Lake Tahoe first drew hardy people seeking to build lives in its wilderness, and later San Francisco's elite built seasonal retreats along its shore, bringing a leisurely and elegant way of living to this Sierra setting. In 1901, self-made businessman Isais W. Hellman hired the San Francisco architects Bliss and Faville to build Pine Lodge as his summer retreat on a chosen site within his 1,016 acres on Lake Tahoe's west shore. The spectacular three-story, 11,703-square-foot home later became known as Ehrman Mansion after Hellman's daughter Florence married Sidney Ehrman. The family used the home from 1903 until 1965, when Hellman's great-granddaughter Christianne sold it to the state of California. Many materials came from the surrounding area: granite, including stone for the living room fireplace, came from a quarry at nearby Meeks Creek, and lumber from Hobart Mills near Truckee was shipped to Tahoe City and then carried across the lake by barge to Sugar Pint Point.