I’m just intelligently guessing that about 300 of the 1044 homes in Paradise Palms were Krisel designs. Irwin Molasky’s Paradise Development Company developed the entire master planned community, and directly built the Krisel homes. There were other construction companies that built some of the “units” of Paradise Palms.

For example, in the first of the newsletters, we learned that the whole section north of Desert Inn, between Camelback Road and  Eastern Ave. were built by Miranti Homes. These 83 homes in Unit 11 were concrete block, ranch style homes with pitched roofs or flat roofs, and sunken living rooms.

The same article told us that “Unit 10” (which is the Tioga finger into the golf course), and “Unit 12” (the first few homes on the streets west of Spencer) were the work of Secrest Construction, who dubbed a group of 77 homes as the Americana Series. I think these were the ranch houses west of Spencer.  

I have no clue if Irwin Molasky’s Paradise Homes actually built the rest of the homes in his development. If anyone else has a clue or some history for me, please email or call me.

Plan 8 was the largest of the Bill Krisel Designs. It was 1900 square feet. The fireplace was the centerpiece of the home as it was an island which served as a divider between the family living room and the dining room. The other distinctive feature was the screened front courtyard in front of the kitchen window, which stretched over to the carport.

Almost all of the model 8’s have had the carport converted to garage. Unfortunately, many of them have had the screen walls removed. 

A good (bad – fixer upper) example of the Model 8C just sold as a foreclosure at 3419 Seneca, and a terrific well kept and beautifully painted example of the model 8B can be found at 3522 Pueblo Way, which is 3 or four houses west of the “Revision House”.  

I don’t recognize the 8A at all. I don’t recall any that have an extended facia providing shade to the bedroom windows. Nor do  I recognize the shadow block design on the left front of the house. Am I wrong?

There’s at least 3 people/couples that I know of who have been driving around Paradise Palms with these brochures trying to identify all the houses of each model. I wish I had the time to do it lesiurly as well. Perhaps one of them will spot an 8A that I’m not remembering.

The prices, which were rubber stamped onto the back of the brochures is a little harder to read on the the model 8, but they were:

Lot B $31,900 and

Lot C $34,500

Turns out….once the magazine and the online addition appeared…. that it’s a whole “Downtown Edition”.

8 feature articles ask and mostly answer:

Who are some artists I should know? I concur! And there’s a whole lot more that didn’t get mentioned.

What’s There To Do Downtown? (I thought this was all there was going to be based on the Fox5 piece) It’s an embedded google map of everything downtown. I’ve embedded it below, or you can see it at Las Vegas Weekly.  

What Can I Do On A Saturday Downtown? An excellent itinerary.

Can A Suburbanite Feel Welcome? Too bad he missed the best parts, and the biggest smiles.

How Dangerous Is It – Really? Not at all if you’re not venturing off the well beaten path.

What Should I Know Before I Go? A poetic group of recommendations from some of Downtown’s finest folk.

What’s Up With Neonopolis? They neglected to mention the Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art which is, granted, one of the only other tenant. The current exhibit of International Artists is wonderful, and should not be missed.  

What’s on The Drawing Board? With no mention of the Smith Center For The Performing Arts, The Ace Transit System, A new City Hall, and New Transit Terminal and a few  others.

Overall….an upbeat and enthusiastic overview of Downtown Las Vegas. Too bad they didn’t mention the TERRIFIC HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOODS and Mid Century Modern homes that surround downtown. But that’s my job, so I’ll forgive them.

 
View What’s there to do Downtown in a larger map

Paco’s one of my closest friends, and he’s taken up the mantle of blogging all things cultural in Las Vegas –  Enculturate Las Vegas. Besides, VeryVintageVegas, these are the other two local blogs that you should be reading regularly.

The interview with Brian Paco Alvarez is far reaching, with questions about culture in general, the myth of “there’s no culture in Las Vegas”, the neon museum, the arts district, and the question that’s most important to us at VVV:

4) Aside from a core group of supporters, Historic Preservation still feels like it is under-rated and under supported not only by the City and the County but by the residents of Las Vegas as well.  What suggestions do you have for making historical preservation more important to the local municipalities and the community at large?

