Captain Whittell, as he liked to be called, despite having no military service, is quoted as saying: "When men stop boozing, womanizing and gambling, the bloom is off the rose."

It encompassed essentially 95% of the Nevada shoreline of Lake Tahoe — all of the land from Crystal Bay, Incline Village, Sand Harbor, Glenbrook, Cave Rock, and Zephyr Cove to Round Hill.

Between 1935 and 1969, Whittell continued to amass a vast majority of the acreage in Washoe, Carson, and Douglas Counties on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

In 1936 construction began the summer residence, Thunderbird Lodge, designed in the Rustic style by Frederic DeLongchamps for George Whittell Jr.

[2][3][4] As the years passed, Whittell grew more reclusive, gradually abandoning his casino development plans for Sand Harbor in favor of maintaining his own secluded hideaway and lifestyle.

He entertained only a few people at Thunderbird Lodge, including his neighbors Ty Cobb and Howard Hughes, for the occasional all night card games.

Whittell's dislike for unwanted visitors and curiosity-seekers is reflected by a loud siren that operated at Thunderbird Lodge's dock, that he used to frighten them away.

Nonetheless, Whittell is credited for the natural and unspoiled beauty of Lake Tahoe's present day eastern shoreline.