Very Vintage Vegas

Walter Zick - The Godfather Of Mid Century Modern Architecture In Las Vegas

November 19th, 2008 Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News

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We’re starting a new series today. It’s about Walter Zick, and an extraordinary career building Mid Century Modern Buildings in Las Vegas.  That career spanned 3 decades and was considerably more prolific than I ever imagined. But first, I want to tell you how we got started on this. 

Walter is best known, and his name has been most often mentioned when there’s talk about the original El Rancho Vegas, which was the first hotel on the Las Vegas “Strip” and about the Dunes, which later became one of the most famous of the early resort/casinos.

Walter Zick also designed Maude Frazier Hall, The very first building on the UNLV campus. We all know that Maude Frazier Hall is slated to be demolished soon. We held protest rallies. We petitioned. The County Commission passed a resolution in support of it. We however failed to convince the Board of Regents to save the building. Most of us moved on to battles that we think we can win.

Mary Martinez, to her credit is still fighting the fight, and still trying to find a way to save Maude Frazier Hall. In Mary’s continued effort to find support, she came upon a CD that was created by Walter’s children.  Their goal was to get the Clark County School District to name a school in his honor.

Last year, the school board passed him over, and his kids thought it was a lost cause. We’re picking up the cause, and we are about to try to make Walter Zick become known well beyond the confines of us who actually sit with other people and talk about Historic Preservation. That’s the best way for us to help his familty to re-petition the CCSD to rightfully give him the honor he deserves.

  

What we found on the CD was a powerpoint presentation with over a hundred slides. I have permission to share them with you. I’ll be using them for however long this series lasts to tell you the story of Walter Zick. You’ll be as surprised as I am to learn that most – honestly, I mean most– of my favorite Mid Century Modern Commercial Buildings in Las Vegas turn out to be Walter Zick Designs.  It turns out that there were also more than a dozen homes that are only labeled by the name of the family that first commissioned the home. One of them turns out to be my “secret” listing on 15th Street as well as MaryJoy’s “Mayme Stocker Home”. I’m going to do my best to provide links to the various history, museum and UNLV websites to provide you with more information on each posts topic if you want it. Zane Donaldson is already helping with the photography, and we’re going to photograph the buildings, and when slides from the CD exist, we’ll give you the early photos or drawings of the buildings.

There are letters of commendation, awards, proclamations and lots of pictures and drawings. There’s also some lists of buildings that definitely no longer exist. And some of them that are mentioned may or may not exist anymore. We’re going to try to research as much of it as possible. Any large gaps between posts might well be caused by gaps in the necessary research. I do intend to do this series with posts every 3 or four pages. I’ve never actually researched or written up a history project before, so fortunately, I will be getting help from Brian Paco Alvarez and Lynn Zook among others.

Our next chapter will be about the early hotel projects.

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Some “Housing Slump” News We’ve Been Waiting For - Maybe?

November 19th, 2008 Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News

Hubble Smith reports in the RJ yesterday that “Housing analyst predicts Las Vegas may be among the first to emerge from slump”.

It’s the first hopeful sign Murphy has seen this year.

“We’re all straining and stretching and hoping and praying for positive news,” he said. “We’re closer to knowing we’re near the bottom. It’s going to hit bottom and float on the bottom for another year before prices start to creep back up.”

There’s so many factors playing a hand in this that truly none of us knows what’s what. I know when I watch talking heads on TV blather on and on that they don’t have a clue either. I’ve been saying for months that with the revival of interest in Mid Century Modern; The urgent desire to reduce commute time and costs; and the desire to live an urban vs. suburban life style, that I believe that Vintage Vegas homes will even lead the upturn when it starts. When?

I’m certainly in agreement with Larry Murphy, who I’ve know since I got into Real Estate, when he was quoted in the article:

Murphy estimates there are about 15,000 REO properties in Las Vegas, including a majority of the vacant homes on the market for sale. With roughly 2,000 foreclosure sales a month, it would take seven months to go through the current supply, assuming no more REOs come on to the market.

“Instead of seven months, we probably have twice that - a 14-month supply of REOs. That’s why I see another year of tough sledding,” Murphy said.

I’m mostly selling foreclosures or at least homes that are listed as if they were bank owned. We do have to absorb that inventory, and to my knowledge there aren’t any “new” homes in Vintage Las Vegas. We’ve been seeing homes priced at much below the cost to build new, or in the case of most of the homes in Vintage Vegas, at considerably below what it costs to buy and fix up in relationship to the well loved and cared for homes. That I think is the answer to yesterday’s question. The big problem, is that really broken and abused houses rarely are eligible for an FHA insured loan. FHA loans are the easiest to get, and are being used by the vast majority of buyers.

However, FHA has a “livability” standard that requires things to be working. Windows can’t be broken, flooring intact, no holes in walls and a lot of items. The standard is supposed to be that a buyer could move in and live there for a year without HAVING to spend a dime. Cleaning doesn’t count, of course, as dirty IS acceptable.

We just cancelled on a deal yesterday where we TRIED to get the bank to go along with making 2 serious repairs so that it the house would be eligible for an FHA Loan. No luck. That house by the way, is a great buy at 99,000, and now that we’ve alerted the bank to the bad roof and the dangerous electric panel, they’re saying “cash only” for the next person who wants to buy it.

You’ll recognize it that I used the picture as a WORST MLS PHOTO OF THE DAY when it first came on the market.

After the inspection, I realized that the thing on the ground in the forefront of the picture is a piece of the roof. It wasn’t there anymore when I was showing the property. That’s why we do inspections.

 

Anyway, I got side-tracked a little, but I did want you to know that there might be some good news out there about a bottom.

 

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Worst MLS Photo Of The Day

November 19th, 2008 Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News

They didn’t do her hair for the big occasion, either.

