In some parts of the United States, modern farmhouses are becoming quite common. So common, in fact, that some people sneer at their stark white exterior, black window frames and repurposed forms.
But in Las Vegas and its surrounding suburbs, including Henderson's MacDonald Ranch, the style is “really new,” said IS Luxury broker Ivan Sher. “It’s really exciting. It’s refreshing. It’s got a great vibe and look.”
The builder, Ian Cutler of Widespread Construction, put a Southwest twist on the home, opting for a more desert-appropriate stucco exterior.
With this design, he said, the builder "took a risk."
Sher said he’s seen only two modern farmhouses hit the market in his three decades of experience. He is marketing the second, at 23 Sanctuary Peak Court.
The Homes.com listings bear this out. As of Sept. 11, there was only one on the market in the Las Vegas Valley — Sher's.
The builder was moving in
Sher said part of the attraction to list this home was because the builder wanted it for his own family.
"The builder and his wife ... were truly intending to move in,” he said. “They had their kids placed in their rooms. He was also building his mother-in-law a home right next to them, which he still is."
If the house doesn't sell for a while, the builder just may keep it, he said. "It’s a passion project," he said. That six-bedroom, 8-1/2-bathroom passion project is as the base of a cul-de-sac in Ascaya, a luxe gated development. It has a basketball court, a heated pool, multiple fireplaces, a Viola Calacatta marble-lined kitchen, a prep kitchen and a wet bar. The 10,400-square-foot home sits near the region’s McCullough Range, so its boxy forms and stark lines contrast with its rugged mountain surroundings.
Inside, the finishes are natural, and the spaces are bright, thanks to wide windows: French white oak floors run throughout the home, along with rift oak cabinetry. The “light fixtures look like jewelry,” Sher said. (Take the Homes.com Matterport tour.)
Despite those high-end finishes, the amenity-rich residence was designed with kids in mind, he said, so if someone “is coming to Las Vegas to party … it’s probably not the home for them.”
Las Vegas still seeing 'big houses sell'
When Sher persuaded the sellers to list, he said he told them "you can always build another house” and that the luxury market in Las Vegas is robust.
In the roughly six months since that conversation, Sher noted, the Vegas market “is definitely softer than it was before, but we are selling houses.” Indeed, home price growth for the month of August was only 0.8%, according to the latest Homes.com data.
“We are one of the greatest feeder markets for California,” Sher said. Over the last decade, the agent said, the Golden State has been “kind of dumping into Las Vegas and places like Las Vegas for many reasons,” including political reasons, because there's no state income tax, and because Vegas is new and offers an outdoor lifestyle.
Even amid economic uncertainty (when the tariffs hit, Sher said, “most of us” in the industry anticipated “a pause”), Vegas is still “seeing big houses sell” and ample out-of-state interest, he added.
“We’ve actually done more business than I expected that we would be doing during this time,” he said.