Frank Sinatra’s famed Cal Neva Lodge & Casino, which has sat vacant since 2013, has been sold out of bankruptcy court to Oracle founder Larry Ellison for $35.8 million. The tech billionaire, estimated to be worth over $60 billion, was the sole bidder for the Lake Tahoe resort that straddles the Nevada and California border. Ellison hasn’t revealed his plans for the small casino and 10-story hotel tower that was once a playground for celebrities such as the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe, and Sinatra’s Rat Pack.
Frank Sinatra purchased the resort in 1960 and transformed it into a retreat for his Rat Pack and A-List Celebrity Friends. He kept the casino and hotel open year-round, and built the Celebrity room and theater where the famed singer often performed. Sinatra’s ownership went south when his mobster friends began hanging around. Sinatra used Cal Neva’s underground tunnels, which were built during prohibition to sneak alcohol into the resort, to move the mobsters around the property. Chicago mobster Sam Giancana was a frequent guest, and that attracted the attention of the FBI, which began monitoring who was visiting the casino. At the urging of the federal government, the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) revoked Sinatra’s casino license in 1963. That led to Sinatra selling the resort, and it would never return to similar prominence.
Last days: In this 1959 photo, MarilynMonroe and Sinatra chat with an unnamed man at the Cal Neva Lodge. Monroe would go on to spend her last weekend at Cal Neva before dying of an overdose in Los Angeles in 1962.
Frank Sinatra on the Telephone at the Cal-Neva Lodge.
Cal Neva swimming pool.
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. all performed at Cal-Neva during Sinatra’s tenure as owner. They also vacationed there and invited their celebrity friends such as Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, Will Rogers, Peter Lawford (brother in law of JFK) and more to join them. Sinatra’s Cal-Neva was booming after his remodel and parade of celebrities in the early 1960s. By 1963 the Cal-Neva had grown to include 11 cottages and 55 rooms. Sinatra’s only problem was his affinity for the unsavory characters of the 1960s mafia. Sam Gianaca was a friend of Sinatra’s and was discovered by authorities in the Cal-Neva in August 1963. At the time Sam was the top head mob boss of the Chicago mafia, Al Capone’s successor, was suspected to have ordered the murder of over 200 men, had been arrested over 70 times and was referred to as “The Godfather” of the American Mafia. Upon discovering Sam Gianaca in the Cal-Neva in 1963, the Nevada Gaming Control Board revoked Sinatra’s gaming license and began pressuring him into selling the casino. The pressure became so great that Sinatra gave in and agreed to sell the Cal-Neva on October 7th, 1963 effectively ending the golden age of North Lake Tahoe gambling and entertainment.
Mafia Boss Samuel Mooney Giancana
Samuel Mooney Giancana born Gilormo Giangana May 24, 1908 – June 19, 1975) was an American mobster who was the boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966. Giancana was born in Chicago to Italian immigrants parents. He joined the 42 Gang as a teenager, developing a reputation in organized crime who gained him the notice of Chicago Outfit leaders. During the late 1930s, Giancana joined the Chicago Outfit. From the 1940s through the 1950s, he controlled the illegal gambling, illegal liquor distribution, and political rackets in Louisiana. In the early 1940s, Giancana was involved in Chicago's African-American lottery payout system for the Outfit. In 1957, Giancana became the boss of the Chicago Outfit. According to some sources, Giancana and the Mafia were involved in John F. Kennedy's victory in the 1960 presidential election. During the 1960s, he was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in a plot to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Conspiracy theorists consider Giancana along with Mafia leaders Santo Trafficante Jr. and Carlos Marcello associated with the assassination of Kennedy. In 1965, Giancana was convicted of contempt of court, serving one year in prison. After his release from prison, Giancana fled to Cuernavaca, Mexico. In 1974, he was deported to the United States, returning to Chicago. Giancana was murdered on June 19, 1975, in Oak Park, Illinois.
Gambling is legal on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. Casinos, each with a variety of slot machines and table games, are located on the South Shore in Stateline, and on the North Shore in Crystal Bay and Incline Village. When Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, the first casino at the lake had already been open for years. First built on the North Shore in Crystal Bay by Robert Sherman in 1926, the Cal-Neva Lodge became the property of Norman Henry Biltz and was sold to Bill Graham and Jim McKay in 1929. The Cal-Neva was rebuilt after a fire in 1937 and expanded several times, most noticeably in 1969 when the high-rise hotel was built. Along the way, Frank Sinatra owned the property in the early 1960s, shared his cabins with the likes of Sam Giancana and Marilyn Monroe, and sold out at the height of the area's popularity.
