Top luxury homes sales of 2023

Singer Celine Dion, the Prince of Brunei and actor Mark Wahlberg made Real Estate Millions headlines in 2023 by their participation in the top sales in the luxury real estate market.

It was quite the active luxury market at the top end while sales of $1 million and higher were running behind numbers compared to 2021 and 2022.

No. 1

As a Las Vegas headliner for years, it’s only fitting that Dion, who continues to call Lake Las Vegas home, sold her newly completed estate in The Summit Club in Summerlin for a record $30 million, beating the $25 million paid in 2021 for a new MacDonald Highlands estate bought by Anthony Hsieh, the founder and chairman of LoanDepot.

Realtors said Dion, who bought the unfinished home in 2017 for $9.2 million, had never lived in it. The buyer was an LLC connected to Chuck Esserman, the president and founder of San Francisco-based TSG Consumer Partners, according to Clark County property records.

The home sits on 1.4 acres measuring 30,985 square feet with four bedrooms, seven full baths and five partial baths. It has 11,979 square feet on the first floor, 4,458 square feet on the second floor, 14,548 square feet in a basement and 241 square feet in an unfinished portion of the basement. The home has 3,300 square feet in a basement garage.

No. 2

The unfinished 16-acre palatial estate in Spanish Trail owned by Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Bruneil sold for $25 million to an unnamed buyer in STLV Properties LLC of Sparks.

Ivan Sher, owner of IS Luxury who represents the prince, and Michelle Sullivan of Douglas Elliman of Nevada represented the buyer.

There’s unlikely to be another estate like it built in Las Vegas given its size and opulence. It’s an estate that can handle an extended family and guests with more than 25 bedrooms and 46 baths in 10 buildings and 110,320 square feet of living space. There’s more than 37,000 square feet in the main house that has five bedrooms, eight baths, a dining hall, music room and entertainment room.

Beyond that, there are two guest homes, villas, a study pavilion and a carriage house where others can live. There’s even a caretaker residence with seven bedrooms.

There’s no need to leave the grounds for sports and other activities with an athletic club spanning 47,367 square feet that features a badminton court, squash court, spa, indoor pool, bowling alley and nightclub. The athletic club also has a guest suite and 10 baths. For the outdoors, there’s a tennis court and three pools and garden-landscaped grounds.

No. 3 and No. 5

Mark Wahlberg, the actor who relocated to Las Vegas from Hollywood, shows up twice in the list at No. 3 in which he was linked to the purchase of a home in the Summit Club for $21.25 million; and No. 5 in which he sold his bungalow in the Summit Club for $16.65 million after paying $14.5 million for it in August 2022.

The $21.25 million two-story home built in 2022 measures 8,419 square feet with six bedrooms, eight baths and a three-car garage. It sits on 0.65 acres and has a swimming pool. It’s a spartan home with no gym, theater or formal dining room. It does have a pool, spa, fire pit and an outdoor kitchen.

Anthony Spiegel with IS Luxury was the listing agent for the home.

The two-story bungalow Wahlberg sold measures 7,327 square feet with four bedrooms and six baths. Before he bought the bungalow in 2022, Wahlberg purchased 2.5 acres in The Summit Club for $15.6 million in order to build a luxury mansion. That construction has yet to start.

No. 4

A mansion in the Ascaya hillside in Henderson sold for $20.5 million to take No. 4 on the list for 2023. That same home sold for $14.69 million in June 2021. Referred to as the “House of Wow and Water,” it was designed and built by Sun West Custom Homes.

The one-story home measures 12,101 square feet and sits on 2.27 acres with six bedrooms, six full baths and two partial baths. It has a six-car garage. The home has a swimming pool that measures more than 5,900 square feet with a cold plunge and spa.

Daniel Coletti with Sun West Luxury Realty was the listing agent while Ivan Sher with IS Luxury was the buyer’s agent.

No. 6

MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren sold his home in The Ridges in Summerlin for $15.95 million with Sher as both the listing agent and buyer’s agent.

The home had previously been listed during the early part of the pandemic in July 2020 for $10.5 million and taken off the market. It sits on 1.47 acres and measures nearly 13,000 square feet with five bedrooms and eight baths.

The home is known as an architectural marvel in Las Vegas with the name Skyspace at the base of Red Rock Canyon. It was designed by architecture firm Marmol Radziner, built by Jack Raftery and the project involved artist James Turrell. The home is one of only two residences in Southern Nevada designed by Marmol Radziner and is composed entirely of glass, steel and concrete. Bamboo and pine trees are incorporated into the living spaces to create an indoor-outdoor living experience.

The property’s James Turrell Skyspace is an art installation that plays on space and light and is one of just a few worldwide residential installations by the artist.

The estate includes a subterranean, half court for basketball, residential fitness room, dedicated office space, in-home movie theater and expansive wine cellar.

No. 7

A two-story Summit Club home in Summerlin known as Sky Summit sold for $15.5 million.

The home on Vegas Hills Court measures 8,936 square feet with seven bedrooms, six full baths, two partial baths and a five-car garage. It was built in 2020 and sits on 0.8 acres.

