Knight also built a remarkable tea house on the tiny neighboring Fannette Island in the middle of the bay which is said to be haunted by aprevious resident of the island, a hermit named Captain Dick Barter who ultimately drowned in the Lake. Apparently, she chose the Scandinavian motif because she had admired Palmes own Scandinavian-designed home in New York. The year before she purchased land in Emerald Bay, she was one of the primary financial backers to Charles Lindberghs first flight across the Atlantic, from New York to Paris. Theres A Breathtaking Castle Nestled In The Mountains Of Northern California. Emerald Bay provided the setting for one of the first summer homes at Lake Tahoe. After Edward Smalls death, William and James took over the firm and formed the Moore Brothers partnership. Although their marriage was short-lived, Lora and Harry Knight were among the small group of St. Louis, Missouri, businessmen who were the principal financial backers of Charles Lindberghs famed 1927 flight across the Atlantic from New York to Paris. In 1928, Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight bought the Armstrongs land with the desire to build a summer home that would compliment the magnificent natural surroundings. She was born Lora Josephine Small in Galena, Illinois, in 1864 - one of a family of four daughters and one son. Those wishing to know more can enjoy one of the daily guided tours through the end of September. Lora Josephine Knights legacy is enshrined in the magnificent Scandinavian castle Vikingsholm that she had built at Emerald Bay in 1929, but her first property at Tahoe was actually located at Chinquapin, a sheltered cove just east of Dollar Point in Carnelian Bay. Inspired by 11th century Nordic churches and castles, Knight commissioned detailed wood carvings to be placed throughout the interior and exterior. The Kirbys built a number of cabins, intended for resort use, on the parcel of land where Vikingsholm now stands. Lora and her sister Ada married two brothers, William and James Moore, who worked as partners in their fathers law firm. Vikingsholm is said to be one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the Western Hemisphere, according to California State Parks, which manages the land today. She exhibited Indian baskets, including some by the noted Washoe weaver Dat-So-La-Lee, also known as Louisa Keyser.
Eight years before her marriage to Harry Knight, Mrs. Josephine Moore purchased the land at Chinquapin from descendants of Lake Tahoe timber baron Duane L. Bliss. Small. First, Huell . Their Wisconsin chateau boasted 27 rooms, a wine cellar and a two-lane bowling alley. They also traveled extensively, making many trips to California as well as abroad. Lora and her husband, James, traveled extensively in California as to foreign countries. Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. In order to preserve the natural environment of Emerald Bay, Knight insisted that local Tahoe materials be used with the exception of the leaded windows with pastel stained-glass panes imported from Sweden. Now part of Emerald Bay State Park, Vikingsholm was once the summer home for Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight. She had been impressed by the Nordic architecture of the home that Palme had designed for himself in Rye, New York. These young men eventually grained controlling interests in a number of large companies, including National Biscuit, Continental Can, Diamond Match, Union Pacific, and Rock Island Railroad. Lora had a life-long reputation for her generous hospitality, philanthropy and numerous financial contributions to youth groups in California and Nevada. Although their marriage was short-lived, Lora and Harry Knight were among the small group of St. Louis, Missouri, businessmen who were the principal financial backers of Charles Lindberghs famed 1927 flight across the Atlantic from New York to Paris. Read More. And in this episode, Huell visits three of the most fascinating of these rocks. The barges had to be towed or pushed by steamers, and one of them now lies parallel to the shore measuring over 100 feet long. Nathan was an avid golfer and a participating member of the American Olympic team that won the gold medal at the 1904 Summer Games in Missouri. Lora J. Knight and her former husband financially supported Charles Lindberghs history-making flight over the Atlantic. First, Huell . Their Wisconsin chateau boasted 27 rooms, a wine cellar and a two-lane bowling alley. Lora married James and her sister married William. Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading. First, Huell . Many communities were interested in Licks $2 million estate and several protested the Tahoe location insisting that they were better suited for an observatory than the snowbound lake. The William Henry Armstrong family acquired the property in 1892 and they used the cabins as their summer residence for over 32 years. She usually had a staff at Vikingsholm of approximately 15. In the early 1950s, Mr. West, a noted philanthropist, negotiated with the State of California and said he would donate one-half of the appraised value of the land and the Vikingsholm outright, if the State would pay him the other half of the land value. She then commissioned Lennart Palme, a Swedish architect to whom she was related by marriage, to design Vikingsholm. On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. As fate would have it, Lora married James and her sister Ada married William. She married James Hobart Moore, who she met while he worked with her father in his law practice, and who along with his brother became rich by gaining controlling interests in a large number of companies such as the Diamond Match Company, U.S. Steel, Union Pacific, and Nabisco. They also spent time at their luxury homes in Illinois and Wisconsin. Vikingsholm is a 38-room mansion on the shore of Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe, in El Dorado County, California, U.S., and on the National Register of Historic Places. Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight chose Emerald Bay to build her castle, Vikingsholm. The property passed through two more landowners before California State Parks bought 177 acres, including the island and the structures, in 1953 for $150,000. Timber was hand-hewn, though Mrs. Knight specifically demanded that the footprint of her house be built around the old-growth trees on the property. They agreed to be major supporters. But since then, the state park has preserved Vikingsholm, and Knights legacy, for hundreds of thousands of visitors who arrive every year. WebLora Josephine Knight (1 May 1864 - 26 June 1945) was a philanthropist from California who was at one time one of the wealthiest women in America according to newspaper reports. Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Breakfast was at 8 a.m. sharp, but afterwards, time was for the taking to read, hike up to the waterfalls or go fishing off the dock, Smith said. Architect Palme estimated the projects total cost at $500,000. The legacy of Lora Knight and why Vikingsholm is one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in North America. Mrs. Knights Emerald Bay castle, called Vikingsholm, is an homage to Scandinavian architecture. Soon after, Lindbergh approached the Knights to fund his groundbreaking trans-Atlantic flight.