Lake Tahoe, Nevada Postcard CRYSTAL BAY CLUB "Stage Lounge" Bar Casino c1960s
Hyatt Regency - Lake Tahoe
Hyattt Regency - Lake Tahoe
Hyatt Regency - Lake Tahoe
Hyatt Regency - Lake Tahoe
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino
Aerial View - Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino
Hard Rock Hotel - Lake Tahoe. Other casinos at the North Shore include the Crystal Bay Club, first built in 1937 as the Ta-Neva-Ho; the Tahoe Biltmore, and the Nugget. The Hyatt Regency is found at Incline Village. At South Shore, Bill Harrah purchased the Stateline Country Club, which had stood since 1931 and built Harrah's Tahoe. Other Casinos include Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Lake Tahoe, Harveys Lake Tahoe, Montbleu and the Lakeside Inn.
Montbleu - Lake Tahoe.
Lakeside Inn and Casino - Lake Tahoe.
The Ponderosa Ranch of the TV series Bonanza was formerly located on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. The opening sequence of the TV series was filmed at the McFaul Creek Meadow, with Mount Tallac in the background. In September 2004 the Ponderosa Ranch closed its doors, after being sold to developer David Duffield for an undisclosed price.
Ponderosa Ranch, Lake Tahoe, old postcards, photos and other historic images provide a great visual look back at Ponderosa Ranch's history.
Bonanza is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, Bonanza is NBC's longest-running western, and ranks overall as the second-longest-running western series on U.S. network television (behind CBS's Gunsmoke), and within the top 10 longest-running, live-action American series. The show continues to air in syndication. The show is set in the 1860s and it centers on the wealthy Cartwright family who live in the vicinity of Virginia City, Nevada, bordering Lake Tahoe. The series initially starred Lorne Greene, Perneli Roberts, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon and later featured (at various times) Guy Williams, David Canary, Mitch Vogel and Tim Matheson. The show is known for presenting pressing moral dilemmas.
The 1974 film, The Godfather Part II used the lakeside estate Fleur de Lac as the location of several scenes, including the elaborate First Communion celebration, the Senator's shakedown attempt of Michael, the assassination attempt on Michael, Michael disowning Fredo, Carmela Corleone's funeral, Fredo's execution while fishing, and the closing scene of Michael sitting alone outside. Fleur de Lac, on the western California shore of Lake Tahoe, was formerly the Henry Kaiser estate. The surrounding lakeside area has been developed into a private gated condominium community and some of the buildings of the "Corleone compound" still exist, including the boathouse.
The 2014 film Last Weekend starring Patricia Clarkson and directed by Tom Dolby and Tom Williams, used the west shore lakefront home of Ray and Dagmar Dolby as the primary location for its interiors and exteriors. The house, built in 1929, was also the site for the exteriors for A Place In The Sun, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. The 1988 film "Things Change" was also filmed here.
Lake Tahoe is also the location of several 19th and 20th century palatial homes of historical significance. The Thunderbird Lodge built by George Whittel Jr once included nearly 27 miles (43 km) of the Nevada shoreline. Vikingsholm was the original settlement on Emerald Bay and included an island teahouse and a 38-room home. The Ehrman Mansion is a summer home built by a former Wells Fargo president in Sugar Pine Point and is now a state park. The Pony Express had a route that went from Genoa Station over Dagget Pass to Friday's Station and Yanks Station: it succeeded the route through Woodford's Station and Fountain Place Station both on the way to Strawberry Station.
Thunderbird Lodge
Vikingsholm
The Vikingsholm foundation was laid in 1928; the building was constructed in 1929 by 200 workers. Vikingsholm was built by Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight as a summer home. Before starting construction, Mrs. Knight and her architect traveled to Scandinavia to gather ideas for the house. Some parts of the structure contain no nails or spikes, as a result of old-fashioned construction methods. Most of the building was made from local materials. While Mrs. Knight is known for building Vikingsholm, she and her businessman husband Harry were also primary backers of Charles Lindbergh's non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. Vikingsholm, along with the "Tea House" on Fannette Island and Emerald Bay, is a part of Emerald Bay State Park. Emerald Bay has also been declared a National Natural Landmark: Tours are given of the American Craftsman Vikingsholm museum home for a nominal fee. Vikingsholm is a 38-room mansion on the shore of Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe, in El Dorado County, California, U.S. and of the National Register of Historic Places.
