Kennedy Wilson, a significant international real estate investment and services company, and the new owner of the Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe, arguably changed the face of Lake Tahoe mountain living. The company unveiled three custom penthouse show homes designed by Jay Jeffers—named one of the country’s top designers by ELLE Décor Magazine in 2011 and 2012—which were included in the grand opening of the 23 new Ritz-Carlton Residences, Lake Tahoe.
“Given his modern style and exquisitely curated designs, Jay Jeffers immediately came to mind for the task,” said Stuart Cramer, president of KW Residential Investment Group. The residences designed by Mr. Jeffers are available for immediate purchase: one three- and one four-bedroom residence, as well as a four-bedroom split-level penthouse will debut in March. The Jeffers show home residences blend well with The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe’s own design—a northern California adaptation of great mountain lodges of the West, built at the turn of the 20th century: the Ahwahnee in Yosemite, the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, El Tovar at the Grand Canyon.
“We wanted a unique design vision for this stately brand,” said Mr. Jeffers, "And I think we did this with our show homes. We wanted the window walls in each of the residences to have an unimpeded view of the slopes in the daytime, so each owner could follow sun and shadow, and in the evening, have a perfect view of the stars. We also wanted the interiors to reflect the organic with the urban, a style we like to call California Mountain. We could see a young, affluent, extremely outdoors-active, yet more design-sensitive people, buying these residences.”
Comprised of two-, three-, and four-bedroom penthouses ranging from 1,554 to 3,407 square feet, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Lake Tahoe are whole ownership homes. Prices range from $1,250,000 to more than $4,500,000, offering ownership privileges, including access and preferred availability to all hotel amenities—a pre-arrival concierge, valet parking, a Residence Concierge, Ski Valet services, and a private entry corridor and elevator that deliver owners to their penthouses.
They also receive priority access to exclusive facilities, services and amenities of The Ritz-Carlton, including its 17,000-square-foot Highlands Spa, fine dining in the resort’s signature lounges and Manzanita restaurant, in-room dining, Executive Business Service Center, Ritz Kids Program, and short gondola rides to the restaurants, shops and galleries of the Village-at-Northstar.
Other ownership privileges of Ritz-Carlton Residence ownership includes membership in Tahoe Mountain Club, offering two championship golf courses, private mid-mountain dining at Schaffer’s Camp and The Pavilion at Old Greenwood’s swim and tennis facilities.
The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe is the region’s first Forbes Four Star and AAA Five Diamond resort, and the first Ritz-Carlton ever to receive LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe is designed as a series of linked pavilions lining the contour of the hillside with a grand octagonal lobby at the center. The entire top floor and a private wing of the third floor is dedicated to the twenty-three penthouses, including Mr. Jeffers’ three show homes.
Recognized as one of his generation’s most dynamic designers, and founder of Jeffers Design Group, a full-service firm based in San Francisco, his projects include residences in San Francisco, Tahoe, New York, Los Angeles and beyond. In May 2012, Jeffers launched his first retail space in San Francisco, Cavalier by Jay Jeffers, to showcase "handsome goods for the home," a curated selection of furnishings and accessories. Jeffers’ work has been featured in Architectural Digest, InStyle, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Lake Tahoe are available for immediate occupancy. The sales launch comes less than two months after Kennedy Wilson and its partners acquired The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe and The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Lake Tahoe from the property’s lenders, and follows an unprecedented strong season for The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe under the auspices of this new ownership.