe becomes as extreme in wealth and lifestyle as the precipitous cliffs surrounding the Tahoe Basin?

"I think that we're starting to see an opposite turn, an almost retro era in building," says Bruce Olson of Bruce Olson Construction. Olson¹s company, which also builds homes in Pebble Beach and Hawaii, constructs primarily only lakefront dwellings at Tahoe.

"Instead of opulence, I think owners are wanting to build more sophisticated home using native materials. The newer designs tend not to be as lavish as you might think. More and more clients are subscribing to the native and natural surroundings of their property. They want precision and beauty. Who wants money spent on sterile environments anyway?"

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