High above the turquoise blue waters of Lake Tahoe’s Zephyr Cove is a commanding castle.
Vistas take in the lake, the cove and the M.S. Dixie paddlewheeler. Views of the Sierra Nevada range stretch from the slopes of Mount Tallac in the south to Mount Rose in the north.
The Nevada estate home sits on three-quarters of an acre and takes up most of the highest tip of Glenbrook’s Zephyr Heights neighborhood. The road it’s on, appropriately called Lookout, retains a historic fire tower.
The original land owner was in the lumber business and worked with the Nevada Division of Forestry in building an access road and the fire lookout tower, which was manned starting in the mid-1950s. The castle itself took shape some four decades later when a buyer with a contractor’s license and a bent for architecture took a 1970s 2,000-square-foot single-story and set about to create a 9,307-square-foot six-story home with a rooftop veranda and swim spa.
Inspired by travels to tour castles in France and Italy, the builder took his design inspiration from Castello di Miramare in Northern Italy, where his family originated. His use of limestone, slate and brick—inside and out—underscores the castle ambiance.
The turret-topped edifice is awash in details. Beyond the heavy wooden front door is a foyer with a grand spiral staircase. The two-story-tall great room uses brick from a tequila distillery in Mexico. The limestone is from Texas. Thick beams line the high ceiling.
Roman and gothic arch-topped windows and scrolled metal chandeliers grace one side of the great room, which has two fireplaces. On the other side, a breakfast bar opens to the main kitchen, which has an original Chihuly glass ceiling installation. There are also two other kitchens.
