Casa de Shenandoah is the former estate of the singer Wayne Newton who used the property as a ranch for various animals. It is located on in Paradise, Nevada, in the Las Vegas Valley. Newton initially purchased five vacant acres of the property in 1966 and gradually expanded it with several houses, including a mansion completed in 1978.
In 2010, Newton proposed turning the estate into a public attraction, an idea that received opposition from nearby residents who had concerns about the traffic that such a project would bring. His proposal was approved by county officials, but was delayed in 2012 when his business partner on the project, CSD LLC, filed a lawsuit against him alleging that he and his family had interfered in the development plans.
After legal issues were resolved, the property was put up for sale in 2013 and again in 2014. The estate ultimately opened as a public attraction on September 18, 2015, with Newton's involvement. It closed for renovations on April 24, 2018. Newton said the property would reopen to the public, although he and his wife subsequently withdrew the permits for the attraction in July 2018. It was sold in 2019 to Smoketree LLC, which put it up for sale a year later.
History Singer Wayne Newton initially purchased five acres of the site in 1966. The site was vacant at the time. As of 1967, the Casa de Shenandoah ranch included a stable and riding corral. Newton, his parents, and his brother and sister-in-law lived in a guest house on the ranch, while a main house was in the planning stage. Newton had ten horses living on the ranch, as well as a pack of dogs. Newton's wife, Elaine, would also live at the ranch following the couple's marriage in 1968. At the time, the ranch included a Learjet plane on the site. Additional acreage was acquired between 1969 and 1972. The ranch would ultimately consist of .
As of 1970, Newton had an Arabian horse-breeding stable on the ranch. Newton would later breed his Arabian horses at a separate ranch elsewhere in Nevada, where the remainder of his horses would be kept. By 1973, the ranch had three houses and a horse hospital. As of 1976, Casa de Shenandoah was home to 120 Arabian horses. The ranch would later include a heliport and a dozen automobiles in various garages located on the estate. Newton's on-site automobile collection included Rolls-Royces, and a 1929 Duesenberg that once belonged to Howard Hughes, a former boss of Newton. In addition, Casa de Shenandoah has artesian wells and lakes.
As of 1976, work was underway on a new house for the ranch. At the time, Newton and his wife lived in a six-bedroom ranch house on the property, and his parents lived in a separate house, also on the land. As of 1978, construction was nearing completion on a $4 million southern-style mansion on the site. The mansion was designed by Newton, who denied that it was meant as a replica of the Tara plantation featured in Gone with the Wind. After the mansion's completion, Newton's then-wife decorated each room of the building except for his office, known as the Red Room, where Newton conducted media interviews. The room featured red velvet walls, and contained Newton's various plaques and awards, as well as memorabilia.
As of 1979, Newton and his parents lived on the ranch along with approximately 70 servants and aides. By that time, Newton also had various animals freely roaming on the property, including deer, dogs, ducks, swans, and wallabies, as well as peacocks which frequented the property's lakes. Newton's eventual spokeswoman and sister-in-law, Tricia McCrone, said, "People have actually dropped their animals over the wall, hearing it's an animal sanctuary — especially bunnies after Easter."
U.S. President Ronald Reagan attended a political fundraiser at the ranch in 1982. At the time, the ranch had eight separate homes, including the mansion. Newton married Kathleen McCrone at the estate in April 1994. Newton also hosted private weddings there.
In August 2000, a brush fire at the nearby Sunset Park went over a 10-foot wall and onto Newton's property, burning an acre of land. Animals on the property were moved to safety by the staff, and Newton's collection of vintage Rolls-Royce vehicles were driven away from the garage to a secure part of the property. The fire on Newton's property was quickly extinguished, although embers on the land reignited twice later in the night. Newton and his family were in Boston at the time for one of his performances.
In 2008, CBS News named Casa de Shenandoah as one of the top five homes in the country, while MTV Cribs called it one of the top three "priciest pads".
Bruton Smith, a former friend of Newton's, filed a lawsuit against him in February 2010, alleging that Newton owed $3.3 million on a loan. Smith sought to foreclose on Casa de Shenandoah, but the case was voluntarily dismissed later that year. Subsequently, a complaint was filed against Newton's recent storage of his Fokker F-28 jet plane on the property.
