Fredo Corleone: the Tahoe Connection

       The late actor, John Cazale, will forever be associated with that telling episode from the movie, The Godfather II, Francis Ford Coppola's Italian family saga.   The character, Fredo Corleone, is taken on a one-way fishing trip out on to the placid waters of our lago.  He embarks from the compound on the shore that we locals know as Fleur du Lac, the walled compound of lakefront estates between Homewood and Tahoe City.
      Today's Wall St. Journal has an article describing their selection of "House of the Year", a'condo' on the West Shore situated in Fluer du Lac.   In the accompanying photo, Zari Mansouri,  president of a bay Area company, stands in front of the home.   She lives there, full time, but is selling do to her professional obligations at the company.
     The home received the most votes in WSJ's readers poll for 2013.   It serves to underscore the popularity of the Tahoe mystique: that quality that lingers in the memories of visitors to the West Shore.   Other photos highlight the attractions: alpine architecture, unique vistas, and granite accents wherever one looks.
      We know what is missing from the article: the depressing economic realities of seasonal dependency on tourism for those who live and work along Highway 89.   The lifestyle, while attractive to the masses, is affordable to the few: those few of independent means, usually from outside the Basin.