Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Want to get married at Wayne Newton’s famed Las Vegas compound? You’re in luck

Wayne Newton's Casa de Shenandoah

Sam Morris

This is an aerial view of Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah estate Monday, May 21, 2012.

Are you a Wayniac with wedding plans? Good news - Wayne Newton’s famed Casa de Shenandoah compound in Las Vegas could soon be adding a wedding chapel. Just don’t expect Mr. Las Vegas to sing at the reception.

Newton lost control of the property in 2012 after plans to to turn the site near Sunset and Pecos Roads into a museum and tourist attraction commemorating his career fell apart amid legal and financial woes.

With the museum stalled indefinitely, the new owners, CSD LLC, are looking for a way to put the seven houses, horse stables, fountains, auto garages and other facilities on the 40-acre site to use. Their solution is quintessentially Las Vegas.

On Wednesday, the group will ask Clark County Commissioners to approve use permits allowing weddings and receptions at the property, now rebranded as Sunset Springs Ranch. The permit would also allow fundraisers, tours and conventions at the site.

The new use for the ranch won’t require any additional construction and has already passed reviews by the town board and planning commission, the first two stages of the zoning process. Many neighbors are still wary of the project and plan to oppose it over concerns about its hours of operations, noise pollution and potential use for concerts, receptions and other non-wedding events.

The plans called for Newton’s mansion and estate to be converted into a “Graceland”-style attraction showcasing his 50-years in Las Vegas entertainment and his collection of memorabilia and automobiles.

Neighbors fought the development over concerns about traffic from thousands of people flocking daily to the attraction, but ultimately lost when county commissioners approved the plans in 2010.

The success was short-lived as disputes between Newton and other investors in the project exploded in a flurry of lawsuits. Texas businessman Lacy Harber and his wife Dorothy, investors in the project, acquired control of the property after bankruptcy proceedings in 2012.

The home was put up for sale last year with an asking price of $70 million but hasn’t sold.

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