Attraction In June 2010, CSD LLC purchased the estate for $18.7 million, along with ten additional acres across the street for an additional $10 million. Lacy and Dorothy Harber, residents of Texas, were majority owners of CSD, while the Newtons became 20 percent partners in the company. Steve Kennedy and his ex-girlfriend/business partner Geneva Clark split the remaining 10 percent of company ownership. CSD and the Newtons had plans to open Casa de Shenandoah as a public attraction with tours going through the property. Newton said that "a lot of people have written and want to see what the property looks like, and my wife said that if you have something so special, it should be shared." The partnership agreement between CSD and the Newtons ranked among the largest Las Vegas real estate deals of the decade. Prior to signing the deal with CSD, Newton had already filmed hundreds of hours of commentary about his various memorabilia. Since May 2010, Newton's friend Rudy Ruettiger had been involved in shooting a documentary on the ranch's transformation into an attraction.
CSD became the landlord of the Newtons, charging a lease fee of $1 per month until the completion of a new house on the property for the Newtons to live in. CSD agreed to pay $2 million to build the new home, which would not be part of the public attraction. The private home would be built on the back of the property, and Newton and his family would live there while tours were being given of the main house, which contained .
The plans for Casa de Shenandoah were announced in September 2010. Tours would include Newton's garage of automobiles and his Fokker jet, while shuttle tours of the ranch would feature Newton's zoo of animals, including African penguins, peacocks, and more than 70 Arabian horses. In addition to tours, the project would include a dinner theater, museum, and a gift shop, all of which would be located on the ten acres. The museum would be a larger version of the Red Room, and would include items from Newton's career and from other entertainers affiliated with Las Vegas. Newton described it as a hall of fame for people such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. Newton said entertainers would be added to the hall of fame each year, and mentioned the possibility of a television special focusing on it. The 600-seat theater would be designed like Newton's favorite showroom, the Copa Room at the Sands Hotel and Casino. Newton would be the primary headliner. The museum and theater would be located in a vacant building that previously operated as the Napa Valley Pottery and Floral store.
A neighborhood meeting on the project was held later in September 2010. A film crew from Ruettiger's production company attended the meeting, where the project received unanimous opposition from nearby residents. Newton's home was located in a neighborhood designated for rural preservation, and residents expressed concern about shuttle bus traffic for the new project, although the site of the proposed museum and theater was already zoned for commercial use, and Newton's home would only require a special-use permit for tours.
In October 2010, Kennedy and CSD filed a lawsuit against M.J. Harvey, a longtime Paradise township activist, alleging that she repeatedly made false statements about how the project could affect homeowners and nearby communities. The lawsuit alleged that Harvey did so "with the intent of denying the project the necessary community endorsements." Later that month, the Paradise Town Advisory Board recommended against the project, citing concerns about tourism and heavy traffic in the rural area. The board also recommended against a proposal by Newton to privatize Tomiyasu Lane, located along the west side of Casa de Shenandoah, in an effort to contain traffic. Newton stated he would pay for the road proposal, although residents along Tomiyasu opposed the idea. CSD planned to build the museum regardless of neighborhood opposition. The project would create 400 jobs. According to Newton, opponents of the project referred to it as "Graceland West", in reference to Elvis Presley's Graceland. Newton said, "Elvis was a dear friend, but to use Graceland as a way to promote what we're doing would not be right. It's Shenandoah, and it will always be Shenandoah."
During the town board meeting, 33 people spoke against the project, with 11 speaking in favor. Despite the board's recommendation, the Clark County Commission approved the project in November 2010. To alleviate concerns from residents, the public entrance to Casa de Shenandoah would be on Sunset Road instead of Tomiyasu Lane. Plans for a wedding pavilion were scrapped entirely, although Newton would continue to host private weddings at the estate. Casa de Shenandoah was originally intended to open as an attraction in February 2011, although work proceeded slowly on the project following the approval. The museum was later expected to be open by the end of 2011. In October 2011, Newton said he expected the estate to be opened for public tours by February 2012.
Legal issues Work on the project was halted in May 2012, when CSD filed a lawsuit against Newton. The lawsuit alleged that: Newton and his family had interfered with the development plans, stating that they refused to move out of the mansion and that they refused to allow their new private residence on the property to be built. Newton refused to catalog and turn over personal property and memorabilia for the museum. Newton refused to remove horses from the property; he had 55 horses there, whereas CSD stated that less than 20 would be needed for the new project. Newton allegedly sexually harassed a young woman who had been hired by CSD to take care of and train the horses. Newton had various large dogs freely roaming the property; the lawsuit alleged that they had bitten people multiple times and that Newton refused to remove them to allow for the opening of the museum.
Newton's attorney denied that the allegations were true, and stated that CSD was to blame for failure to get the museum and new residence built. Another allegation, stating that Newton's animals were not properly cared for, was also denied. Clark declined to get involved in the lawsuit, stating that Kennedy "is wrongly accusing the Newtons and mismanaging his role of leadership. I will not condone nor support his actions or anyone who is supporting him with this lawsuit."