Written by Richard Miner in IVCBA – LIVE.WORK.PLAY. Magazine Holiday Edition

Few buildings in communities around the North Shore of Lake Tahoe have attracted more attention for longer than the Orbit gas station on SR 28 at the entry to Incline Village from the Crystal Bay side of town. But the deeper this author got into the history of this landmark, the more complicated telling its story became. With the relocation of SR31 (now 431, the Mount Rose Highway) completed in 1959, in time for the 1960 Winter Olympics to be held at Squaw Valley that year, the need for a gas station between Reno and the California border at Kings Beach became a necessity. Enter Jack A. Ferguson, Senior, who purchased property at the then junction of Nevada State Highway 28 (now Lake Shore Blvd.) with the newly completed Mount Rose Highway. Jack purchased the land from the Crystal Bay Development Company in a deed signed on the 25th day of April, 1961. The property is to this day still owned by Jack Ferguson’s heirs under the business name of Village Springs LLC.

The new Mount Rose Highway followed a significantly different path than today. In 1961, the new roadway curved towards Crystal Bay on the uphill side of the current roundabout and proceeded west, making a sharp turn down to Lakeshore Blvd. (then SR 28) to form a T-intersection. In so doing, it literally wrapped around the Orbit station property between what is now a small Washoe County public park and the gas station site. SR 28 then continued straight towards Crystal Bay, slightly below the current alignment of that highway. Thus, the Orbit gas station was in a perfect location for travel between the California border and Reno or the east shore of Lake Tahoe.

A feature of “our” Orbit station that has always attracted attention is its design, which is usually classified as “Mid-Century Modern” by architectural standards but is more commonly known as “Space Age” or “Googie” architecture. Our station is popularly associated with a series of gas stations built in California in the late 1950s and 60’s, which featured reinforced concrete “flying wing” designs, some of which are still extant in the Sacramento area. At least some of these “Googie” style gas stations built around Sacramento are attributed to an architect named Ed Ward, but Ward had nothing to do with the Incline Orbit station. Local architect Phil Gilanfarr, whose father also practiced architecture here, is currently involved with the design and planning of the future use of what I will simply call the Orbit property for Village Springs LLC. Phil was very helpful in my research and supplied a copy of the original correspondence between Washoe County and the actual architect retained by Jack Ferguson to design his Orbit station, one Sherrill Jay Broudy. Broudy later achieved success in Southern California as a designer and manufacturer of wall panels and mid-century modern furniture via a  Los Angeles-based company named Forms and Surfaces, a successor of which is still in business in Carpinteria, CA.

It is probably lost to history as to how Ferguson and Broudy came together to create our Orbit’s station striking design, but the evidence is clear: Sherrill Broudy was the architect for the Incline Village project. A search of the AIA (American Institute of Architects) database at the time lists Sherrill Jay Broudy of Los Angeles, CA, but not a single major building for which he was responsible, not even Incline’s Orbit gas station. However, according to architect Gilanfarr, Broudy was also the designer of a pounded brass door, which, to this day, still decorates the front door of a house on Fairview Drive in Incline Village. How Ferguson and Broudy got together to design the Orbit station still remains a mystery, but Ferguson had business dealings in the Los Angeles area that may have led to a client/patron relationship. And Broudy’s involvement in the Orbit project then might have led to the door covering commission. mentioned above—but this is just speculation.

In any case, the Broudy design was quickly finalized, and construction began in the summer of 1961. According to Gilanfarr, the structure is steel-framed, anchored in stone-faced concrete piers on opposite sides of the building where the structure meets the ground. Timber beams were bolted to the steel, and a shake roof of plywood paneling covers the soaring wings, which are the major visual feature of the design. The resulting structure was surprisingly rigid despite its lateral overhangs and has remained amazingly intact after 65 years of Sierra Nevada weather, which has wreaked havoc with lesser structures. The contractor for the project has still not been identified, but progress was rapid, and Washoe County records indicate that a Certificate of Occupancy for the new gas station was issued on June 14, 1962.