The only thing worse than a bad picture is NO PICTURES AT ALL!

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Huntridge Theater Presentation To City Council Has Been Postponed

November 18th, 2008 Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News

Sorry for the short notice.

We’re calling those who we knew were going to be there, but if any of you were coming to The Las Vegas City Council Meeting tomorrow, please note that the items relating to the Huntridge Theater have been postponed until the December 3^rd meeting. We’ll know what time when the agenda is published on the Monday before the meeting.

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Will And The High Rollers Tonight At Wasted Space In The Hardrock Hotel

November 18th, 2008 Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News

Our favorite rock-a-billy band, Will and the High Rollers will be at the Hardrock tonight. His show is from 10 to midnight in Wasted Space.

Will is into all things 50’s and 60’s, and is busy painting and fixing up the new digs that I helped him buy in Paradise Palms.

 

Here’s a snippet from YouTube 

 

And since we’re talking about Rockabilly and Cheetos: 

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My Favorite Mid Mod Mystery - Why Hasn’t This Las Vegas Home Sold

November 18th, 2008 Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News

I first posted it when it was a for sale by owner back in July. They were trying for 240,000, which was high, but so was everything else then.

 I was pleased as could be when they listed it with a friend of their family for 205,000. I thought I had a buyer for it, and almost wrote an offer when it was 199,000. Then it got dropped to 180k, and I’ve been showing it to everyone.

Today they dropped it to 160,000

 

 

 

It’s the nicest most fun not foreclosure home that I know of in all of Downtown. It’s in the Morning View Heights Neighborhood. It’s got beamed ceilings, a wrap around brick fireplace and original bathrooms and kitchen.

 

 

 

I love this house!

You will too, especially at 160,000!

 

 

 

 

 

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Huntridge West Neighborhood Association Invites You To Holiday Mixer

November 18th, 2008 Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News

West Huntridge Neighborhood Association is once again inviting you to attend their 2^nd annual holiday gathering for ALL Downtowners. Everyone is invited to come and and meet some neighbors and downtown enthusiasts.

December 11, 2008 from 6 to 8 pm at PT’s Pub on Sahara just west of 6^th Street.

It’s a no host get together, so you can order from the bar or from the restaurant.

 

Watch for an upcoming invitation from me. I’ll be hosting a VVV readers get-together sometime in December. It’ll be a no host bar, but I’ll be springing for the appetizers. I’m thinking the new Frankie’s Tiki Lounge. Any other good suggestions?

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Worst MLS Photo Of The Day

November 18th, 2008 Categories: Worst MLS Photo

Now that the counters are clean, it’s time to mop the floor!

 

 

 

 

 

The only thing worse than a bad picture is NO PICTURES AT ALL!

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The Dishmaster Retro Faucet Makes A Comeback

November 17th, 2008 Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News

I had no idea they still make these. We had one in our 1952 home in Columbus when I was a kid! I don’t know that it got my dad to do the dishes, but I sure did my share of them when I was little.

I’ve only ever come across 2 of them that were still installed in homes. In both cases, it was at least 10 years ago, and they’d barely invented the internet, never the less blogging back then, so I wasn’t into taking pictures of every cool thing I saw.  

I think it would be a real camp to put one of these on the streamlined 21^st century modern kitchens I was talking about the other day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid Mod Pam, the queen of all things 50’s and 60’s is responsible telling me about this.

 

About The Dishmaster
I love this product, its authentic retro style and “Dishmaster Living.” What is Dishmaster Living? Slow down. Cook up a storm. Make a happy mess in your kitchen – then have some more fun cleaning up. Yes – the Dishmaster’s circa-1948 faucet makes washing the dishes fun via the “Push Button Dishwashing” action of the special aerator brush wand – which dispenses soapy sudsy water and rinses clean, too. Feel good about use of precious resources as well: The Dishmaster conserves water, energy and detergent. And, it’s Made in America, by a small company right in Indiana. If you need a new-old kitchen faucet – I hope you will consider buying a Dishmaster from Pam of RetroRenovation.com. Read more at RetroRenovation.com or at her special new site, DishmasterLiving.com.

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Huntridge Theater Adaptive Re-use Plan To Be Presented to Las Vegas City Council On Wednesday

November 17th, 2008 Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News

The adaptive re-use plan for the Huntridge Theater will go before the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday November 19^th in the afternoon session. It will be the 6^th item to be heard (item 86–88), so it should come up fairly quickly after 1 pm.

If you’re available to attend, we’d like to have as many bodies there in support of the plan as possible.

 

 

 

If you’re new to VeryVintageVegas we’ve been covering this story for months. Here are the links to some of the past posts that we’ve done on the subject. 

In the announcement of it being presented to the Planning Commission, I wrote:

The Save The Huntridge committee is endorsing the plan. We certainly recognize that there are those of you who hoped that the building could remain a theater, but it’s just not possible.

We’ve gladly compromised to allow that at least the building, and the name marquee and the tower will be saved. Under the current economic conditions, and the enormous competition that exists in Las Vegas with the abundance of casino owned venues, it just isn’t possible to keep it as a theater.

The plan should foster a new life for the corner of Charleston and Maryland Parkway. Most everyone I have spoken with is excited about this renovation and we have an opportunity to go before the City in support of this project. If you can attend, we’d be happy to see you there.

When we presented it to the public in August, I wrote:

I’ll let the drawings speak for themselves, but I do want to point out that the new plan saves the entire structure as well as ties it into the old furniture store and the old post office. The Marquee, and the monument sign and the barrel roof all gets preserved, and the entire new project will be in the Art Moderne Style that was designed in the 1940’s.

Andrew Kiraly covered the story in his City Life Blog