Nevada Lore Series: 'Captain' and the bizarre history of Thunderbird Lodge at Tahoe

The Thunderbird Lodge is a bizarre piece of Lake Tahoe history, from the early days of the 40s when rich high society types out of San Fransisco came to develop properties and build their lavish summer estates.

The Lodge, however, stands far above the rest, due to its eccentric owner, his bizarre life, and the strange underground labyrinth he built.

The Thunderbird Lodge was first built in 1936, by a wealthy San Franciscan by the name of George Whittell, Jr., but for some reason, everyone simply called him the Captain.

The Captain, as I will only be calling him from now on, was born into one of San Fransisco’s richest families in 1881, and began eschewing high society standards almost immediately.

Instead of going to a good, expensive college like so many of his peers, he instead decided to “run away” (while still receiving an allowance, naturally), and joined the circus.

He toured with the Barnum and Bailey Circus for many years, in which he would fund trips to Africa to catch wild animals for the circus, and then after, they came to live with him at the Thunderbird Lodge.

He married a chorus girl named Florence Boyere in 1903, but his father quickly purchased an annulment. Soon after, he married another dancer named Josie Cunningham, who filed for divorce only two years later.

After his failed relationships, he then joined the U.S. Army, and became an ambulance driver and army captain in World War I. There, he married a third time, to a French woman named Elia Pascal, and after the war came back to San Fransisco.

He spent much of the 1920s in a Gatsby-esque existence, flitting from one party to the next, and spending his money on toys such as fancy cars.

In a whirlwind of luck, the Captain pulled $50 million in stocks and bonds only months before the Great Crash of Wall Street in 1929, and relocated to Nevada.

Almost immediately, he purchased much of the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, and in 1936, began building the Thunderbird Lodge with Frederick DeLongchamps, a famous Reno architect, as his designer.

He originally planned to develop the 40,000 acres purchased into summer properties, a ski resort, and a $1 million casino hotel. His wealth, in modern day equivalent, was over $49 billion.

But, due to his eccentricities, he began more and more reclusive as he grew older. Instead, his plans apparently went inward, into the bizarre designing of the Thunderbird Lodge.

The Captain’s love of wild animals continued, and he kept his exotic pets with him at the property. He built a lavish stone building for his elephant, Mingo. His beloved African lion, named Bill, could often be seen alongside the Captain driving around the lake in his Murphy convertible roadster.

Running from the main lodge to the 100 foot long boat house, where the famed Thunderbird Yacht still lives, is a 600 foot long tunnel.

The tunnel was dynamite blasted out of solid granite, and the tiny tunnel veers off into several rooms getting stranger and stranger as the tunnel progresses.

There’s an unfinished indoor swimming pool, a dungeon, and an opium den, among other things.

The Thunderbird yacht was the Captain’s most prized possession, a custom-built mahogany speed boat built in 1955 which cost him $87,000 (in today’s equivalent, $1.5 million). It has been immaculately preserved, and is suspended by slings inside of the boat house.

It can still be rented to take out on the lake — if you have the funds, that is. The Thunderbird Yacht costs $5,000 an hour for special events.

The Captain died April 18, 1969, with wife Elia by his side. Third time truly is the charm, at least in their case.

Until death, he had refused to sell his land holdings, preferring instead to live in his reclusive kingdom alongside his wild animals and elite Hollywood friends; Howard Hughes often stayed in his luxury card house, among others.

After his death, the Thunderbird Lodge and 10,000 acres adjacent to the property were purchased by Jack Dreyfus of Dreyfus Investments. Dreyfus sold a majority of the land to Nevada State Parks, and the Forest Service.

In 1985, Dreyfus put his own touches on the lodge, building an additional “entertainment room,” which connected the original light house. He also built a two-story wing on the original decking of the garage, which were connected by an enclosed glass bridge.

In 1998, a Corporation named Del Webb purchased the Estate and 140 acres of land for $56 million.

Then, oddly enough, it was exchanged.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management gave Del Webb 4,000 acres of Clark County near Las Vegas, and the Forest Service received 140 acres of land.

The Forest Service, did not, however, want to take responsibility for the Lodge itself, and so the non-profit Thunderbird Lodge Preservation Society was born, and partnered with the University of Nevada, Reno to keep it intact.

The buildings were given to the Preservation Society along with a $9.8 million note, payable to Del Webb.

In 2000, the Estate was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2003, Pulte Homes took over Del Webb, along with the Preservation Society’s note for $9.8 million. The same year, the University decided to disassociate itself with the Thunderbird Society.

In 2009, with gifts from Pulte Homes, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, and a series of fundraising campaigns, the Preservation Society settled its debts and took over the complete title of the Thunderbird Lodge.

You can tour the Lodge yourself by making reservations on their website, here.

— The Nevada Lore Series focuses on the legends of Nevada and the surrounding areas that help build our culture, from ancient Washoe stories, to Old West ghostly visions, to modern day urban legends.

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