The solution is very simple, “education.” The preservation groups must be willing to step forward and work closely with our community leaders to educate them about the treasures in which we as a society have been entrusted to care for. Las Vegas is a new city therefore we must find novel ways of explaining to the public that the buildings that were built 40 and 50 years ago are relevant to history because of the context in which they were built.

This community has a spectacular ephemeral past and we must use those collections whether they are from UNLV Special Collection, the Nevada State Museum or the Las Vegas News Bureau to educate the public about preserving our past. Unfortunately we do not have many large commercial buildings left to preserve but we have thousands of historic homes in dozens of historic neighborhoods that we should be preserved. Demonstrating to the public the importance of preserving these neighborhoods is key, not to mention it helps sustain property values. We must demonstrate to the public the economic value of historic preservation. Economics always resonates with the American public no matter what community you may live in.

Please take a moment to read the entire interview. It’s short, but full of insight into creating a better Las Vegas through culture.

I was hoping someone else would surface that had other editions stashed away, but, alas, it hasn’t happened.

We’ll continue with some more 1960’s fun with a new series of photographs from our secret historian. He just delivered a whole cache of 1960’s pictures, and we’ll need your help figuring out where they are.

Today’s edition of the Paradise Palms Desert News features smuggled art, more hair, a new gas station, and lots of furniture that we’d all love to have now.

My mother used to “let” me lick the S & H Green Stamps. There’s actually 3 full books of them in a box in her store room. All that licking, and they never got turned in for valuable merchandise.

Anyone know when the “flying A” got torn down?

There’s FOUR articles this month that I thought would be of interest to you as devoted readers of VeryVintageVegas:

Westleigh Neighborhood

The first is about the Westleigh Neighborhood, and it’s disappointing (to me and many others) effort to gain “official” historic designation. I’d covered the story before, but it’s a very good cautionary tale for all the other historic neighborhoods that might want to one day take the plunge into official recognition.

I use the term historic neighborhood all time. I use the term very loosely to describe ALL the neighborhoods of Vintage Vegas. But I guess I should always use it with small case letters. 

The story in Desert Companion starts on page 14 – “Who’s Afraid Of Big Bad History – When residents sought to secure historic status for downtown’s Westleigh neighborhood, they encountered opposition from…..their own neighbors?” by Andrew Kiraly

Commercial Center:

The second story is about Commercial Center, the sprawling complex of diversity that’s on Sahara Avenue, just west of Maryland Parkway. I personally love commercial center for being exactly what it is. I believe in it, and think of it as an important asset to the whole big picture of Vintage Vegas. I show it as a valuable resource to every home buyer that I work with.

Andrew Kiraly also penned the Commercial Center story that begins on page 26:  “SAVING (the other) CITY CENTER – How do you restore a historic shopping plaza like Commercial Center in hard times? Clean it up – without scrubbing away its soul”

Downtown Las Vegas Restaurants

Brooke Earnest gives us a run down and the low down of great food in Downtown Las Vegas. You’ll find it on page 54: “CHOW DOWN DOWNTOWN: A foodie craw of new hot spots (and old mainstays) reveals downtown never tasted so good.”

The “New Modernism”

In a valley full of cookie cutter stucco and tile roofs – even in the commercial buildings there’s some fabulous architecture that’s happening. From Brett Wesley’s new galley in the arts district, to a home in Summerlin to a motorcycle shop on Boulder Highway, there’s a new breath of fresh air,  with good old Mid Century Modern as it’s inspiration. Desert Companion gives us a glimpse starting on page 33: “WE BUILT THIS CITY – …..here’s a sampling of the hot architecture of the new Vegas cityscape….”

JUST A NOTE: The online version of the magazine opens in a flash player. It will take a few seconds to figure it out, but it’s fast and very readable – especially full screen.

Las Vegas Weekly Community Editor Sarah Feldberg has written a local’s primer to hanging out in Downtown Las Vegas. It’s really nice to see someone else all excited and enthused about what to do Downtown. Check out the video for a preview

The print article is in the edition that comes out this Thursday. I’ll add the online link to this post when it’s up, but you’ll want to pick it up and keep it around.

