Dream On: Custom luxury homes in Henderson draw a massive audience

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2000 | 9:09 a.m.

What: Street of Dreams tour.

When: Through Oct. 29; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays (ticket sales end at 5 p.m.); 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays (ticket sales end at 7 p.m.). Closed Mondays (except Columbus Day).

Where: The Estates at Seven Hills, Henderson (St. Rose Parkway, one mile east of Eastern Avenue).

Ticket: $9 for adults; $7 for senior citizens and children 4 to 12 (free for children age 3 and under).

Information: 616-1819.

It's the stuff American dreams are made of -- becoming successful enough to afford a luxury home with every amenity imaginable, and some things hard to imagine:

Walk-in, two-story closets.

A wall of cascading water.

Home theaters with balcony seating.

Retractable walls that open onto a patio and swimming pool, erasing the barrier between a family room and the out-of-doors.

For the next few weeks people who are curious about how the other half lives -- or, more accurately, the other 1 percent -- may satisfy that curiosity with a tour of the Street of Dreams in the Seven Hills master-planned community in Henderson.

Nine homes, ranging in price from $1.2 million to $2.95 million, are open for viewing daily except Mondays.

You don't have to be rich to window shop on this street in the Venezia neighborhood, but you do need a few bucks to get in.

For the price of admission you may wander in and out of the palatial residences for hours. Explore the walk-in wine closets; step down into the sunken wet bars; feel the thick, lush carpeting under your feet; contrast that with the imported stone and tile floors; gaze at the panoramic view of the golf course next door, the Strip in the distance and the mountains that surrounds it all.

Street of Dreams, Inc., based in Woodinville, Wash., has been showcasing luxury homes in cities around the nation since 1985, working with local developers, building contractors and designers to put on an exhibition that is both entertaining and profitable.

"We are not a real-estate promotion," Bryan Ashbaugh, Street of Dreams CEO, said. "We are a lifestyle event. We're not just another Sunday model home show with free hot dogs for the kids, the thing that developers do every weekend."

The company has organized 60 luxury home showcases in the past 15 years, in dozens of cities including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Diego. Each event lasts about six weeks and there are five or six events each year.

More than 350 homes have sold as a result of the promotion, said Ashbaugh.

Return to Vegas

Street of Dreams came to Las Vegas for the first time in 1998, when it had a similar show in another Seven Hills neighborhood.

"I first looked at Las Vegas eight years ago, just when it was becoming the fastest growing city in the nation. But it only had about 300,000 people at that time, so it was too small. We need a population base of at least 500,000 but preferably a million or more."

The home marketing company makes most of its money from ticket sales and a participation fee of about $5,000 paid by the builders.

Nationally, an average of 50,000 people turn out for the events.

"In Vancouver, British Columbia, we averaged 110,000," Ashbaugh said. "People there went nuts over the three shows we did. I would love to do more, but their market dried up."

The nine Las Vegas homes are the most expensive the company has ever promoted.

"Most of our homes had been over $400,000," Ashbaugh said. "But the last couple of years they've been over $600,000. The over-million-dollar homes here are the most expensive we've ever had. The market is hot right now. People from all over the world come to Vegas, and they've got money."

Although the floor plans are different, many of the features are similar -- theaters, gyms, offices, libraries, gourmet kitchens, wine closets, enormous closets, swimming pools.

The most expensive house on the street is the first one on the tour, Villa D'Este, built by Remington Homes. The 7,740-square-foot home is priced at $2.95 million and includes an elevator and custom-crafted stone and marble among its amenities. The theater on the first floor has a balcony off the master bedroom on the second floor.

Only slightly less expensive is Reflections, by Western States Custom Homes, going for $2.875 million. The 7,200-square-foot home has a cascading water wall in the gallery entrance, two luxurious courtyards, a hidden room the is a safe and a massive outdoor balcony.

