A visit to the Thunderbird Lodge has always been on our some day list. David and Karen were interested since their visit two years ago, so it was added to the itinerary.
While we were shuttled to the estate ragtime jazz and a thorough history lesson played on the speakers, providing us with the background needed to understand what we were about to experience. The Thunderbird Lodge is the 1936 project of George Whittell, Jr., an inheritor of his family's vast fortunes, who prided himself on "Never working a day in his life."
Over time, as Whittell grew older, his interest in animals, nature and privacy sparked his need to acquire more shoreline. At one point he owned 27 miles. Perhaps unintentionally, Captain Whittell left a legacy of pristine Lake Tahoe shoreline along with many memorable stories surrounding his colorful time in Nevada.
The Thunderbird Lodge is one of the last and best examples of a great residential estate on Lake Tahoe from the period in which prominent San Francisco society built homes on the lake. The tour showed the quirkiness of Whittell, including the 600 feet of tunnel which allowed him to move about in secrecy.
It included an indoor swimming pool which was never completed due to a worker falling to his death from the scaffolding.
Opium was big in San Francisco, by the time the Lodge was built. A majority of the city's wealthy opium smokers shunned public opium dens in favor of smoking in the privacy of their own homes, hence this den, hidden in the tunnel corridor.
Whittell entertained only a few people at the Lodge, including his neighbors Ty Cobb and Howard Hughes for the occasional all night card games.
Housed in the boathouse is America’s most recognizable—and possibly most valuable—wooden speedboat, the venerable Thunderbird yacht. Since America’s Great Depression, the Thunderbird has transported guests in opulent luxury between high-mountain estates and luxury resorts.
The Thunderbird Lodge is an example of an approach to architectural design that is intended to be in harmony with its setting. It represents a high level of expertise in building crafts, stone masonry, iron work and wood work. Examples of this craftsmanship are evident in the buildings, tunnel, walls, steps and fountains. The Lodge is also an example of the work of Frederic J. DeLongchamps, who served as Nevada's State Architect and was Nevada's most prominent architect of his era. This visit was a wonderful way for us to learn even more about those who came before us. George Whittell is legendary in these parts and now we realize why.
We paused briefly for refreshments at the Lone Eagle Grille, at the Hyatt Regency.
We toured the Hard Rock.
Four friends then gathered on our front porch for wine and a recap of the last three days. Tomorrow, David and Karen move on, but not without making some pretty fun Tahoe memories. Buon viaggio amici.
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