Bert Anderson: A Tahoe Classic
Posted on June 26, 2010
Filed Under Tahoe-Truckee Profiles
Bert Anderson: A Tahoe Classic
by Tim Hauserman, Moonshine Ink
A “Bert Anderson” is the quintessential Old Tahoe cabin with pecky cedar or shiplap siding, rock fireplaces, unique square windows, and deck railings with cut-out tree designs. For many, they are the classic Old Tahoe homes.
This article is a reprint from the June-July edition of Moonshine Ink by permission, the Independent News Source for Truckee and North Lake Tahoe.
Having sold a few of these charming homes in my 20 years as a real estate agent, I jumped at the chance to learn more about the builder, especially when I discovered that the Gary Anderson I had known for several years was his only child.
Bert Anderson began his building career in the early 1940s by purchasing 135 acres along Ward Creek on Tahoe’s West Shore. It was purchased from Fred Kilner for $13,500 (Kilner kept a small piece of land, which would later become Kilner Park).
Anderson quickly set to work creating what would become the Pineland and Ward Creek subdivisions.
He began by building six homes in 1946 that he called Wonder Homes. While the lots on the creek initially sold for $750, you only had to pay $1,200 for the house and lot.
“He tried to reduce what he paid for everything and it was reflected in the prices of his homes, which were absurdly low compared to others,” said Gary.
Finding inexpensive building materials was a real challenge just after WWII, so Anderson devised a machine to make his own shingles and developed the use of pecky cedar because it was cheap and available. He found surplus railroad snowshed wood and used it to build decks. He would prefabricate portions of the house in the winter so he could put them together in just a few weeks in the summer.
The cabins were designed for summer use only. Anderson didn’t believe that anybody would be crazy enough to want to live in Tahoe in the winter. While he never made it past eighth grade, Anderson was a true “MacGyver” — he could figure out whatever needed to be done, and then just do it. He was his own architect, engineer, excavator, road builder, mason, and carpenter.
“He effectively gave everybody a lifetime guarantee when they purchased a home,” said Gary. “If anything ever went wrong, he would fix it.”
To read the rest of this fascinating story by local long-term author and fun hog Tim Hauserman, click here and you’ll be directed to Moonshine Ink.