Paymon’s; Downtown Cocktail Room; Beauty Bar; Firefly; Trifecta Gallery; the Arts Factory, and Retro Vegas all get nods in the video. Hopefully Don’t Tell Mama, Griffin, Tinocco’s, and all the terrific free entertainment at Fremont Street Experience (as well as many others) will get their due.

This Thursday, you can check out the print or online version of Las Vegas Weekly.

It’s a charming neighborhood with a mixture of “Desert Modern” and “Ranch Modern” homes. All are on large lots and the entire neighborhood is dominated by huge trees. It’s a remarkably stable neighborhood, and has had very few foreclosures over the last few years. There’s currently only one home available (at $329k), and 4 in contract.

Some of the residents of Glen Heather are being threatened with an eminent domain taking for the I-15 Freeway expansion. The Project is called “Project Neon”. The entire huge project includes widening of I-15 from the Spaghetti Bowl to Sahara, as well as a complete new interchange for Charleston. I’d stayed up to date on pending takings for the Charleston Blvd Intersection project which threatened some of the homes just south of Charleston and West of MLK, but wasn’t aware till yesterday that Glen Heather was going to be impacted by the widening of I-15.

The Las Vegas Sun did a feature story yesterday about how the affected residents of Glen Heather are in limbo. Unlike efforts to expand casino and commercial districts into the historic neighborhoods, I don’t think there’s any way to stop a major public works project that will have such a huge impact on future traffic.  

The Short Sale occurs when the house can’t be sold for as much as is owed on it. Generally, the seller comes away with better credit than they would have after a foreclosure. The buyer gets a great deal, but has to wait a long time (sometimes as much as 4 months) until the seller’s bank approves the deal.

If you or someone you know is in trouble with their mortgage already, or is contemplating that they won’t be able to keep up with the payments, they should call me.

I can explain it to them in detail, and often help them to get the house sold. Now with the new program that’s part of the stimulous package, they can even get money from the government as an inducement to Short Sale the house instead of letting it go to foreclosure. The details are explained in the article below.

The article below explains a lot about the new program which will go into effect on April 5.

Call or email me if you’re in trouble with your loan. I can help. 

From The New York Times:

PROGRAM WILL PAY HOMEOWNERS TO SELL AT A LOSS

by David Streitfeld

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.
This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of the administration’s most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.
More than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government’s $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a small slice of them. Consumer advocates, economists and even some banking industry representatives say much more needs to be done.

For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy’s tentative recovery — the last thing it wants in an election year.
Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.
“We want to streamline and standardize the short sale process to make it much easier on the borrower and much easier on the lender,” said Seth Wheeler, a Treasury senior adviser.
The problem is highlighted by a routine case in Phoenix. Chris Paul, a real estate agent, has a house he is trying to sell on behalf of its owner, who owes $150,000. Mr. Paul has an offer for $48,000, but the bank holding the mortgage says it wants at least $90,000. The frustrated owner is now contemplating foreclosure.
To bring the various parties to the table — the homeowner, the lender that services the loan, the investor that owns the loan, the bank that owns the second mortgage on the property — the government intends to spread its cash around.
Under the new program, the servicing bank, as with all modifications, will get $1,000. Another $1,000 can go toward a second loan, if there is one. And for the first time the government would give money to the distressed homeowners themselves. They will get $1,500 in “relocation assistance.”

Should the incentives prove successful, the short sales program could have multiple benefits. For the investment pools that own many home loans, there is the prospect of getting more money with a sale than with a foreclosure.
For the borrowers, there is the likelihood of suffering less damage to credit ratings. And as part of the transaction, they will get the lender’s assurance that they will not later be sued for an unpaid mortgage balance.
For communities, the plan will mean fewer empty foreclosed houses waiting to be sold by banks. By some estimates, as many as half of all foreclosed properties are ransacked by either the former owners or vandals, which depresses the value of the property further and pulls down the value of neighboring homes.
If short sales are about to have their moment, it has been a long time coming. At the beginning of the foreclosure crisis, lenders shunned short sales. They were not equipped to deal with the labor-intensive process and were suspicious of it.
The lenders’ thinking, said the economist Thomas Lawler, went like this: “I lend someone $200,000 to buy a house. Then he says, ‘Look, I have someone willing to pay $150,000 for it; otherwise I think I’m going to default.’ Do I really believe the borrower can’t pay it back? And is $150,000 a reasonable offer for the property?”
Short sales are “tailor-made for fraud,” said Mr. Lawler, a former executive at the mortgage finance company Fannie Mae.
MORE FROM NYTIMES.COM

(more…)

During the formative years of the city of Las Vegas, there was only one high school, Las Vegas High.  The school was built because of the determination of one woman, Maude Frazier.  Located on 8th Street, many townspeople believed it was too far out of town and was too large.  Maude and history proved them wrong.

