Vikingsholm (El Dorado County, California)

Nearly a century ago, a mansion was built at the base of Emerald Bay in they style of a ancient Viking castle. I've hiked and run past the castle a few times over the years, but today I finally decided to take the official tour offered by the California State Park system.

Parking is always a problem in this part of the lake, as it is the most scenic of the entire Lake Tahoe Basin. With the small lot above Vikingsholm full, I find a wide section of highway 89 just a hundred yards or so up the road and park the jeep. Walking the mile-long trail down to the shoreline, I purchase a tour ticket and then head to the lakeside of the house awaiting the start of the tour.

Our tour guide, begins to tell us a bit of the history of the mansion. It was built by a crew of nearly 200 workers contracted by Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight. Though of English-descent, Mrs. Knight was reminded of the fjords of Norway by Emerald Bay. She hired a Scandinavian architect to design her summer home and named it Vikingsholm. By all accounts, Mrs. Knight was a generous soul and cared for her house staff in her will, as well as putting all of their children through college.


As the tour enters the main living room, the children in the group are invited to count the number of dragons worked into various design elements of the inside and outside of the home. Apparently, Mrs. Knight had an affinity for the Viking legends of dragons acting as guardians.

The tour continues to the front courtyard as the ranger describes the function of the various sections of the long house. She also describes Mrs. Knight's challenge to the architect to not remove any of the old-growth trees in the design and construction of the mansion. He succeeded and combined with the use of all local granite and wood in the construction, the mansion almost seems to a part of the landscape.

The tour completes with access to the rooms within the main house and connected structures. Most of the furnishings are all original and maintained by the park service. I love architecture and this was definitely trip worth making.