Weather, things to do, community, family—all are reasons people live in Lake Tahoe. They are also reasons people uproot their lives and end up calling two places home.

These people are not second homeowners who randomly come to Tahoe. These locals consider Tahoe home, but don’t live there year round. They also aren’t all snowbirds trying to escape chilly winters.

“Currently, we are spending about two months in St. Louis in the spring—April and May—and fall—October and November. Tahoe is not particularly pleasant at these times, and St. Louis is much nicer,” Karen Kurtzman said. “It gets very hot in the summer, and cold and icy in the winter, so we spend those times in Tahoe. Eventually we will probably live in St. Louis all the time, but that hasn’t happened yet. We still think of Tahoe as our primary residence.”

While South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County and Douglas County officials don’t have stats about people who split their time between the basin and elsewhere, it’s been happening ever since people started living at Tahoe. That’s because there was a time this was only a summer community.

One home isn’t enough for many people. (Images: Provided)

Looking elsewhere

The people telling their stories here live on the South Shore—some in the city, some in the unincorporated area of El Dorado County, some in Nevada.

Judy and Marc Spellman spent 19 summers in Tahoe, with Florida their home the rest of the year. Then the pandemic hit.

“After 2021, we decided to explore new venues. I must admit nothing can compare to the friendly atmosphere Tahoans extended to us,” Judy Spellman said. “I still miss those tennis, hiking, gambling, rafting, and mostly wonderful friendships we made. South Lake Tahoe will always bring us wonderful memories.”

For the Spellmans, Alaska was their summer destination in 2025, Colorado the three previous years.

Skiing first brought Sharla and Jay Freeman to Tahoe in the 1990s.

“We purchased our home there in 2008 after I retired from teaching,” Sharla Freeman said. “When we bought our home, we had one son in college, and the other in medical school. Soon after, they both married and started families. As the grandkids started coming—now seven—we just wanted to be back closer to them more often. It was gradual, starting in 2013. When the grandkids started school in 2018 we (went) back East more since they were more limited in time to come here.”

Kentucky is home for the Freemans when Tahoe isn’t. Plus, there is the condo in Atlanta that is occupied when the Braves are in town.

It’s kids and their kids that also led Dave and Karen Kurtzman away from Tahoe.

“As for St Louis, we have become connected through family for over 30 years and through discovery of the culture such as jazz, the symphony, live theater, interesting ethnic restaurants and myriad community activities,” Dave Kurtzman said. “As we age, the ease of accessibility to health care becomes more important. Lastly, unlike Tahoe, it is only a 10-minute drive to Costco.”

Bob Beutenmiller came to Tahoe in 2003 for work. He initially thought he’d spend a handful of years in Tahoe. More than two decades later it is still home.

Now retired, Honolulu beckons Beutenmiller in the winter. His outdoor interests are more suitable to warmer climates.

“It’s great to be in two beautiful, but totally different areas. I’m deeply involved in tennis and pickleball in both locales,” Beutenmiller said. “It’s super easy to meet people through my involvement.”

The Huards by comparison are figuratively a stone’s throw from home No. 2, though Woodfords is in a different county. They neither have distinct blocks of time carved out for each locale, nor are they always together in the same place at the same time.

“We’re never gone from Tahoe, rather we split our time,” is how Lisa Huard describes their situation. “I know it’s weird to have a home in Tahoe and another just 30 minutes away, but we’re also the people who live in Tahoe and then go camping in our trailer in the mountains. I appreciate the seasons in both places. A garden is able to be planted so much earlier in Woodfords with greater success, I must say. The wildlife is a bit different and I enjoy it. It’s a good thing I like lizards!”

Paul Huard said, “I felt Tahoe was becoming like LA again for me with lots of traffic, lots of people, and the pace of life just increasing.” He finds peace in Alpine County as he continues to finish building their home there.

Liz Zapalac and Rhoda Shaponik first bought a cabin on the South Shore to escape the cool summer fog of Berkeley and to ski in the winter.

“When we retired from our jobs, we decided to move into our cabin to decide if we wanted to live in the mountains full time,” Zapalac said. “We found that neither of us was particularly fond of five months of cold.”