It became a beacon of education for school-age kids not only in Las Vegas but all across the valley.  Students were bussed in from Boulder City and other small towns.

The students had their rituals as all high schools do.  The Wildcat Lair was the teen club where dances were held and in the years following World War II, performers from the Strip would stop by and sing a few tunes or tell a few jokes before heading back to the showrooms.

The Rhythmettes were the idea of Evelyn Stuckey.  A precision drill team made up of young girls to help rally school spirit at athletic games, assemblies, Helldorado Parades and more, she made the name Rhythmettes synonymous with excellence.  Under her tutelage, the drill team performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in the early 1960s.

Join us on Thursday, March 4th for “Untold Stories” as we look back at this wonderful, colorful and lively history. 

Our panelists will include a

Rhythmette Cheryl Purdue and other Las Vegas alumni such as John Ullom, Rollie Gibbs, and that delightful couple, Gail and Donna Andress.

Dennis McBride and Paul Carson from the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas have graciously agreed to bring a number of items related to the school as well.

Thursday, March 4th

Untold Stories

Las Vegas Springs Preserve

Desert Learning Center

6:30 pm

$10

We hope to see you there

Plan 7B is so easily recognizable. There’s only 4 of them that were built. All are south of Desert Inn. The Caddy Shack is the most easy to spot with it’s lime green and white color scheme. It’s the home of Mary-Margaret and Cary Stratton, and was on our Paradise Palms Homes Tour in October 2008. It was also featured in the documentary film that was premiered last week at the Palm Springs Modern Weekend. There’s some interior photos in that link. If you haven’t seen driven by it, you haven’t really driven around in Paradise Palms. It’s on Seneca Drive, just south of Desert Inn. You can’t miss it.

Zane and Jenny are the proud new owners of one of them. I helped them snag it away from the bank this last fall. They’re busy working away on the inside, but at least the weeds are gone now from when they bought it. Their’s is in a similar location on Pawnee, just south of Desert Inn.

There’s also on on Pawnee Circle, next to Clay’s new house, which is one of the plan 5 tri-levels. The Fourth one is on Ottawa Drive, just east of Spencer.

All four of the 7B’s were built in a mirror image of the drawing.

Plan 7A and Plan 7C are turned 90 degrees so that the front door faces the street instead of the side of the house as it does on the 7B.

This is the “Caddy Shack” at night. It’s just as eye-popping during the day!

They started to get a little pricey as we moved into the bigger of the model.

Lot A = $28,400

Lot B = $29,500

Lot C = $31,600

Still I have no clue as to what was the difference between a the 3 lot choices.

This is a very restorable mid century modern home in Vintage Las Vegas. It’s a “desert modern” and one of the few in McNeil. Mostly McNeil is a neighborhood of “Ranch Modern”.  

McNeil was and is a middle class custom home neighborhood between Charleston and Oakey on the north and south and to the west of Rancho.

Hidden away behind all the over grown trees and shrubs, and the curved lava rock wall under the porte cochere is a really cool mid mod house.

This Mid Mod In Las Vegas is definitely a project house! It’s in one of the 3 cul-de-sacs of McNeil that can only be accessed going west off of Rancho Drive.  They’re the first 3 streets off of Rancho to the north of Oakey Drive.

The listing pictures kind of miss the best part of the house which is the towering  rock fireplace that looms over the 3 foot deep sunken living room.

The house has beamed ceilings, huge rooms, and plenty of mid mod flair to work with. It’s bank owned and priced at 235,700, and will require a healthy bank account to get it fixed up to it’s former glory.

The back yard landscape and pool seem to be salvageable but could definitely use some love from a new owner. The lot is a 1/3 acre – 12800 sf.

