Home builders and developers buy parcels of land all the time, but rarely does the acreage come with a bizarre backstory. The 8.6-acre property recently purchased by Larry Canarelli, founder of American West Homes, is the site of magician Penn Jillette’s multicolored mansion known as The Slammer. Jillette sold the property in southwest Las Vegas to American West Homes for $1.88 million.
Canarelli has been building homes in Las Vegas for decades, and owns thousands of acres of land in the region. The southwest is one of the fastest-growing areas of the Las Vegas Valley, and the purchase of the Jillette property gives Canarelli more land for new projects.
Canarelli, who founded American West in 1984, recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he owns other parcels of land around The Slammer, and plans to build homes there on half-acre lots. He expects to start building in about a year, pending county approvals to develop the property.
Jillette and his family moved to Summerlin last year, and he tried to demolish The Slammer by having someone drive a tank through it. However, the tank got stuck and the 8,000-square-foot residence is mostly intact. The sale to American West signals the end of the notorious compound, as Canarelli says he will tear down the rest, and replace it with traditional suburban homes.
The property is close to other subdivisions, but is surrounded by mostly undeveloped stretches of desert. Prospective homeowners have criticized The Slammer’s looks and avoided buying homes near it, Canarelli says. “I think The Slammer was a bit of an albatross sitting in quite a nice area,” he adds.