Now they have a condo in Nuevo Nayarit, just north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to stay warm in during the winter.

Mike and Rika Rich have less than pleasant stories to share about living on a street in Tahoe with short-term rentals. In some ways, that helped them pack some of their belongings and head north.

“I found Bend, Ore., was more in line with my values. The city government strives to strike a balance between the locals vs. the tourist industry,” Mike Rich said. “Tahoe was changing in a direction that I was not comfortable with. Case in point: In the late ‘80s tourism was located downtown and we had our quiet neighborhoods. With the creation of VHR hotel type accommodations we have lost our Tahoe neighborhoods. Living part time in Bend I can appreciate the definition of residential.”

While they recently had their Tahoe home on the market, they’ve since decided to live in both locales. Winter and summer in Tahoe, spring and fall in Bend.

Making it work

Couples don’t necessarily share the same reasons for staying or going, or what is great about one place compared to the other.

“I don’t feel as connected in Mexico as I do in Tahoe,” Zapalac said. “I really enjoy Mexico, but I haven’t gotten involved in community activities. We also live at a condominium that has a hotel, so it seems like a long vacation.”

Shaponik, on the other hand, said, “I feel just as connected in Mexico as Tahoe because I was involved on our (home owners association) committee. I met many Mexican, Canadian and U.S. residents and I learned about Mexican customs and laws. I also connect to residents, staff, community when traveling and practicing my Spanish.”

They love having two sets of friends in two resort settings.

Worrying about bears breaking in while they are gone is the couple’s biggest concern. Both homes have surveillance so they can always have an eye on the property they aren’t in.

Getting from one place to the other and the cost of multiple dwellings are the drawbacks for the Freemans. Otherwise, they have only positive things to say about this lifestyle.

“We both have countless friends both places. Jay often says he never goes to Safeway or Costco without visiting for 30 minutes,” Sharla Freeman said. “I play on USTA teams in three sections, which is very cool. I belong to book clubs in both Tahoe and Kentucky. It is such a blessing to have two such wonderful, but different homes.”

The Huards are not aligned in which home they consider primary. She calls Tahoe home; he is feeling it more in Woodfords.

Lisa Huard doesn’t want to give up her “strong tribe of wonderful organizations and people” in Tahoe, while husband Paul likes less snow and the ability to work outside year round.

“Nothing,” Lisa Huard said when asked what’s the worst part about multiple locations. “We’re extremely fortunate that our hard work is paying off for us and providing for the ones we love.”

Paul Huard’s answer was: “It’s costly, but it’s an investment. Upkeep on both places is more difficult.”

While Mike Rich says legally the Tahoe home is their primary residence, he is more involved with the day-to-day issues in Central Oregon.

“My connection is with the city of Bend. The city government is excellent. The bike lanes and parks throughout the city are fantastic,” he said. “Walking distance to  downtown. No casinos! While the skiing and mountain biking are great here in Tahoe, emotionally I’ve moved on.”

His wife echoes the “walking everywhere” sentiment—something they didn’t know they were missing until Bend became home.

“We pack and unpack often, which isn’t always fun, but we are happy in both places,” Rika Rich said.

They remain flexible as they come and go between here and Bend.

The Kurtzmans expect one day St. Louis will be their primary home. For now, they enjoy having the best of both worlds.

“The worst part is it is so easy to accumulate stuff in two places instead of just one,” Dave Kurtzman said. “After 53 years, I feel extremely connected to Tahoe, mostly through the history and evolution of the community. Over time, however personal connections change as kids move on, acquaintances leave, friends pass away, etc. It is the ‘people connection’ that really changes.”

Karen Kurtzman said: “St. Louis also has very good and readily available health care, which will become increasingly important to us as we age. Health care in Tahoe is sometimes good, and sometimes not good, and totally unreliable.

“The best part of having two residences is that they are completely different, and we love both places. The worst part is that we are paying for two houses, which gets very expensive. However, we feel connected in both places, and we look forward to the move from one to the other each time.”

Note: A version of this story first ran in the Tahoe Mountain News.