Liberace’s mansion, happy to say, has been rescued from the dilapidation it had fallen into. One of our staffers lives a block away and was treated to a day-by-day view of the project, whose biggest headache had entailed shoring up the south wall, which was settling – causing a crack to run the length of the ceiling in Liberace’s old bedroom. The man who deserves the credit is United Kingdom entrepreneur Martyn Ravenhill. He plucked the property out of bankruptcy for $500,000 and set about pulling it up out of the sinkholes, which threatened the entire mansion with collapse.
Ravenhill represents the hopes of the keepers of the Liberace flame: a second-generation fan, too young to have seen Liberace in person but captivated by his TV specials, which made Ravenhill want to learn the piano. After learning of the mansion’s plight via YouTube, Ravenhill inquired as to its status. When a pending purchase offer fell through, the Brit plunked a half-million in cash on the barrelhead and made restoring the 1974 building’s former glory his priority.
Liberace had purchased two adjoining homes in a Wilbur Clark-created neighborhood immediately south of the University of Nevada Las Vegas and consolidated them into one mansion, complete with a solarium plus a recreation of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the master bedroom. The residence was supported by eight marble pillars and 18 chandeliers hung from its ceilings.
"It has been an adventure," Ravenhill told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Two years ago, if you had said that I would be here owning Liberace’s mansion in Las Vegas, I would have told you that you were crazy. I am a great believer in destiny, and we find out afterward why … In England, you can purchase a studio flat for about $500,000, and here I could get a 15,000-square-foot home owned by Liberace for the same amount." "The Liberace house was bought for next to nothing at about $30 per square foot, cheaper than the replacement value," says Liberace Foundation board member Zar Zanganeh.
Liberace "was a very different type of entertainer, and there is no one to compare," Ravenhill continued. "He had a personal touch, and I think that he had that little spark, that glitz and that glamour like no one else. Liberace, to me, is like the face of Las Vegas. Liberace brought magic to the stage, and I grew up believing that Las Vegas is the place of dreams and magic."
Someday the mansion may be open to the public but Ravenhill still has a lot of restoration to do, mainly on the second floor. He also hopes to power the house with solar panels. "Liberace had a unique design taste. For example, he would have some wonderful silver pots and art sitting next to something from the dime store and it didn’t flow … I am removing the clash and trying to focus on the antiques and the style of furnishings that he would use," Ravenhill said, explaining his strategy.
He is using a post-Liberace ballroom in the back of the mansion to store memorabilia from the defunct Liberace Museum, although he plans to employ the space for entertainment someday. Ravenhill has also held charitable functions at the property, including a fundraiser for Opera Las Vegas, and he has adorned the façade and the trees in the yard with hundreds of little lights, brightly illuminating Liberace’s former home from dusk until dawn. If the Liberace mansion ever becomes a tourist attraction (although it’s in a residential neighborhood and parking is at a premium), it will at least partially fill the gap left by the demise of the Liberace Museum, which seems unlikely to return.