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WebLora Josephine Knight (1 May 1864 - 26 June 1945) was a philanthropist from California who was at one time one of the wealthiest women in America according to newspaper reports. It was there she decided to build a structure that would incorporate the atmosphere and design of an old Viking castle of stone construction. But Vikingsholm is the house that Lora will always be known for. [4], Knight sold her Wychwood home to San Francisco businessman Robert Stanley Dollar Sr.[1] In the summer of summer of 1929, Knight built Vikingsholm, the house she is most known for, buying the 240 acres of land in Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe from William Henry Armstrong, who she knew through her church, for $250,000. "[8] She risked losing her entire fortune from her first marriage as part of the divorce. Mrs. Knight enjoyed entertaining and had a number of guests visiting during the summer months. This magnificent structure, now a national and California landmark, is considered one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture outside of the Nordic countries. Galena, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, USA. The coroner said the cause of death was heart disease, but the night before, Nathaniel was up late at a brothel and had been drinking.
He was a stockbroker in St. Louis, Missouri, and an aspiring pilot.
[1][2] She hired Swedish architect Lennart Palme, who she was related through marriage, and chose a Scandinavian motif based on Palme's own home in New York. Nathan Moore apparently knew how to have a good time, dying at the age of 25 of natural causes after spending the previous night at Chicagos most famous and expensive house of prostitution. Now California state parks officials have announced a new underwater adventure for people to explore along the shoreline of Emerald Bay State Park on a new scuba trail that leads to two sunken barges and 12 boats resting below the surface of the bay. The sibling entrepreneurs eventually amassed quite a fortune with controlling interest in a number of large American corporations such as the Diamond Match Company, U.S. Steel and National Biscuit (Nabisco), the maker of Oreo cookies. The sibling entrepreneurs eventually amassed quite a fortune with controlling interest in a number of large American corporations such as the Diamond Match Company, U.S. Steel and National Biscuit (Nabisco), the maker of Oreo cookies. Lick leaned toward Von Schmidts recommendation, but the dying benefactor designated a committee to make the final decision. She exhibited Indian baskets, including some by the noted Washoe weaver Dat-So-La-Lee, also known as Louisa Keyser. They visited Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden as they inspected buildings dating back 1,000 years. Lora Knight filled her castle with original antiques she picked up in Scandinavia. It was built in a single summer. Carved dragon heads are common as both interior and exterior decorations, as they were used in old Viking castles to divide the main room between the chieftain and his most honored guests from the women and children. Search for: Browse by Date Knight had already spent 16 summers in Tahoe before she built Vikingsholm. Utilizing 200 workers the home was constructed during the Summer of 1929. The barges were owned and operated by the lumber companies, who used them to haul wood part of the year and then employed them as car ferries during the summer months.
His nationally reported death led to a crackdown on Chicago brothels and morphine abuse. Finnish carpenters were then brought in to hew timber, while a Scandinavian craftsman was hired to create the intricate exterior wood carvings. They traveled across Scandinavia for research and inspiration before laying the foundation in the late summer of 1928 for Vikingsholm. Tea was served in the afternoon on the terrace or in the library, and occasionally at the tea house on the island. Her father Edward A. After Edward Smalls death, William and James took over the firm and formed the Moore Brothers partnership. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. [1][2][5][6] Lindbergh even stayed at the Knight's house the night before his flight. Utilizing 200 workers the home was constructed during the Summer of 1929. Knight loved Tahoe, and for 16 years she enjoyed her summers at Wychwood, hosting friends and family members, but in 1928, she sold her beloved lakeside Shangri-La to Robert Stanley Dollar Sr., a wealthy San Francisco businessman. Lindbergh approached the Knights about helping fund his effort to be the first to fly nonstop across the Atlantic at a St. Louis airfield where Harry, an aspiring aviator, was taking flying lessons. The Lake was created 24 million years ago by the rise and fall of landscape due to faulting, and according to many reports, there may be an underground river system that feeds into Pyramid Lake located north of Reno, Nevada. With the advent of new advanced submarines and underwater exploration teams, members of the Undersea Voyager Project have now made 58 submarine trips and 33 scuba dives below the waters of Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake. Palme and Knight traveled to Scandinavia that summer to research the design features that would be incorporated into her Tahoe castle. [2][7], In 1927, she divorced Harry Knight, charging him with "extreme cruelty. It was built in 1928 and is now one of the treasured historic landmarks of Northern California. Lora Josephine Knights legacy is enshrined in the magnificent Scandinavian castle Vikingsholm that she had built at Emerald Bay in 1929, but her first property at Tahoe was actually located at Chinquapin, a sheltered cove just east of Dollar Point in Carnelian Bay. I swear I saw it once at a distance while fishing as a pre-teen but would never admit that publicly (wink.) [2], Media related to Vikingsholm at Wikimedia Commons, Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}385708N 1200624W / 38.95216N 120.10675W / 38.95216; -120.10675. Meals were sumptuous and occupied a good part of each day. The estate was sold to Lawrence Holland, a rancher from Nevada. WebIn 1928 Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight, purchased about two hundred acres of land at Emerald Bay in the Lake Tahoe region of California. Her father, Edward Small, was a corporate lawyer who took on two brothers as partners in his law practice William Henry Moore and James Hobart Moore. In 1873, engineer Alexis Von Schmidt recommended the site for the proposed James Lick Astronomical Observatory that would house the worlds most powerful space telescope. Lora had a life-long reputation for her generous hospitality, philanthropy and numerous financial contributions to youth groups in California and Nevada.