The legendary name of the Pony Express calls up thrilling images of horse and rider racing across treacherous terrain. Yet the actual Pony Express lasted for less than two years (April 1860 to October 1861) and was only one of a number of private express services that used riders to carry the mail. It owes its fame to the romanticising of the Pony Express and the American West that began late in the 19th century, in Wild West shows and dime novels, and continues to the present. Pony Express riders live on today, still dodging varmints and villains in books and movies, evoking speed and thrills on countless commercial products.
In 1860, a relay system of horses began to carry mail across the 1,966-mile-long “central route” between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. This privately owned service would become known as the Pony Express. The Pony Express solved an urgent problem for the U.S. government. In the late 1850s political tensions had increased between North and South over slavery and other issues. The government feared losing control over mail along the Southern Route and contact with gold-rich California. To ensure Union control over cargo and mail carried between East and West, a route outside the Southern states was needed.
Length of entire route: 1,966 miles.
Stations along route: about 165.
Distance between stations: approximately 10 miles.
Each rider rode one segment of the route, 75–100 miles long.
At each station, a rider changed horses.
Every 75–100 miles, a new rider took over.
Average speed: 10 miles per hour.
A rider changed horses 8–10 times per ride (every 10 miles or so).
.jpg)
Pony_Express_sign_along_U.S._Route_93_in_Schellbourne_Nevada
How long did it take to get from Missouri to California?
10 days in summer, 12–16 days in winter (mountain snows can slow you down). In 1860, that was speedy! A stagecoach took 24 days. Whose idea was it?
Three business partners—William Russell, Alexander Majors, and William Waddell—founded the Pony Express as a private company.
Ehrman Mansion, Sugar Pine Point State Park
Museum, Theatre, Interpretive Centre, Museum
This two-story Queen Anne-style home, built in 1902, is a good example of a Lake Tahoe summerhouse for the wealthy. The mansion's dining room walls are covered with strips of woven redwood, creating a warm, natural and very unique look. Authentic chandeliers, leaded glass cabinets, and hardwood floors grace the house which is decorated in 1930s period furniture. On the grounds of the estate is a cabin built in 1870, a dozen outbuildings that housed "the help" and supported the family's lifestyle, and many spectacular nature trails.
In 1897, Isaias W. Hellman purchased property on Sugar Pine Point on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. Hellman had immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1859. He moved to San Francisco from Los Angeles when he purchased the Nevada Bank. This bank eventually merged with Wells Fargo and Hellman served as President. During the summers of 1901 and 1902, Hellman's summer home, Pine Lodge, was built on his property. The 11,703 square foot house was designed by Walter Bliss, who also designed the famous Tahoe Tavern in Tahoe City. Bliss was paid $22,000 as the architect and coincidentally, the home cost $22,000 to construct. Upon Hellman's death in 1920, his youngest daughter Florence Ehrman inherited the Pine Lodge and it gradually became known as the Ehrman Mansion.
At the time of Hellman's death, he was President of Wells Fargo Bank, Chairman of the Board of Union Trust Company of San Francisco, Director of the United States National Bank of Portland, Director of Security Trust and Savings Bank of Los Angeles and President of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Los Angeles.
The estate was entirely self-sufficient during the early years. The family generated their own electricity, had their own water and septic systems, and cut ice from the frozen creek for the ice house. Supplies were brought in by boat since a road around Lake Tahoe had yet to be built. A staff lived with the family during the summer, occupying 6 bedrooms in the mansion in the servants' wing and on the third floor, as well as numerous outbuildings such as the chauffeur's apartment above the garage, the boatman's cottage, the butler's cabin, the maids' cabin, and the Childrens' House.
The family enjoyed summering at Pine Lodge until Florence Ehrman's death in 1964. Florence's daughter, Esther Ehrman Lazard sold the estate to California State Parks in 1965. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Harvey’s Lake Tahoe was the first hotel-casino in South Lake Tahoe so naturally it bagged the best position. It has a year-round heated pool and whirlpool. And you have a huge choice of eateries, including Gordon Ramsay's iconic Hell's Kitchen. Joining his restaurants in Dubai and Las Vegas and inspired by the TV show, you may just feel like you're on set.