La Hacienda Nueva, by U.S. Homes, is the least expensive on the block, selling for $1.2 million. The 4,479-square-foot home has three bedrooms and a theater with surround sound. There is a 1,000-square-foot covered patio. Floor sensors turn on lights leading to the restroom for those late-night trips. Fiber optics outline a path from the master suite to the pool and patio.

Street of Dreams has no financial interest in the properties being sold and it doesn't share in the profits of a sale. The company organizes and puts on the promotional event, working closely with builders and developers to assure everything is completed on schedule.

"Somebody once called what we do 'great choreography.' We have to get it all together, get them working toward a common goal. The timing has to be right. Everything has to be done on time," he said.

Once the homes are completed, interior decorators and designers volunteer their time and their products to furnish the residences with things befitting a home worth millions.

The furniture on display is for sale. "We had one company that sold the same style bedroom suite 30 times," Ashbaugh said.

Some visitors are so impressed with what they see they buy the house and all its furnishings.

"A person can turnkey if they like. We have had that happen probably 20 times," Ashbaugh said.

Based upon past experience, before the local show ends in October about 60 percent of the local homes will have been sold, and all of them will have been sold within a year.

The homes on display are not models of tract homes. They are built on speculation by contractors who are betting they will sell.

"The builders who participate don't do it just for the sale of these houses," Ashbaugh explained. "They're here to impress the public and generate contracts for more custom-built homes. Most builders will get between three and 10 contracts off a Street of Dreams show."

The thing that motivates builders, Ashbaugh noted, is the fact that so many people turn out to see the houses.

"About 70 percent of the traffic is people just looking for decorator design ideas," he said. "I tell the builders we appreciate the fact that not everybody who comes to the show can afford the houses. But if only 1 percent can afford them, that's 500 to 600 people capable of buying."

Blanche Evans, editor of the on-line consumer-oriented news service "Realty Times," said tours such as those conducted by Street of Dreams are a tried-and-true marketing technique that has been around for decades.

"Home tours are a wonderful way to see what premier builders are doing," Evans, author of a book entitled "homesurfing.net," said. "Consumers can make side-by-side comparisons of one builder to another."

She said homes that are part of a tour generally "are going to be state-of-the-art, top-grade homes. When they are offered for sale they usually are going to be more expensive than similar custom homes because the upgrades already have been included."

According to Evans, selling a quality, custom-built house that is part of a showcase tour is probably a sure thing as far as the builder is concerned.

"Since the side-be-side homes are in a highly competitive environment, they will be of such a high quality they will easily sell," she said. "There is very little risk to the builder and a lot of positive publicity associated with the tour."

Dreams come true

Putting on a Street of Dreams show is not easy.

"It's difficult because there are so many criteria, from a physical standpoint," Ashbaugh said. "First of all, we need a development that can be closed off for a six-week period. And there must be parking space for 1,000 cars -- about 10 acres -- hopefully within walking distance. Sometimes we have to shuttle from a long way away."

It takes about a year for a show to come to fruition, from start to finish. Some places, such as Atlantic City, have shows annually. Other locations may have them every couple of years and others may have only one.

"What I do, I look for developments that have a lot of wonderful amenities," Ashbaugh said. "And I look for a developer that appreciates marketing and ... who has lots just coming on stream and they're ready to be sold.

"With the developer, we convince builders to purchase the lots and build spec houses. History has proven that if we can get seven or eight of these really cool houses, we can generate enough publicity and enough enthusiasm to get large numbers of people to turn out for the tours. And within the large numbers are the buyers."

Ashbaugh said the event is both entertaining and educational for the general public, which rarely gets the chance to see such high-dollar homes from the inside out.

Shows are scheduled to open in San Diego and Houston in two weeks, and in Atlanta in three weeks.

"This is a different kind of entertainment, a different experience," Ashbaugh said. "It's a chance to look at really cool houses. We call it one-stop shopping, one location with nine different builders and designers."

And the Street of Dreams your home is not your castle, your castle is your home.

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