Retirees remodel casino boss William Bennett’s 1977 home — PHOTOS

Many of us would love to have the perfect space for our pets; fewer of us are willing to base our house selection on their well-being.

Retirees Stephen and Tina Bergstrom have rescued four Papillion dogs, so they were a little nervous at their first Las Vegas home in Spanish Hills because of a two-dog restriction.

"We decided to get out of an HOA (homeowners association) where we were so limited. We didn't get any complaints, but we knew it was just a matter of time," Stephen Bergstrom said.

So they went house hunting, and he says "we bought the house for the dogs."

The house they chose on West Desert Inn Road has plenty of yard for the dogs and their humans to play. It was built in 1977 by casino mogul William Bennett, who also had dogs and who needed space for his model plane flying hobby. At that time, Bennett was co-owner of Circus Circus, Excalibur, Luxor and the Sahara hotel-casinos.

In those days, the entire county's population was 390,000, according to the county assessor, and the location was far from the heart of the city, so you can imagine the rural qualities of the area and the lack of traffic.

Bergstrom is a retired scrap dealer from Columbus, Ohio. His wife, Tina, is an active poker player on the senior circuit and sometimes, the World Series.

They only looked at a couple of other houses before choosing this one, Tina said. She found it online the day it was listed and arranged to see it right away.

"Somehow we got to see it first. The listing agent knew us from another transaction and knew we were serious," she said. "She let us in the front door. He (Stephen) went one way, and I went the other, then we met in the backyard and decided then to buy it. We'd never bought an old house before."

"The Realtor couldn't believe the price was accurate," Stephen said. "After spending about a half-hour looking at it, we decided to buy it at full asking price. It had everything we were looking for."

The house had been vacant for years, but in 2012 with a list price of $983,750 for a luxury home on such a large lot, there were many other parties interested in buying, Bergstrom said, and they considered themselves fortunate to get there first.

The front of the home faces Desert Inn Road and sits behind a gated circular drive with a gated courtyard. There is a hidden two-spot carport, but no garage.

Behind the heavy, oak entry doors is a traditional-style, well-built retreat for a family or individual who needs space to entertain. All the wood, including cabinets and ceiling beams, is red oak, starting with the parquet floors in the entry, beneath a large chandelier and stained-glass window.

The main area ceilings are about 20 feet. Like virtually all desert homes built then, it is a single-story. Wood beams draw the eye up to the ceiling.

"The workmanship is fantastic on those. We didn't have to touch them," said Bergstrom, who added that the rest of the woodwork, including door frames and some crown molding needed to be refinished to bring it back to its original beauty. All the doors are 2 inches solid heavy red oak, Bergstrom said. The front doors have been carefully restored after he declined an estimate of $24,000 to replace them.

"The woodwork is absolutely spectacular. It's one of the things that made me want to buy it," he said.

Despite a bit of deferred maintenance, he says the house has held up well because of the high quality of craftsmanship that went into building it. The entire house has oversized, arched, wood-paned windows and doors trimmed with red oak and matching arched plantation shutters.

The large, oval living room is sunken and oriented to face the parklike backyard, which wraps around the west side of the house to the front yard. A granite-clad fireplace has a copper mantel, the same material used to trim the home's flat, foam-insulated roof. Matching bookcases are installed into the walls, and the room is large enough for several seating areas.

At one end of the living room is a bar with silk wallpaper, pendant lighting and a brass foot rail. A "Club Sahara" sign, purchased at the hotel's closing is mounted above recessed glass shelves. It is beside a corner room, currently housing a professional poker table, which in today's design might be designated a media room or converted to another bedroom.

Two large bedrooms are on one side of the house, with a foyer separating them from the living room.

Both have spacious closets with built-in, all-wood cabinets topped with the same marble used for the floors. The baths are everything you would expect to see in the house built by a successful Las Vegas casino owner, including gold-plated fixtures, marble from floor to ceiling.

The master bedroom has a beautiful marble floor, fireplace and French doors to the backyard. A glass door separates it from the bath, which has a large elevated spa tub in the center of the room beneath a rose-petal chandelier. It has an under-lit tray ceiling that encases the room in a wavy pattern.

The third bedroom of the main house has its own private entrance through the backyard, a window overlooking the pool, ensuite bath and a closet with built-ins.

Their first priority, said Tina, was a kitchen makeover. "It was a servant's kitchen. I had to make it a family kitchen." This involved removing a solid brick wall to open up space and blending the sections.

They added a gas stove and range hood where previously there had only been a cooktop insert on an island. Now there's plenty of room to work with two islands, two pantries and a breakfast nook.

The kitchen counters and most of the house's cabinets are topped with a light green stone. "We were told that these countertops were quarried in Ireland," and the trim detail was all done by hand, Stephen said.

This estate has such a large amount of well-designed outdoor space, the county could annex it as a neighborhood park.

It begins in the front of the home, where much of the grass has been replaced with desert landscape, and wraps around the house to the back of the property where a brick-lined path leads to grassy play areas, a fire pit, barbecue and a gazebo. A waterfall with a koi pond connects via strung lights to a cabana, equipped with a kitchen and bath. A pergola provides shade near the boomerang-shaped pool.

Tall pine trees provide shade, and a Bradford pear tree produces nice spring flowers but no fruit. Camel-shaped topiaries stand near the cabana. It's a perfect place to host a wedding ceremony, which in fact, they have done recently, hosting 120 people.

A one-bedroom casita with a large covered porch overlooks the tennis court.

Although the assessor records for the address show it as 1.43 acres, it's really closer to 2.5, according to Realtor/broker Roy Cooke of Realty One Group, who has the listing. The house is on the market for $2 million.

"There's two parcels," said Cooke, including the tennis court and casita, which are connected in the backyard but behind a neighboring house. "The tax assessor shows (1.43) acres, but it's really 2.5 acres total."

He added that a second entrance could be added through a cul-de-sac off Lindell Street.

The house comes with its own power-generating station in case of emergency. "A 200,000-watt, 350,000-horsepower diesel commons generator," Stephen said. "You could run the whole block on that thing. And it only has about 260 hours (of use) on it."

He said Bennett was apparently concerned enough about power issues that he built the house "heavily wired. It's a 600-amp, three-phase system. Bill Bennett was very, very security-conscious."

He was also way ahead of his time in installing a fire-control system in every building on the property.

The couple said they are sad to be selling their dream home; but they have family out of town who need assistance and they prefer to sell it rather than travelling back and forth.

"It's breaking my heart to put it up for sale. I love the house. ... It's sad to let it go, but my family comes first."