VINTAGE VEGAS
While driving through older residential neighborhoods in downtown Las Vegas east of Fremont Street, further south along Rancho Drive between Charleston Boulevard and Sahara Avenue and at the corners of East Desert Inn and Eastern Avenue, you’ll come across homes that don’t seem to fit the typical stucco, Spanish-tiled roof tract housing seen throughout Southern Nevada. Built in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, these homes are excellent examples of midcentury modern architecture.
Rooflines are low-pitched, flat, irregular and overlapping. Whole walls may be constructed of glass or sections of walls embedded with high-set windows. Oversized, towering stone fireplaces dominate living rooms and interior ceilings reveal exposed wooden beams. Many of the exteriors also are adorned with panels of decorative cement blocks, patched together in lattice-like patterns.
The style, also known as desert modern, was typical of something you’d see throughout Palm Springs, Calif.: hip, swank, cool looking compared with the boxy bungalows built before World War II.
Jack LeVine has been in the real estate business for 25 years and began specializing in midcentury modern residences 10 years ago, primarily in the downtown Fremont Street area, east to Boulder Highway, west to Valley View Boulevard and south to Flamingo Road. He lives in a 2,300-square-foot home built in 1954 consisting of two bedrooms, one bath and a maid’s quarters. He believes it was custom built for a casino boss for around $30,000 and would fetch close to $200,000 in today’s market.
“This home was designed for the desert,” said LeVine, a Bella Vegas Homes Realty agent. “It has high windows to provide natural light, but keeps out heat and provides privacy. This is real plaster. No drywall (boards).”
LeVine estimates midcentury modern home sales only account for about 5 percent of the Southern Nevada real estate market, but he still maintains an interest in vintage houses because they have a charm and character newer neighborhoods lack.
LeVine categorizes the types of people interested in these homes as being baby boomers trying to rekindle their youth, grandchildren who grew up in suburbia and want a lifestyle change and those looking for a specific location or price range.
Average prices range from about $100,000 or lower to more than $1 million and higher depending on the neighborhoods these homes are. Rancho Circle and the Scotch 80s nestled on the west and east sides of Rancho Road near Sahara Avenue and Interstate 15 have some of the most expensive midcentury modern homes.
Michael McGraw, a Realtor with The Agency Nevada, bought his first home in 2005 in the Scotch 80s and recently sold the five bedroom, 5,300-square-foot residence for $1.1 million. A self-proclaimed diehard Scotch 80s fan, he bought a smaller 1,700-square-foot property near his old home, but plans to expand it to 6,000 square feet.
“People are buying these homes for themselves. I haven’t seen any investors and haven’t seen any for rent,” said McGraw, who has sold 10 properties in the secluded, mature tree-lined community. “The Scotch 80s is in high demand because it’s a real neighborhood, where people know their neighbors and walk their dogs together and enjoy dine-arounds.”
McGraw said neighborhoods like the Scotch 80s are attracting younger people with children, a professional demographic wanting a larger home set on a half to 1 acre of land. He estimates the homes in his neighborhood are selling on average for $175 to $200 per square foot.
“People who sell their home in the Scotch 80s want to stay in the Scotch 80s,” McGraw said. “From everyone’s backyard, you have views of the Strip … We are on the gritty part of the city. A lot of people like this urban feeling.”
Monk Boyer, a Realty Executives real estate agent, believes midcentury homes are predominantly a niche market.
“The type of buyer is an older person who wants to remodel, and the younger buyer is just excited about the novelty of an older home,” Boyer said. “I think vintage homes are a great starter home in the McNeil Estates and Paradise Palms areas.”
McNeil Estates is near Rancho Road, Oakey Boulevard and Cashman Drive. Paradise Palms surrounds the Las Vegas National Golf Club at Desert Inn and Eastern and running up to the Boulevard Mall to the west.
On average, Boyer said he doesn’t get a lot of calls for midcentury homes, but adds that the upscale neighborhoods, such as Rancho Circle, the Scotch 80s and the Las Vegas Country Club will always be in demand. He doesn’t see vintage homes in less desirable areas being very appealing.
“These homes are charming and unique with their architecture,” Boyer said. “But they are more costly in upkeep. The maintenance is much more and they aren’t very energy-efficient houses.”
