It’s called Tranquility — and with its own private lake, conservatory, boat house, stable, gymnasium and garage space for 17 cars and views of Lake Tahoe — you have to believe it will deliver just that for a buyer who can pay the $100 million asking price for this luxury home on 210 acres.
It would be the priciest listing in the U.S. right now, if Donald Trump and Saudi Prince Bandar weren’t trying to unload properties in Palm Beach, Fla., and Aspen, Colo., for $125 million and $135 million, respectively (see Inman News story).
Shari Chase, the founder of Lake Tahoe-based Chase International, is handling the listing for Tranquility’s seller, who she said is a co-founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corp.
The property is unique because it feels almost totally secluded, but is a 10-minute drive from Lake Tahoe’s shops, casinos and skiing, Chase said. It was owned for nearly a century by a family that left it undeveloped, until the current owner built the main residence and other buildings, she said. The buildings, which Chase estimated total more than 50,000 square feet, include a guest house, caretakers residences and art studio that are “sprinkled around the lake.”
The property is on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and completely encircles a smaller lake. “The drive in is about nine-tenths of a mile through forested land, and you reach a plateau where you have magnificent views of the lake,” Chase said. “You feel like you’re on Golden Pond, but it’s like a northern European Lodge.”
In designing and building the home, the owner drew inspiration from around the world — not to mention building materials.
The staircase in the main residence is a replica of the S.S. Titanic’s, Chase said. The marble flooring in the entryway is patterned after the New York Public Library’s.
“They traveled all over the world, and salvaged pieces of very old buildings and built them into the house,” Chase said. “All of the fireplaces, and the surrounds on the fireplaces, were brought in from Europe.” There are also modern amenities like a movie theater that seats 20 and an indoor basketball court.
The listing is so new, Chase couldn’t say exactly how many bedrooms and bathrooms all the buildings on the property contain. But she said she’s already shown it to “one of the top five billionaires in the world.”
So how does one go about marketing such a property?
There’s not a word about it on the Internet yet, but Chase said Tranquility may get its own password-protected Web site. Prospective buyers could come from Europe, the Middle East or Asia, so marketing materials will be produced in “multiple languages,” she said.
Chase International may also commission a video to show off the property’s best features, as she has done with other luxury homes. The videos, produced by Inman Stories, are featured on Chase’s Web site, Tahoe Sierra Stories.
It’s all in a day’s work for Chase, who sold a Lake Tahoe home for $50 million in 1998 — a record at the time.
