California Lady Had Lake Castle Built With Private Island For Tea

Wealth ranges from living comfortably to living absurdly. It's hard to feel bad for someone who has amassed enough money to have a castle built on a lake and a private island used for drinking tea.

Lake Tahoe is an incredible place. It's less than 40 miles from Reno and shares borders with Nevada and California. I've spent many days lounging on the lake and taking in the beautiful surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains. My job used to require me to spend days at the Edgewood Golf Course covering the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship, so I know the lake like the back of my hand.

It's hard to believe she used the island as a place to gather and drink tea with friends and family before the public was allowed to have access to it. The remains of the tea house still stand, and people can hike up to it.

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One of the coolest things about Lake Tahoe is Emerald Bay. In the late nineteen twenties, a woman named Lora Knight bought a massive chunk of land surrounding the bay that included the lake's only island, according to Boat Tahoe. Fannette Island is a popular kayaking and boating destination that the public is allowed to enjoy every weekend.

While I've never set foot on the island, I've driven by and admired it from the mountain road above dozens of times. It's hard to believe she used the island as a place to gather and drink tea with friends and family before the public was allowed to have access to it. The remains of the tea house still stand, and people can hike up to it.

Knight also lived in a castle she had built in the thirties that also still stands. It's called Vikingsholm, and it's an incredible landmark. Here's to the good life!