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This unique and dizzying take on 1970s décor was achieved by extending the wallpaper to the floor. The house, owned by musicians and music producers, also features a living room with sunken seating, a purple room dedicated to the musician Prince, tiger-skin couch and beaded curtains. Photo by E’Louise Ondash
This unique and dizzying take on 1970s décor was achieved by extending the wallpaper to the floor. Photo by E’Louise Ondash
ColumnsHit the Road

Celebrating the art, history and architecture of Las Vegas

Breeze block. Butterfly rooflines. Weeping mortar. Precast concrete.

I knew nothing of these mid-century modern architectural features until I spent an April weekend with folks of the Nevada Preservation Foundation and attended its ninth annual event, History + Home Las Vegas.

Yes, I know.

Say Las Vegas and it’s unlikely you’ll think first of art, architecture and historic neighborhoods, but the foundation aims to change that. (To clarify, the Las Vegas Strip is not part of the City of Las Vegas, although their histories overlap.)

The nonprofit foundation, founded in 2015, wants you to know that the city also has a rich and interesting story to tell and plenty worth preserving.

The use of pink and green tile with black accents was highly popular in mid-century modern homes (1940s-1960s). It’s rare to find original tiles in such good condition like these, featured in a home included in this year’s Home + History Las Vegas event. Nine well-preserved and renovated houses in Las Vegas’ historic neighborhoods open for touring. Photo by E’Louise Ondash
Using pink and green tile with black accents was highly popular in mid-century modern homes. It’s rare to find original tiles in such good condition as these, featured in a home included in this year’s Home + History Las Vegas event. Nine well-preserved and renovated houses in Las Vegas’ historic neighborhoods are open for touring. Photo by E’Louise Ondash

“Home + History is the city’s largest heritage tourism festival,” explains Paige Figanbaum, the foundation’s program manager, historian and researcher.  “It celebrates Southern Nevada’s captivating and iconic history by fostering an appreciation of our cultural heritage and important architecture.”

To that end, Home + History is both a fundraiser and fun.

This year’s activities included mural tours via double-decker bus, walking tours through historic neighborhoods, workshops, and a Saturday evening gala at the iconic 1970s showroom in the recently renovated Plaza Hotel & Casino.

“When the aficionados of Las Vegas history told me about the Home + History event, we wanted to be a part of it,” explained Jonathan Jossel, the Plaza’s CEO for a decade.

The hotel, built in 1971 on the site of the city’s original train depot at Main and Fremont streets, is just steps away from downtown’s Ground Zero: the fantastical Fremont Street Experience, where the art of people-watching reaches an unimagined pinnacle.

This 18-story, 155-foot mural was painted in 2017 by well-known street artist Shepard Fairey on the north side of the Plaza Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas. The mural titled, “Cultivate Harmony,” reminds us that “peace and harmony are the only way to maintain what sustains us,” said the artist, who added that “you can’t be afraid of heights when doing this kind of work.” Courtesy photo
This 18-story, 155-foot mural was painted in 2017 by street artist Shepard Fairey on the north side of the Plaza Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas. The mural, “Cultivate Harmony,” reminds us that “peace and harmony are the only way to maintain what sustains us,” said the artist. Courtesy photo

The audacious exterior of The Plaza begs explanation, too.

In 2017, Jossel gave the go-ahead to create three 18-story, 155-foot-high murals designed and executed by famous street artists D Face, Faile and Shepard Fairey.

The latter and three assistants spent six days swaying on window-washing scaffolding while applying 200 cans of spray paint to produce the red, black and white graphic “Cultivate Harmony.” 

“People ask why I put my art on a casino hotel,” Fairey said in a telephone interview from his Los Angeles home. “I want to put my work in front of people wherever they are. If I can engage them with art with my ideas in it, that’s good. I’m grateful for places like The Plaza that offer me such a large canvas.”

Watch Fairey’s mural evolve here

On Sunday, Home + History’s grand finale and the hottest ticket in town was the nine-home tour, when hundreds of visitors-turned-looky-loos were allowed to explore unique residential interiors and exteriors. Each home was lovingly and painstakingly restored and preserved to reflect the decades of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

This pool, at one of the nine homes included in this year’s Home + History Las Vegas event in late April, is just one element of a house whose owners are “dedicated to maintaining the groovy ‘70s vibe.” Photo by E’Louise Ondash
This pool, at one of the nine homes included in this year’s Home + History Las Vegas event in late April, is just one element of a house whose owners are “dedicated to maintaining the groovy ‘70s vibe.” Photo by E’Louise Ondash

“We are always on the lookout for vintage homes,” Figanbaum said. “In Las Vegas, there is a strong community of vintage-home lovers that continues to grow… and they are passionate about Las Vegas’ and dedicated to preserving its history. We have cultivated a wonderful community of amazing vintage homeowners.”

The dedication of these mid-century modern devotees for restoring, renovating and augmenting with some personal touches was evident in the use of seamless integration of the indoors and outdoors; “Howard Johnson’s” colors (orange and turquoise); sunken living rooms and fireplace pits; space-age starburst patterns; gold-veined mirrors; amber-glass swag lamps; central atriums; green and pink tile with black accents; and vintage kitchens and appliances.

“We’ve come every year for five years for this,” gushed a woman who, with her husband, lives in Michigan. “We love it. Eat your heart out, Palm Springs.”

For additional photos, visit www.facebook.com/elouise.ondash.

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