Vikingsholm

1929

A 38-room summer home, built in 1929 by around 200 workers

Lora Josephine Knight built Vikingsholm, a 38-room mansion on the shore of Emerald Bay, as a summer home. The foundation was laid in 1928 and about 200 workers built it in 1929. Before starting, she and her architect traveled to Scandinavia to gather ideas. Some parts contain no nails or spikes.

38rooms in the main mansion on Emerald Bay

The house

Four wings round a courtyard, with grass roofs and dragon heads

The main house is made of four rectangular wings that enclose a courtyard. The north and south wings have gabled sod roofs with an original sprinkler system. Carved beams on the west wing end in dragon heads, and Scandinavian serpent designs are carved above the doors and windows.

Lora Knight

Its builder helped pay for Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic

Knight was one of the wealthiest women in America in the newspapers of her day. With her husband Harry she was a primary backer of Charles Lindbergh's non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927. Lindbergh stayed at the Knights' house the night before his flight, and she later entertained him at Vikingsholm.

The island

A tea house on the only island in Lake Tahoe

Fannette Island is the only island in Lake Tahoe, out in Emerald Bay. Knight built a small tea house on it, reached only by boat, with natural looking stairs carved out of the rock. From 1863 to 1873 Captain Dick Barter lived there and built his own tomb and chapel. He was never interred in it.