Wayne Newton’s former Casa de Shenandoah listed for $30M
The former Casa De Shenandoah is again up for sale, but its former owner long ago carried away what matters most.
“I never sold my memories and love for Shenandoah,” Wayne Newton said Tuesday afternoon. “I took those with me.”
The Las Vegas property is listed for nearly $30 million, according to a real estate posting.
The seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom, 57,000-square-foot estate on the corner of Sunset and Pecos roads was posted on Zillow on Friday under real estate agency Luxe Estates & Lifestyles LLC. The house is being featured as the “most famous estate in Las Vegas” with 39 acres, including eight homes, a car museum, 53 horse stalls and an equestrian center and a heliport, according to the listing.
The estate had accrued more than 6,000 online views by Tuesday night.
The home and surrounding commercial property were sold last year to two companies, for a combined $10.53 million. The owner is listed in the Clark County assessor’s database as Smoketree LLC, which reported using the property for “professional and business services.”
Wayne’s wife, Kathleen , said in a phone chat Tuesday night that she was aware of the listing but the family has put the property they call “The Ranch” in the past. Newton began work on the property in 1966, building it as a home for his parents and his late brother, Jerry.
“Wayne built Shenandoah, but now we have a new Casa de Shenandoah and we are enjoying it,” Kathleen Newton said in a phone chat Monday night. “Our home is where our family is, and it will always be that.”
The Newtons moved out of Shenandoah in June 2013. The family’s current home is nearby — the estate once owned by “Crazy Girls” producer Norbert Aleman.
The Newtons have prevailed in court against the current owners to retrieve items displayed when the property was Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah museum. Among the items the family has retrieved are Kathleen Newton’s wedding dress, Wayne Newton’s bronzed baby shoes, several stage costumes dating to the Newton Brothers’ earliest performances, a violin from Jack Benny, a bow tie from Bobby Darin and the framed Elvis Presley handwritten note on Las Vegas Hilton stationery that inspired the hit song “The Letter.”
The attraction opened in September 2015, with Newton managing the museum, and closed in April 2018. Earlier, the Newtons had formed an LLC with Texas banking magnate Lacy Harber and his wife, Dorothy, who had majority interest in the property. Over time, the Harbers invested some $100 million in the property.
Over the years, the property has been listed at $70 million in 2013, then $40 million a year later. The Newtons said in the spring of 2019 that they attempted to buy the property themselves. The couple reported they had an agreement to buy original ranch house and mansion for $6 million, but Harber’s former asset manager John Munson instead arranged the Smoketree purchase.
Newton said of the recent listing, “Isn’t it ironic that my wife and I had an agreement to buy the ranch for $6 millon and the current owners are bought it for just over $5 million, and now it’s for sale for $30 million?”
John Katsilometes’ “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram. Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.
