Another couple, Albert and Emily Snow, had similar aspirations and similar success. They moved from Vermont to California and set up the Washington Hotel in Groveland in the 1860s. Albert Snow got permission in 1869 to build a hotel at the base of Nevada Fall. The result was Alpine House. Also nearby was the spectacular Venal Fall, and so Alpine House proved a popular destination for visitors to both falls.

Emily Snow cooked for her visitors, and Albert continued to blaze new trails to the area. Business was so good in the first year of operation that the Snows doubled the size of their accommodation. Another expansion three years later resulted in a new name, La Casa Nevada. The new hotel had 22 bedrooms in all, along with an icehouse, stable, and woodshed.

The Snows' efforts proved incredibly popular. However, in 1889, they gave up the hotel. Emily died a year later, and Albert died a year after that. For several reasons, not least the absence of the famous Snows, business at La Casa Nevada dropped precipitously.

A fire in 1900 burned down much of the hotel, which had fallen into disrepair; the rest was used for firewood.

The only physical remains of the once prosperous efforts of Albert and Emily Snow lie in a three-volume guest register, which sat at the hotel's front desk.

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