Currently, there are only 8 properties for sale in all of McNeil! They range from 180,000 to 420,000. This is the lowest inventory of available I’ve seen since the market peaks of ‘05 and ‘06.

Two of them are shortsales, this one we featuring today is the only bank owned one, and the other five are equity (or normal) sellers.

It’s time for another volume – July 1963 – of the Paradise Palms Newsletters. This one contains a special treat, which we’ll get to on page 3. There’s also a lot of great hair, 2 tone shoes to match the dogs, and a real “leave it to beaver” moment!

 (UPDATE: regular VVV reader and client Anya just discovered that that’s her house in the bottom right photo of the Welcome Mat. She vows to not only do over the house, but to get the same haircut as Naida Ormond!)

Here’s our special treat. Old time readers will remember that we’ve been championing the cause of getting a school named after Walter Zick, the prolific modernist architect of Las Vegas.

Walter Zick is responsible for the Mint, and the “Pod Schools”. He designed UNLV’s Maude Frazier Hall, and Flora Dungan Humanities Building; as well as Clark and Valley High Schools.  We still have numerous banks, office buildings, a dozen or so houses. Walter Zick was the preeminent architect of 1950’s and 60’s. The body of work that still remains are some of the best examples of modernism in what we now call Vintage Vegas.

We did a bus tour of the Zick buildings last October, and a panel discussion with Alan Hess and Walter’s daughters Claire and Karen.

Walter and his family moved from Washington and Decatur to a new home in Paradise Palms in 1963.

Claire told us at the panel discussion that people always asked her father why they lived in a tract house when he was an architect. He told them there was nothing he could build that was better than the Bill Krisel designed home in Paradise Palms.

Turns out that Irwin Molasky, the developer of Paradise Palms (or at least his staff) had a lot of respect for Walter Zick, and gave him not only the article on page 4, but a full page of photos. Maybe we should re-think full wall, floor to ceiling draperies!

The house is a Bill Krisel design, Plan 8 which we’ll show you in a couple of days.

The article in the Paradise Palms Newsletter about Walter Zick is here on page four.

For the sake of the search engines…I’m re-typing the article, (syntax, grammar, punctuation, typo’s and all) though it can clearly be read in the scan to the left, which is a clickable thumbnail if you’d like to see it full sized at 8.5 x 11.

Walter Zick, a partner in the firm of Zick & Sharp, outstanding architects in Nevada, threw open the doors of his beautiful home to the staff of your community Newspaper, the Desert News.

The Zick home at 3614 Ottawa Circle is the object of many sparkling eyes, particularly those playing the Stardust Golf Course adjoining the home. Its beauty and landscaping blends rounding homes.

Zick first came to Las Vegas in 1945 as an associate architect for the Flamingo Hotel. Although scheduled to remain only for one year, he fell in love with the Las Vegas Valley and decided to make it his home. In 1948, he joined with Harris Sharp to form the firm that now bears the name, Zick & Sharp. Many of the finest homes and buildings in the area are the results of their creation. The Zick home decor is styled in contemporary with oriental influence. Pictures of the home and the furnishings are presented on page 3 of this issue.

The Zicks – Walter and Mildred – have two daughters, Karen and Claire, both of whom attended Las Vegas High School. They are avid and ardent horse women. Their room in the home is the only one with a western atmosphere, completely dominated with ribbons won as contestants, and statuettes of horses too numerous to count.

Zick’s partner, Harris Sharp, also is a resident of Paradise Palms., and is in the midst of decorating and furnishing his home at th present time.

Guests in attendance will have the opportunity to sign the final steel beam before it is put in place, becoming a part of The Smith Center’s history. Immediately following the ceremony, tours of The Smith Center will be available. 

WHO:             Myron G. Martin, President & CEO

Donald D. Snyder, Chairman of the Board

Oscar B. Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas

Mr. Fred W. Smith, Chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation

Clark High School Marching Band

WHEN:           Thursday, February 25, 2010

                         2:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

                        Media check-in is at 2:30 pm

WHERE:        The Smith Center for the Performing Arts Construction Site

Entrance to the construction site is available from Clark Avenue, located on Grand Central Parkway, just north of Bonneville Avenue.