Lifestyles of the Gilded Age

The Tallac Historic site consists of 74 acres in the secluded woods and along the beaches of Lake Tahoe. It is where three wealthy San Franciscans built their large summer estates in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Baldwin Estate was built by Lucky Baldwin, who built the Santa Anita racetrack. The three estates (the other two are the Pope and the Heller estates) are large, elegant homes, with separate smaller outbuildings to house the nanny, the tutor, the chauffeur, the maid, the house servants, the gardener, etc. The grounds are filled with ponds, flowers, walking paths and, of course, boat houses. Guests would come from the city to enjoy the country air, the quiet, and the lake. Each home had direct access to the beaches of Lake Tahoe. These people knew how to live. Sort of like the Newport "summer cottages," except rustic in design.