A Little Piece of Paradise

You may have read my article about the Henderson Townsite a while back. That’s a fascinating neighborhood with a long history (for Southern Nevada anyway.) Today, I look at another historic neighborhood called Paradise Palms.

Did a Celebrity Once Live Here?
Did a Celebrity Once Live Here?
Photo by Steve Fey

The photo you see to the right, is of a house widely rumored to have once belonged to Johnny Carson. I wish I could tell you that a check of Clark County records confirms the rumor, but that isn’t the case. Of course, Johnny could have owned it under a different name, but the facts are as they are. However, Sammy Davis Junior did live in the neighborhood, as did Phyllis Diller and other famous people. Paradise Palms was built during the days of the famous Rat Pack. It was designed for developer Irwin Molasky, who as of last year was still working in Las Vegas, by architects Palmer & Krisel. Molasky is one of the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s First 100 Who Shaped Southern Nevada. According to Wikipedia, Paradise Palms was the first planned community in Southern Nevada, and it was an award winner to boot.

But you can read that elsewhere. I’m here to talk about my own impressions of the neighborhood and why I like it.

I'm Pretty Sure No Mobster Ever Lived Here.
I'm Pretty Sure No Mobster Ever Lived Here.
Photo by Steve Fey

First, Paradise Palms is more famous than you might realize. You’ve seen at least one house from the development, maybe more. The one you’ve most likely seen for sure is one used as the exterior of Lefty Rosenthal’s house in the movie Casino. I don’t think that any mobster actually lived there back in the 1970s, and I’d bet a lot that no mobster lives there now. But, it does look like the sort of place a mobster might like, even if maybe that’s just because it was used in the movie. Judge for yourself; here’s a picture of the place.

That house from the movie is from the golf course portion of Paradise Palms. The houses around the course were all custom built, and many are quite nice indeed. But the developers couldn’t make enough money to recoup their investment by just selling golf course estates. For that they needed to put up tract homes. When you think of tract homes, maybe like me you think of the uniformity and standardization evident in so many neighborhoods since World War Two. Four or five models stamped out cookie-cutter style in a manner that simply screams “boring, boring, boring!” That is not the case in Paradise Palms, however. I’m paraphrasing information I’ve gathered from several sources here, but in essence the several designs of tract home were rotated on their lots in a way that made it look as if they were custom built. No street in Paradise Palms looks like a block of tract houses, even though most of them actually were. This technique of changing the orientation of tract homes, to break up the homogeneous appearance of a neighborhood has been duplicated all over the Las Vegas valley.

A Tract House, Paradise Palms Style
A Tract House, Paradise Palms Style
Photo by Steve Fey

This photo is an example. There are a lot of houses built on the same floor plan as this model, but you’ll have trouble finding any if all you do is look from the street. Some of the tract houses are larger than the average custom golf course home, and many have amenities such as swimming pools and other luxury touches that you might not expect to find in the shadow of Maryland Parkway as it exists in 2009.

Paradise Palms is bordered by Maryland Parkway and Eastern, Flamingo Road and Desert Inn Road. It includes the Las Vegas National Golf Course. Or, that is what used to be the Las Vegas Hilton Country Club. Or, originally, the Sands Country Club. It also includes the Boulevard Mall, the Valley’s original shopping destination.

And that’s why I like it here. It’s convenient to almost everything, it’s historic, and let’s face it, any place that the Rat Pack liked to hang out for whatever reason just has to be cool! Like the title says, it’s a little piece of paradise, right here in the Valley of Meadows.

Comments

7 responses on “A Little Piece of Paradise

  1. You have a few things wrong in the write up. The homes were designed by Palmer & Krisel FOR Irwin Molasly Development. The house on Cochise Street is Frank Rosenthal’s house, not Nicky Santoro’s.

    Otherwise, good job. Thanks for featuring the neighborhood.

  2. I was misinformed about the house. Thanks for the correct information. As to Molasky vs the architects, well. Oops. Sloppy writing, I’m afraid. And thanks again. I have corrected the text, thanks to your input.

  3. There is now someone on Facebook named “Paradise Palms.” No real name is given, although I’m fairly sure I know her. My point, though, is that anyone interested in this neighborhood would benefit by checking out this new Facebook presence. There are copies of the original sales brochures, among other interesting things, to view on Paradise Palms’ profile. (I can’t give you a link — you have to become a friend to see it.)

  4. Just watched “Casino” for the first time in years. Spooky to see my neighborhood on the screen. Unlike some series I could mention, that rhyme with “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” for example, it was really shot in Las Vegas. And, yes, that was the Lefty Rosenthal character’s house alright. Outside, at least. I’m pretty sure that the interior was somewhere else. The plane did land on the golf course across the street from where I live, though.

    PS — Good movie.

  5. “Casino” also may hold the record for the most creative use of a certain 4-letter word — Not a good film if the viewer is bothered by graphic violence — the corn field scene is a good example. And, of course, their are still plenty sets of family members portrayed in the film still living here…

  6. In addition to the Paradise Palms facebook page we now a have a regular Paradise Palms web site. Please check it out.

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