But his health continued to worsen. In 1915, they purchased a home in Santa Barbara, but had little time to enjoy it together since Mr. Moore died in 1916. Mrs. Knight commissioned Lennart Palme, a Swedish architect and her nephew by marriage, to design Vikingsholm. Emerald Bay also reminded her of a Norwegian fjord with it steep surrounding slopes and deep blue water. Sometimes government officials did not allow these native heirlooms removed from the country, so Knight had craftsmen reproduce them in exact detail, including the aging of the wood and even mimicking scratches on the originals. There is a single-lane dirt road that connects Vikingsholm with Highway 89. In order to preserve the natural environment of Emerald Bay, Knight insisted that local Tahoe materials be used with the exception of the leaded windows with pastel stained-glass panes imported from Sweden. Many people assume that Mrs. Knight was of Scandinavian origin because of her decision to build Vikingsholm but she was actually of English decent. In the early 1920s, Lora Small Moore married Harry French Knight, a stockbroker from St. Louis. EDITORS NOTE: This article was originally published in the Summer 2017 edition of Tahoe Magazine. The stories of the creature were also documented by the Washoe and Paiutetribes during the 1800's, and legend has it that the creature lived in an underwater tunnel beneathCave Rock located on the Eastern shore of the lake. Search. The horse stable housed 60 thoroughbreds. Through church affiliations Mrs. Knight had become acquainted with the William Henry Armstrong family, who owned 239 acres at the head of Emerald Bay. It was there she decided to build a structure that would incorporate the atmosphere and design of an old Viking castle of stone construction. The owner, billionaire heiress Lora Josephine Knight bought the land to build a summer home similar to those she had seen on her travels to Scandinavia. Carved dragon heads are common as both interior and exterior decorations, as they were used in old Viking castles to divide the main room between the chieftain and his most honored guests from the women and children. Her Vikingsholm Castle was completed in 1929 and reflected Scandinavian style of construction and architectural design. In early 1916 they bought a home near Santa Barbara hoping that the mild Mediterranean climate might improve his condition, but he died on July 20, 1916, leaving Lora an estate worth $15 million. Despite the expense and effort, the tea house was rarely used, even though Lora spent all her summers at Vikingsholm until her death in 1945. [1][2][3][4], In 1884, the two had a son, Nathaniel Moore, who later married Helen Fargo, heiress to the Wells Fargo fortune. Read More. It was the first permanently occupied mountaintop observatory in the world and for nearly 10 years its telescope was the largest ever built. According to McLaughlin, Lora Knight was known for her hospitality and philanthropy. They visited Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden as they inspected buildings dating back 1,000 years. There is a single-lane dirt road that connects Vikingsholm with Highway 89. WebIn 1928 Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight purchased the land that encompasses Emerald Bay and Fannette Island for $250,000. Finnish carpenters were then brought in to hew timber, while a Scandinavian craftsman was hired to create the intricate exterior wood carvings. Mrs. Knight had it graded in 1929 for $10,000 so that she and her guests could arrive by automobile. It was the first permanently occupied mountaintop observatory in the world and for nearly 10 years its telescope was the largest ever built. Knight had derived design ideas from 11th century wooden churches in Norway and carvings from these ancient church entrances were incorporated into many Vikingsholm door entries. One of their most unusual underwater discoveries was an ancient forest at the bottom of Fallen Leaf Lake, adjacent to Lake Tahoe, where 80-foot tall trees, more than 2,000 years old are still standing upright. The owner, billionaire heiress Lora Josephine Knight bought the land to build a summer home similar to those she had seen on her travels to Scandinavia. Small was born in Galena, Illinois, in 1864 to lawyer Edward Small. Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news. Emerald Bay State Park, South Lake Tahoe, Ca.. Editor's note: This story originally ran in January 2021.