Heller Estate, Boathouse, State Highway 189, South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County, CA

Significance: The significance of the Valhalla Boathouse (the Heller Estate is referred to as "Valhalla," hence the name for the boathouse) is its relationship to other structures at the Tallac Historic Site. The Baldwin, Pope, and Heller Estates were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit's Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan), completed in 1988, designates the 150 acre Tallac Historic Site as part of the 225 acre Special Interest Area emphasizing preservation and interpretation of its historic and natural resources for public enjoyment. The primary period of significance for the site is from 1880 to 1940, which encompasses ruins of the site's original commercial resort buildings, the construction of new estate properties, and the creation of unique rustic architectural styles that form the main components of today's historic site (district). The significance of the Heller Estate and the Valhalla Boathouse, is in part its significance with the other estates, landscape features, and Lake Tahoe. Each of the Estates is significant for its association with important events and architectural values, as well as several individuals and families Baldwin, Tallant, Tevis, Pope, Heller who were associated with the development of the Estates. Their wealth, influence, and activities contributed to the founding and development of major banking and other financial institutions in California, including the Wells Fargo Bank, American Stock Exchange, and Crocker-Anglo Bank. The estates and their founders are linked to important events in California, the early development of recreation at Lake Tahoe and the subsequent importance of the Lake as a major tourist attraction in North America. The significance of Tallac Historic Site is reflected in its natural setting and historic landscape. Overall, the intent of the various estate owners appears to have been minimal intervention to the natural setting of the area. The landscape, buildings and structures that comprise the three estates show a remarkable continuity toward natural materials, principally rock and wood. Their setting illustrates the relationship between the natural vegetation, lakeshore, recreation-use areas, staff housing, and the principal residences. The estates were clearly intended for private use and embody a strong sense of ambiance and peace associated with the outdoors an the forest. The estates were also the centers for social activity, recreation, and leisure. The traditions and values of the urban elite were also carried out at Tallac Historic Site, with all the necessities of cultural, philosophical, and culinary fulfillment. In essence the lack of "designed landscapes" at Tallac Site, with the exception of the arboretum, is itself part of the site's significant character and setting. The first estate home was built by the Tallant family in the early 1890s. The house was purchased by the Tevis family and later by George Pope. At that time the property encompassed the present-day Heller Estate. Other buildings were added to the estate after 1900 including boathouses and numerous guest cottages. It is believed that the first Boathouse built between 1910 and 1913 is the present-day Valhalla Boathouse. The Pope Estate as a complex of buildings reflects the opulent lifestyle of wealthy San Francisco capitalists. The Heller Estate, which includes "Valhalla" Main House, the Boathouse, Twin Guest Cabins, and a water tower, occupies the general location of a still earlier Tahoe resort hotel, the Cascade House. The estate including all its buildings is important to the unique cultural environment created by the three contiguous Estates. Built in 1924, the main house, Valhalla, reflects two earlier 20th century architectural traditions. The exterior style of the structure combines Shingle Style and Colonial Revival traditions with rustic elements, closely reflecting the refined and genteel style of the main house in the adjacent Pope Estate, constructed almost 30 years earlier. The interior, however, reflects massive and brooding Nordic themes, more in keeping with the period revival modes of the 1920s. While the house is handsome and inviting on the exterior, Valhalla's outstanding architectural values lie in the design, character, and sheer power of its interior statement. The Valhalla Boathouse is significant both for its contribution to rustic estate architecture, but also for its association with the development of recreation and boating along the shores of Lake Tahoe. The Boathouse is oriented in relationship to Lake Tahoe. Built at an incline, boats could be lowered from the Boathouse along a railroad track and into the water below. This rather unique system was also employed at the Pope Estate Boathouse, believed to have been built after the Valhalla Boathouse.
Survey number: HABS CA-2393-A
Building/structure dates: 1913 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 87000497