Luxury real estate gets a boost in Lake Tahoe with announcement of new Sotheby’s International Realty affiliate

Sotheby’s International Realty® has announced a new name and new ownership for its Zephyr Cove office in Lake Tahoe. The company, formerly known as Distinctive Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, is now doing business as Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty.

Jean Merkelbach will remain with the company in an ownership and sales capacity but a new managing broker will be named in the Zephyr Cove office.  The firm has been purchased by a Denver-based Sotheby’s International Realty (SIR) affiliate company which owns 7 SIR offices in the Denver metro area and Vail Valley, as well as 4 SIR offices in Park City, Deer Valley and Salt Lake City, Utah. The firm has a combined total of 370 sales associates and support employees. In 2011, the company closed 2,514 transactions—valued at $1,490,749,996.

“Lake Tahoe is the focal point of new development opportunities and a primary destination for people throughout the Bay Area and the West who want a mountain escape in a beautiful setting,” said Merkelbach. “I’m proud of the success we have enjoyed over the last 14 years in the Lake Tahoe market, and we’re all looking forward to the exciting times ahead. Enlarging the Sotheby’s International Realty presence around the lake and in the general market will provide clients with exceptional service and results that they can’t find anywhere else.”

Industry veterans Scott Webber and Thomas Wright, the company’s new owners, will oversee Sierra SIR’s growth. The company has already established new offices on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore in Squaw Valley & also on the West Shore.

“We have deep roots in Lake Tahoe going back over 40 years and are excited to build a dominant presence and capitalize on the unique synergies of the strong SIR network of agents and clients in the Bay Area and Southern California,” said Scott Webber

The Sotheby’s International Realty® network currently has nearly 12,000 sales associates located in approximately 590 offices in 44 countries and territories worldwide.