Then and now: From residence to library to coffeehouse
Alpina Cafe was once a library in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society
In 1946, Bob Wakeman bought an 18 foot x 20 foot cabin at what is now 822 Emerald Bay Road near the Y in South Lake Tahoe. He paid $600 for the land and cabin.
He enlarged it to house his growing family, and then in 1948 he opened the front room to become the first library on the South Shore while his family still resided there. Neighbor and friend Pat Amundsen’s house was the other library part: children’s books. In the 1950s, the library migrated to various larger locations including the Clarke Building (recently vacated by the Mattress Outlet), to upstairs at the American Legion Hall, and to other locations. In 1959, the local community erected a new block building in Al Tahoe which housed the library for 24 years.
Alpina Cafe today.
Photo/Bill Kingman
Over the years, that original Wakeman residence on Highway 89 has housed numerous endeavors. Today, it is Alpina Coffee Cafe. The slightly-elevated kitchen, cash register and serving counter area in the Alpina Cafe was the original 1940s cabin.
The local community built a new library in the 1950s which now is the Lake Tahoe Historical Society Museum on Highway 50 in Al Tahoe.
The museum was originally a library. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society
Today the county library is at 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.
El Dorado County library in South Lake Tahoe today. Photo/Bill Kingman
— Bill Kingman
Love these pictures and stories, how about starting a Facebook group that brings all these weekly stories together and makes it easy for folks to chime in with their memories? I know this format does that but then it seems to be lost where a Facebook group makes it easy to go back to see all the past stories. Here is an example with one I started. https://www.facebook.com/groups/681180895281224/ Thanks
For a few years it was also a Coldwell Banker real estate office.
Dave Wakeman assisted me on this. He lived there! Thank you, Dave.
Mark, try this: on the LTN home page, enter “Then and Now:” in the upper-right Search box (without quotation marks but with the colon).
I remember many years ago when the bike and skate rental company was in the building.
When I witnessed all the money that was going into the remodel to open the coffee house I thought who would ever pay that much for coffee?
Boy was I wrong!
It was the vision and resources of Christian Waskiewicz, owner of Alpen Sierra Coffee Roasting Company, that completely gutted and remodeled the entire Wakeman house in 1993, making it the cherished location it is today.
Dave Wakeman and sister Laurel Ames were very supportive.
Love this place!
You can also type in — Bill Kingman —
LTN staff
We love going to Alpina for coffee…..so cozy and rustic…..and we love the history of the building. We’re so glad Dave is around to tell the story of living there, and Bill is around to help perpetuate SLT’s history. The library has come a long way, hasn’t it?
“who would ever pay that much for coffee?”
ROTFLOL! Ow! I hurt myself.
I LOVE Alpina. Didn’t know its history. Didn’t even wonder. I like the surprises you bring to us, Bill!
The Clarke Building @ Brockway/50 (between Lilly’s & Jack-in-the-Box) has a cool brass plague on the front corner of the building signifying it as ‘Tahoe’s First High-Rise (1959)(both stories) – it was also the LTCC Learning Resources Center (1976-1982). . .
Check out the plaque !
Christian (when it was Alpen Sierra), was honored as an innovative small business owner at a regional economic forum sponsored by the old TTREC (Tahoe-Truckee Economic Coalition) as one of the first to renovate in the earlier Tahoe Valley Area Plan version. . .
If the Alpina Coffee Cafe can be up and running after its many transformations , can we save The Barton Ranch House? It would make for a great spot for a mini Tahoe museum, showing what life was like in Tahoe in the early 1900’s.
Another good one Bill!
Please support The Lake Tahoe Historical Society in their effort to save a bit of Tahoe history in The Barton House! Contact them at laketahoemuseum.org or call 530-541-5458
Please don’t let this “Old Tahoe” ranch house be destroyed under the grinding wheels of a tractor!
So take care, Old Long Skiis
Jan Wakeman, Dave’s mother, was the first librarian for the South Lake Tahoe Library. We were so lucky to have dedicated people like her and Pat Amundson who committed themselves to providing library services for the South Lake Tahoe community. Come by the library, and ask to see the collage of our many South Tahoe locations over the last 60+ years!