It’s a preservation not a renovation project

One may wonder why Martyn Ravenhill decided to purchase the 14,939-square-foot Liberace Mansion out of foreclosure for $500,000 and to restore it for more than double the purchase price. For the businessman from the United Kingdom and Liberace fan, it was a desire to preserve its history and the memory of Liberace, and starting anew would be counterintuitive to this intent.

His desire — restoration and preservation — is not new in Las Vegas. However, it is often overlooked in a city where new-home communities are prevalent and older casinos have been imploded and replaced.

“In England, everything is older and due to costs everything is restored. But in Las Vegas, if you look at the casinos like the Sands, they just implode it and start new,” Ravenhill said. “I think that these older buildings and homes have value and should be preserved, and that’s what I want to do with Liberace’s home in his memory.”

The famous previous owner as well as its attributes make this mansion one of a kind. After all, where else is there a mural of the Sistine Chapel painted on a bedroom ceiling by a descendent of Michelangelo besides the Liberace mansion?

The approach to “preservation” and “restoration” differs from the “renovation” of a home.

“Preservation is a little bit different approach from what we’re used to seeing, which is usually remodeling and taking a jackhammer to the wall and starting new with today’s design trends. Right now, it is usually far more expensive to try to preserve a home and find the same materials that were used in that home 40 or 50 years ago,” said Zar Zanganeh, broker/owner of Luxe Estates and Lifestyles and member of the Liberace Foundation advisory board.

“People who are in preservation always have to think ahead on obtaining authentic materials for their home. They are always searching eBay and old construction sites, and it is far more difficult than buying new. A lot of times, they preserve what they can by using original materials and then they restore the rest of the home by making it comparable to what was originally there,” Zanganeh said.

“The Liberace house was bought for next to nothing at about $30 per square foot, cheaper than the replacement value. Others are seeing value in doing this in older neighborhoods, too, and then restoring or renovating the property to their standards,” Zanganeh said.

He cited the example of a 12,000-square-foot residence undergoing renovations in the historic Lady of Las Vegas neighborhood near Alta and Rancho drives that he and his business partner, Lee Medick, sold in December for $4 million, bringing the value up threefold from its previous sales price despite continuing construction.

“Once the buyers found the house, they fell in love with the idea that they can customize their home to their liking and with the historical neighborhood where they are not tied down to answering to a homeowners association or architectural committee,” Zanganeh said. “We’ve seen this all over the place with people purchasing a home in an older neighborhood and investing in it, and others doing the same which raises the property values of the entire neighborhood.”

Unlike other homes, the preservation of the Liberace mansion goes beyond the desire to create a charming residence. Ravenhill is doing it to preserve the memory of Wladziu Valentino Liberace.

“I think that when the dust settles on the Liberace mansion preservation project — it is not a renovation — it will help increase appreciation for Liberace. It is a preservation of Liberace’s legacy, the legacy of the Las Vegas entertainment and the genesis of showrooms in Las Vegas,” said Jonathan Warren, chairman of the Liberace Foundation. “There has been a movement toward preservation in Las Vegas for years, and that’s what the Liberace Foundation is about in preserving Liberace’s memory.

“I believe that preservation is very important and that comes from watching my mom, Liz Warren, who has been very active in the preservation movement here in Las Vegas for years. I saw her fight for Big Springs, Good Springs, the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort and other projects. Sometimes she’d win and sometimes she wouldn’t, but she always made the effort,” Warren said.

“Martyn is making that effort with the Liberace mansion. He is an example of what we can do with our historic homes.”