LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – From seasonal landscape maintenance using his father’s borrowed trailer to extensive landscape design, construction and outdoor living projects, Tahoe local Billy Landis has worked his way from the ground up.
During his time as a general manager for a restaurant, Landis ran a landscaping business on the side while harboring goals to stay in the hospitality industry. He had dreams of, one day, owning and operating his own restaurant – that is until COVID-19 shut the hospitality industry down, forcing him to forge a different path.
“At that time, I just had to pivot and figure out ‘what can I do?'” said Landis, and like many of us who still had mouths to feed and bills to pay, Landis got creative. “I called everyone I knew in Tahoe, and pretty much just asked them, ‘Do you want me to come clean up your yard?'”
In COVID’s wake, Landis’s side hustle, Tahoe Seasonal Solutions, became a trusted service and people kept calling. With his background studying business and entrepreneurship at the University of Oregon, he had the skills to maintain a high-quality business. “I made sure my guys and myself did a great job. Everything was clean, the communication was there with the client, the pricing was right, and it just kept growing slowly from there,” Landis said.
Eventually, Landis began thinking outside the box of yard clean-up and realized there was also a need for a different type of landscaping. One where functionality meets creativity. Thus, Tahoe Haven Outdoor Living was born.
Tahoe Haven Outdoor Living is the design-build division of his company specializing in natural stonework, custom patios, fire features, artificial turf and outdoor gathering spaces. The company’s services span from beautifully designed, full-featured outdoor kitchens to retaining walls and heated driveways. With knowledge and experience of the Sierra Nevada climate, Tahoe Haven Outdoor Living creates spaces specifically designed to thrive, long-term, in mountain environments.
“What really makes a patio last a long time is what’s under it. We want to put in something that grandkids will be able to enjoy in 20 to 30 years,” said Landis. “We want longevity. We’re a contractor that wants to be able to share our projects down the road and see that, even though we had 60 feet of snow, everything is still holding up fine.”
Tahoe Haven’s uniqueness stems from the passion and pride that Landis has for Lake Tahoe. He doesn’t just occupy a business mindset when it comes to creating beautiful outdoor spaces that are custom-designed for people who love Tahoe as much as he does. He has an emotional attachment rooted in family and legacy.
“My family has been here for a long time. A lot of families really enjoy this place, even if they don’t live here full-time. This is their haven, their sanctuary, their place they can enjoy with family and friends,” Landis said. “I just think that’s really important, because that’s the thing about outdoor living spaces – it’s where memories are made for families.”
Whether you’re surrounded by towering Jeffrey pines or you’re overlooking the Sierra Nevada desert, Tahoe Haven Outdoor Living works with your space and your vision and turns it into a reality.
Landis’s family-owned business continues to grow, and you can now find Tahoe Haven Outdoor Living working on projects all the way from Rubicon Bay to Incline Village and everywhere in between, including Truckee and Reno. They’ve started migrating their operations to the Tahoe Keys area depending on the project’s capacity.
For those in need of things like landscape maintenance and seasonal property services, Tahoe Seasonal Solutions is still hard at work.
Growth, however, doesn’t come without challenges, and Landis knows better than anyone that seasonality is one of Tahoe’s biggest obstacles. Finding quality employees is a continued goal.
Because of TRPA rules, excavation and digging are allowed from May 1 to October 15, making the season a short one. To solve that problem, Landis is now licensed in Nevada with goals of providing his employees with year-round work.
Both Tahoe Haven Outdoor Living and Tahoe Seasonal Solutions are currently hiring. “We create a community where people can start a career with us. Someone can start as a technician and work their way to an irrigation foreman, or a landscape installation foreman.”
To learn more about Tahoe Haven Outdoor Living, visit https://www.tahoehavenoutdoorliving.com/.
You can find information on Tahoe Seasonal Solutions at tahoeseasonalsolutions.com.
“I just put my best foot forward for my family and the community around me to create a business where people can rely on us,” Landis added.
