Couple lists doctor’s former residence in Red Rock Country Club

In 1958 Joann and Jerry Jenkins, Union High School sweethearts in Phoenix, were married. In 1960, their only child, Randel, now in the restaurant business in California, was born and the couple bought their first house, "a fixer-upper," in Phoenix for $12,000.

While still in their twenties, the Jenkins became self-taught real estate investors. They purchased properties, made improvements, sold them, and then bought other properties and repeated the process.

"We handled our own purchase/sales and escrow transactions without real estate agents," Jerry Jenkins said.

Neither Joann nor Jerry Jenkins went to college, but they mastered the fundamentals of residential and commercial real estate and became savvy investors.

"We never had a sense of entitlement. If we wanted something we had to work for it," Joann Jenkins said. "We are self-taught. Learn as you go. No one gave us anything."

In the early 1970s, the California real estate market was booming and the Jenkins ventured to the Golden State to try their hand.

"We moved from Arizona in the early 1970s to California and purchased a business which we actively ran and operated ourselves. With that, it gave us the borrowing power to make larger real estate investments," Jerry Jenkins said.

Eventually, they made their way to Las Vegas.

In 2005, the Jenkins negotiated with Dr. Elias Ghanem's widow, Jody, to purchase their current home in the Red Rock Country Club at Summerlin for $4.1 million.

The home was built for Dr. Ghanem, who was known for decades as "the physician to the stars" in Las Vegas. His patients included Elvis Presley, Liberace, Michael Jackson and President Clinton's mother, Virginia Kelley, who was a frequent Vegas visitor.

The Jenkins spent more than $150,000 finishing the pool, adding landscaping and making other improvements to the former Ghanem residence.

"As a younger man I was in the building trade, so I know quality when I see it. I have never seen this much quality in one home. No expense was spared in the construction and interior design," Jerry Jenkins said.

According to the couple, they were impressed with the curb appeal of the house from the moment they saw it. The entire exterior, including the retaining walls and gazebo, are constructed of imported hand-chiseled Jerusalem stone.

The Jenkins recently put the 8,845-square-foot home on the Multiple Listing Service, asking nearly $6 million. Realtor Tom Love of the Tom Love Group of Realty Executives of Nevada is handling the listing.

The Jenkins laud the workmanship and attention to detail put into their home, which contains five bedrooms and eight baths and sits on a 23,842-square-foot lot.

"The interior surpasses the exterior. Elegance in capital letters," Jerry Jenkins said. "We have been in a lot of expensive homes, including celebrity homes in Beverly Hills, and none would compare to this home. Every amenity and detail was put into this house."

These features include an air-conditioned lanai (inside patio), marble-slab flooring, marble base, marble crown moldings, imported European kitchen cabinets, 12-seat home theater, elevator, wine cellar, 10-cylinder natural gas generator that powers the entire house in case of power outage, separate his-and-her master baths, eight-car climate-controlled garage, Crestron home automation, Lutron lighting and security cameras covering the entire exterior.

"We still love the house, but when the wife has to call the husband on a cell phone to find his location, we decided it was time to downsize. We plan to stay in the Summerlin area," Jerry Jenkins said when asked why they are moving.

Throughout the years, the Jenkins have built wealth from their commercial and residential real estate holdings.

"We have five corporations in five states which are wholly owned and operated by myself and my wife -- no partners. Never had partners or investors. Just the two of us -- no managers," Jerry Jenkins said.

Discussing the current real estate climate, Love said, "The whole world has Vegas on their shopping list. Like any commodity that has gone up 400 percent in 10 years, there are the people that bought at the top without holding power.

"I have been admonished and chastised by peers, affiliates and clients for the two years at the top of the market. All I said was that you should have a down payment to buy real estate. You should have an income to match increased payments on variable loans. You should have staying power," Love said.

Champagne and sliders at 11 a.m.

And a ribbon cutting ceremony with The Donald--Oh my!

Champagne, Veuve Cliquot, and sliders, made of Angus beef, sautéed onions and cheese served on silver trays by wandering waitstaff, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Donald Trump and business partner Phil Ruffin were the highlights of the 11 a.m. April 11 opening of the $1.2 billion gold-encrusted Trump International Hotel & Tower.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a bevy of beauties from the Miss USA pageant, which was held that evening in Las Vegas, and about 500 of Trump's closest friends as well as members of the media attended the festivities.

Jack Wishna, founder of thtvegas.com and a minority partner in the Trump Las Vegas condo project, and Mark Sivek, vice president of sales and marketing for thtvegas.com, said they have buyers coming from Dubai, Russia and Asia to look at the new Trump condos located on the former Frontier hotel site on the Strip. Thtvegas.com is an independent consulting and marketing group.

Sales of Trump International Hotel & Tower units have been brisk, according to Wishna.

"Las Vegas with Trump now open now has a new standard, a gold standard, in condominium development. What a magnificent addition to the Las Vegas skyline," Wishna said.

Leaving the podium, Ruffin, after introducing the news media to his bride Oleksandra, headed to his silver McLaren.

Have an item for Hot Vegas Properties? Joan Schiller Travis can be reached at 702-338-9797 or JTwriter@cox.net.