Las Vegas urban horse ranch listed for $3M — PHOTOS

Longtime Las Vegans may have driven down East Russell Road between Sandhill Road and Annie Oakley Drive and wondered about the vast equestrian estate behind gates bearing the initial stamp TJF, which stands for Thomas and Judy Ford. Thomas Ford, a prominent local businessman, built the main house on the property in 1997.

The home bears a striking resemblance inside and out to the one featured on the 1980s TV series “Dynasty,” (based in Texas but filmed in California). If it had a soul and could be reincarnated, it would come back as a character from the show, and its name would be Krystal.

Crystal fixtures appear throughout the neo-eclectic-style house, from the stately, topiary-framed entrance to the top of the winding formal staircase. Almost every drawer and door knob is made of crystal or glass.

It has been occupied by only one family but has been sold twice since 2013. The nearly 11-acre parcel, including four houses, three barns, 12 pastures and guest houses, is listed for sale at $2,999,999 by Ryan Crighton of Rothwell Gornt Cos.

“He was a Vegas good old boy here in town and his work was very well respected. He built this home as a gift for his wife, and this was the style that she loved. He built her this based on a similar home in Texas,” Crighton said. “It’s a real fairy-tale home.”

The main entry includes direct access to a paneled library or “receiving room” as Crighton calls it; formal dining room, formal living room with bar, wine room, and master retreat with private door leading to the yard. Several low-water features create a welcoming, forest-like illusion at the front of the house, beneath mature pine and cottonwood trees.

The first floor also includes a great, vaulted-ceiling, sun-filled kitchen with three pantries, travertine-tile floor, creamy white cabinets and muted granite counters. “There’s plenty of storage. It’s laid out so your everyday usable tools are immediately accessible, and you’ve got additional storage for stuff you don’t use every day,” Crighton said.

An informal spacious dining area and den are adjacent to the kitchen. There are two powder rooms on the first floor; one very masculine and the other more girly with a handpainted flowery basin set in an ornate gold cabinet. The home has five fireplaces.

A grotto-style pool, koi pond and gazebo are visible from and accessible through several points in the back of the house, along with a sweeping view of the pasture.

Dual stairways lead to three more bedroom suites upstairs, one of which reportedly was used to house 300 of Judy Ann Ford’s doll collection.

From the street, a visible second-floor extension crosses over the brick-lined driveway and joins the large garage. This wing of the house is a spacious man cave, all done in dark brown with a wood plank ceiling and wood-trimmed fireplace, and a direct stairway into the four-car, climate-controlled garage with full bath and air compressor. “A hobbyist would love this garage,” Crighton said.

Ford owned Ford Contracting, which specialized in creating the facades of hotels, such as Caesars Palace, the Luxor, the Venetian and the Silverton.

This house reflects his skill in creating faux finishes, including the master bath’s Venetian plaster and custom-stained glass surrounding the elevated spa tub.

The property includes two small houses built in the 1950s that were used as employee housing, sized 1,884 and 2,236 square feet each; and a 1970s-built 3,226 square foot, four-bedroom guest house with a basement at 3380 E. Russell.

Ford pieced together five parcels to create one of the largest horse ranches in the area, which is fully gated around the street, and with a 6-foot cement wall separating it from residences to the north. A series of white vinyl fences create spaces to run the horses, and there is a full arena.

It features three barns with 20 stalls with turnouts. At 7,200 square feet, the largest of the three barns is climate controlled and equipped with a breeding facility, office and bath. There are a total of four wells on the estate.

When the Fords moved back to their native Texas in 2013, they sold the ranch to Lacy Harber for $3.75 million. He also purchased several other large estates in the area, and was working with Las Vegas icon Wayne Newton to turn his property into a tourist attraction.

Harber put the ranch up for auction in 2014, and it was snatched up for $1.25 million by a group of unidentified investors known as The Ford Ranch LLC. According to Crighton, they were the only bidders.

“They didn’t buy it at the bottom of the market, but they did pay the lowest price because of the way the auction was run,” Crighton said. None of the buyers have ever lived on the property, although there is a live-in caretaker, and several of their horses are boarded on-site.

Its close proximity to the airport and the Strip have attracted potential buyers from as far away as Dubai, Crighton said, adding that their proposed uses for the property have included a wellness retreat, hawk sanctuary and most recently, tearing everything down to build new homes. “Everyone who comes here has their own idea of what to do with it, because there are so many types of equestrian activities,” he said.

“This is an iconic property, Crighton said. “The big plusses for this property are the acreage, the easy ability to have horses here, the main house, and even the guest house. You could do quite a bit with the basement. There’s so much more you could do with this property to make it your own.”

Hopefully, it will remain a horse property, if only for the benefit of we passersby who catch a glimpse of it and wish for days gone by.