A lot of misinformation surrounds the names of gas stations associated with the Orbit “brand,” which cropped up across California and elsewhere in the early 1960s. But over the years, many independent stations, and for that matter, even large resellers like Costco, purchased their gasoline from private distributors who were not directly affiliated with the large refiners like Chevron or Shell. However the the last affiliation for Incline’s Orbit station was, at least from the decals still visible on its doors, none other than one of the largest domestic oil refiners, Texaco. That said, all the research I’ve done indicates there was never a gasoline refiner or distributor named Orbit. Here’s a quote from a Google search on the subject:

“Orbit was not a gasoline distributor in the 1960s; it was a brand of gas-station-branded gum sold in the 1960s. The name Orbit was associated with gas stations for a period of time, but the brand is most famously known as a brand of chewing gum sold by the Wrigley Company.” 

So there is still a lot missing from establishing the provenance of Incline Village’s Orbit gas station. Jack A. Ferguson, Sr. and his wife, Mary Ann, divorced, and the record shows the ownership of the station property was transferred to one “Mary Ann Ferguson” on April 26, 1996. On May 3, 2004, Washoe County records show that “M.A. Ferguson” transferred ownership of the property to Village Springs LLC, which remains the owner of record to this day. Jack Senior remarried and passed away over a decade ago, but Mary Ann—as of a year or so ago—was still alive, and their daughter, Catherine, now heads the Village Springs LLC. Village Springs retained the services of Incline architect Phil Gilanfarr to develop a variety of plans for how best to use the property going forward. These plans are still a work in progress today.

___________________

Photo Credit: The photos used in this article were taken by Incline resident Roland Schumann in September 2025. Mr. Schumann has generously given the author one-time permission for their use. These images are copyrighted by Mr.Schumann.

Originally Published in the Holiday Issue of IVCBA’s Seasonal Magazine LIVE.WORK.PLAY, Written by Kayla Anderson

Incline Village is known for its changing wintry weather, and not everyone is a skier or snowboarder. Fortunately, Tahoe natives Will and Ashley Wolford manage a place behind The Paddle Wheel on 120 Country Club Drive #15 that invites locals and visitors to come in anytime, relax, and play some golf…no matter what Mother Nature orchestrates outside. 

With a single bay facing Trackman iO golf simulator screens, golf aficionados can practice their swing year-round at Iron & Wood while using state-of-the-art technology that provides relatable data, which in turn helps improve their game. 

“The ball flies higher and farther up here, so it’s helpful to come practice before playing a Tahoe course,” Will says. 

Will and Ashley are both from North Lake Tahoe but connected years later after they moved back and met on a blind date at the Tahoe City Golf Course. Ashley is from Incline Village and has been a golf instructor with IVGID for the past few years. After having their first child (now almost 2 years old), the couple wanted to start their own business. 

“We wanted to live in Tahoe and knew golf would somehow be a part of that,” Ashley says about how they came up with the Iron & Wood concept. She explains that Iron & Wood is a multi-use venue that caters to locals, visitors looking for something to do, and those who want to take lessons with Ashley. 

“People saw the benefit in practicing consistently beforehand and faster improvement in their game. And we use real golf balls,” Ashley says. 

Will adds that, along with being in a nice indoor environment, people can actually talk to each other while playing instead of being away from their friends searching for their ball, plus it’s good for beginners because you can move along the course at your own speed instead of having to worry about the pace of play. Iron & Wood gets a mix of non-golfers, golfers, kids, and people who even rent out the space for their weddings, bachelor parties, and birthday parties, although the couple’s ultimate goal is to feed golfers to the course.

“Our goal is to build better golfers,” Will says. 

Iron & Wood is rented by the hour, and there are around 400 courses loaded onto the Trackman golf simulator. 

Incline Village resident Chris Feroli has been a familiar face at Iron & Wood since day one. After moving to Incline five years ago, he started taking lessons with Ashley about three years ago.

“I’ve been coming here since Iron & Wood opened, I think I signed up right when it started,” Chris says with a grin. “In the winter, I’m usually here twice a week.”

He plays once a week at the Championship Golf Course in the summertime and says his game has improved immensely since he started frequenting Iron & Wood. 

“I have way more confidence out on the course. And these two are great; they’re friendly and welcoming. It’s fun to watch their business grow and nice to play year-round,” Feroli adds.For more information about Iron & Wood or to book a reservation, visit https://www.ironandwoodgolf.com/.