Austin Sherwood with Luxury Estates International was the listing agent while Zar Zanganeh with The Agency Las Vegas was the buyer’s agent.

No. 8

Sun West Custom Homes sold a newly completed home on Heavens Edge Court in Ascaya for $14.25 million. Daniel Coletti was the listing agent while Ivan Sher of IS Luxury was the buyer’s agent.

This single-story home sits on a 2.53-acre lot and measures 9,589 square feet. It has seven bedrooms, including an exercise room/casita, nine baths, a study, game room and six-car split garage. The backyard has a pool, spa, cold plunge and outdoor kitchen and fire features.

No. 9

A two-story home on Dragon Peak Drive in MacDonald Highlands in Henderson sold for $12.9 million.

The home built by Blue Heron measures 9,534 square feet with six bedrooms, six full baths, two partial baths and a four-car garage. It sits on 0.86 acres.

Kristen Routh Silberman of Douglas Elliman Las Vegas was the listing agent for the home that has two infinity pools, a spa, glass wine cellar, indoor-outdoor office, bar and media room, game room, gym, indoor-outdoor living room and wine-tasting lounge.

The kitchen has a separate catering kitchen and there’s an outdoor hibachi grill and bar that people can swim up to. There’s a covered outdoor living room between the two pools with ceiling heaters and misters.

Three tie for No. 10

■ KISS frontman Gene Simmons wasn’t a Las Vegas resident for long after purchasing an Asaya home in May 2021 for $8.2 million and an adjacent half-acre lot for $2.6 million. He sold both for $11 million, which is $200,000 more than he paid but doesn’t include his upgrades, such as adding more than 130 trees and a walking trail.

Built in 2016, the hillside home sits on just under a half-acre and has three levels and measures 10,871 square feet. It has an 11-car garage. There’s an infinity-edge pool and lower-level entertainment area with a theater room.

Evangelina Duke-Petroni with IS Luxury served as the listing agent while Christopher Logan with Realty One Group was the buyer’s agent.

Simmons’ former home has an illusioned floating pathway over a sculptural koi pond. The master bedroom on the second floor suspends over part of the yard.

■ Former Golden Knights winger Max Pacioretty tied Simmons at No. 10 by selling his Summerlin home in The Ridges for $11 million after buying it for $6.4 million. He spent millions on renovations and expansion.

Pacioretty bought it from then-Knights teammate Alex Pietrangelo, who paid $5.32 million for a home in The Ridges while listing his lot in The Summit Club he bought for $5.25 million in 2021. Pacioretty sold it in May for $7.5 million.

Madison Blau BenShimon with IS Luxury represented Pietrangelo in his two transactions and also represented Pacioretty.

Pacioretty’s former one-story home on Crested Cloud Way has a basement that sits on a half-acre in the Indigo neighborhood of The Ridges. It was built in 2018, but since its renovation, it now has six bedrooms, eight baths and a six-car garage. It measures 10,181 square feet. Indigo only allows one-story homes, which prompts more basement construction.

The home has a wine cellar, gym, sauna, den, media room and two additional guest rooms. The backyard features a 55-foot long pool with a center island, water features, fire pit, a full outdoor kitchen and sport court.

■ A newly built MacDonald Highlands home also tied for No. 10 at $11 million. Constructed by Blue Heron, it measures 8,114 square feet with five bedrooms, six baths and a four-car garage. It has a theater, game and entertainment room, indoor and outdoor dining, pool, fire lounge, outdoor kitchen and outdoor living room.

Routh-Silberman served as both the listing agent and buyer’s agent.

Celebrity sales

■ Comedian Jo Koy paid $10 million for a home on Soaring Bird Court in The Ridges that was built in 2011 and measures 8,244 square feet with four bedrooms, four full baths and four partial baths. It sits on 0.52 acres.

■ Actor Dean Cain, who played Superman on ABC’s “Lois &Clark” in the 1990s, paid $3.995 million for a two-story home in Seven Hills in Henderson. The home built in 2017 sits on 0.27 acres in the guard-gated Terracina at Seven Hills. It measures 6,557 square feet with five bedrooms, seven baths and a three-car garage.

In the rear of the home, there’s an infinity-edge pool, spa, fire bowls and waterfall and built-in outdoor bar and kitchen to entertain.

■ The former home of the late Las Vegas headliners Siegfried and Roy sold for $3 million to the family that operates Missouri-based Carden Circus International.

The father-and-son owners, George and Brett Carden, wanted to preserve the Valley Drive property as a shrine to the duo and possibly make it a tourist attraction.

Known as “Jungle Palace,” it served as Siegfried and Roy’s residence when they performed at The Mirage from 1990 to 2003. Their home in North Las Vegas known as “Little Bavaria” served as their primary home until their deaths.

The home was built in 1954 and measures 8,750 square feet. It has two bedrooms, two full baths, two partial baths and an indoor Jacuzzi.

The site also has three guest houses ranging from 1,600 square feet to 1,900 square feet and three pools. The property has water features throughout, skylights, bird sanctuary and animal enclosures.