Incline Village, Nevada, on the northeast shore of Lake Tahoe, was originally the summer home of the Washoe and Paiute tribes living in the valleys east of the Tahoe Basin. To them Lake Tahoe was Sacred. To all who have seen it, it still is…
Around 1878, with the Tahoe Basin so close to the mines of Virginia City and the Washoe Valley, Tahoe timber was heavily cut and then transported to the eastern mountain rim by a narrow-gage tram carrying the logs to a V-flume (scars of which remain today). The staging area for these shipments was called “Incline”. Photographs of the ensuing years show a denuded lake basin that took years to return to health.
During the late 1920s and 1930s, Tahoe’s north shore proliferated with grand summer homes and several magnificent hotels. No longer viable for timber harvest, 44,000 acres between Zephyr Cove in the south and Crystal Bay on the north shore sold to George Whittell, who proceeded to build his granite and wood home – known as the Thunderbird Lodge – on the eastern shore of the lake, along with a boat for his remarkable yacht, the Thunderbird, still the gem of Tahoe.
In the late 1950s, Crystal Bay Development Company offered to purchase 9000 acres from Whittell, who agreed, and Incline Village, a fully planned community, was born. In the 1960s roads and beaches were developed, a ski area laid out and a Robert Trent Jones golf course designed.
Homes were constructed along Lakeshore Boulevard which, at the time, was the main thoroughfare, and then on lands to the north of Lakeshore, in the central part of the Village. The first shopping center was developed, and a post office was built – still in use today.
In 1968, Boise Cascade Corporation purchased the remaining interest from Crystal Bay Development and additional new homes were built throughout the core of town.
At this point a nine hole golf course was added near where Highway 431 runs today.
Incline Village has many special advantages for those who are fortunate enough to live here – a population gathered from every income and cultural stratum imaginable. Diamond Peak and Mount Rose ski areas are right at hand along with several world-class ski resorts scattered around the Basin – Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Northstar, Heavenly Valley and Homewood Ski Area. The Incline Championship and Mountain golf courses are both challenging and stunningly beautiful. Our two semi-private beaches are immaculate, gated and available only to owners and guests, and the recreation center, covering around ¾ acre holds a heated, Olympic-sized swimming pool, a complete fitness gym and a full-sized basketball court. Hiking and biking trails abound. And to polish the jewel, we have Nevada’s only private liberal arts school, Sierra Nevada College, right in town.
We’re a three and a half hour drive from San Francisco and 30 minutes to the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
With some of the finest homes in the world, the tax advantages of Nevada and a wonderful mountain culture, we take pride in Incline Village, and you can get there from here!
I look forward to meeting you!
Kurt
- Dora and Nader Mossanen
