Deadline looms to save historic Tahoe ‘Castle’
INCLINE VILLAGE -- The Thunderbird Lodge Preservation Society is facing a June 1 deadline to raise $5 million in order to help keep the historic Lake Tahoe property open.
Pulte Homes based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has agreed to forgive a nearly $10 million note and convey its interest in the property to the nonprofit preservation society on the condition that the deadline is met.
The $5 million would go toward an endowment fund designed to produce as much as $300,000 a year in interest to maintain the east shore lodge.
"It's a short deadline, but I'm confident we'll make it," said Bill Watson, manager and curator of the preservation society. "Pulte wanted us to have a sense of urgency with this money. Forgiving the debt is a great gift from Pulte and now we have to raise this money."
The Thunderbird Lodge was flamboyant real estate magnate George Whittell's summer estate until he died in 1969 at age 87. The structure is more than 70 years old.
In a complicated 1999 land deal, Del Webb Corp. traded 145 acres surrounding the "Castle," as it also was known, to the federal government for prime development land around Las Vegas.
The University of Nevada, Reno briefly assumed control of the property and the $10 million note payable to Del Webb.
After the university withdrew in 2002, the fledgling preservation society was charged with preserving the lodge and left to pay the debt. Pulte Homes acquired Del Webb in 2001.
Watson said the preservation society is seeking 50 donors who will each chip in $100,000 to the endowment fund. Under terms of the Pulte gift, no money will be paid to the company.
The preservation society has received 14 firm commitments to date for contributions of $100,000 or more, he said.
Located five miles south of Incline Village, the lodge has been hailed as one of Lake Tahoe's top tourist attractions.
From its perch on a forested, rocky promontory, it offers a spectacular panorama of the lake famous for its clear blue waters.
The structure is considered a link to a bygone era when prominent San Francisco Bay area families spent summers at opulent Tahoe estates.
