In 1925 Gertrude Church sold thirty acres of land to the Presbyterian Synod of California, which subsequently built the Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center. A year later the first subdivision in Zephyr Cove was developed. The area still retains many houses from the early twentieth century, ranging from log cabins to large stone dwellings, set amid dense stands of pine trees. The high value of the lots, many of which have spectacular views of the lake, and late twentieth-century demand for more living space have encouraged property owners to enlarge or replace these structures. Many of them are still used only as vacation homes, but the increasing popularity of lakeshore dwellings as year-round residences also threatens the survival of smaller, older homes.