Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Terry Fator’s bandleader buys Spanish Trail home
When Real Estate Millions visited John and Linda Wackerman in 2015, they were living on a 2-acre, vintage Vegas, ranch-style home in the east valley. They have since traded in that property’s winged angel and Pegasus statues for a pair of Sinatra-owned sconces in a swanky house in the luxury community Spanish Trail Country Club.
The seller, knowing the couple have deep roots in show business, left the dining room lighting fixtures, which he said came from an auction of Frank Sinatra’s Beverly Hills home furnishings years earlier.
“He gave them to us as a gift, knowing we were in entertainment. That was nice of him,” Linda Wackerman said.
The two-story house, which was built in 1999, has a spacious, open floor plan, with six en suite bedrooms, seven baths and 9,600 square feet. From the white baby grand piano in the living room to the infinity-edged pool next to the golf course, it’s as if every room is arranged to welcome an infinite number of party guests at any time.
GOLF CLUB
A. wrought-iron staircase spans the width of the upper floor, which includes a six-seat home theater with tasseled velvet curtains.
John Wackerman, who moved here in 2009 to become The Mirage headliner Terry Fator’s bandleader, comes from a famous family of drummers. His father is a well-respected drum teacher, and brother Brooks Wackerman is a member of the metal band Avenged Sevenfold.
Linda Wackerman is a singer who has opened shows, starting as a teen, for everyone from Rosemary Clooney to Joni Mitchell. She sang on Dean Martin’s TV show, and she worked with Ricky Nelson until the day he died in a plane crash. She is rehearsing for a full-blown Christmas extravaganza with dancers, backup singers and live musicians at the Westgate.
Like many older properties in the price range of around a $1 million, their last house was on the market for over a year before a buyer came along. In the interim, they shopped for their new house.
The couple, who’ve been married 22 years, bought the house in 2017 after it had been on and off the market several times. They settled on a price, $2.15 million, that included several rooms of furniture.
Located in the Innisbrook neighborhood of Spanish Trail, the home borders the fifth hole of the golf course on the back side. Across the front yard is the community’s southern border, the Flamingo Detention Basin, which provides quiet and privacy — a trade-off for the many errant golf balls that attack the home’s windows.
“Nobody can seem to hit the fifth hole,” Linda said.
Their neighbors include many prominent Las Vegans: several entertainers and Gov.-elect Steve Sisolak. One of the neighbors was the late Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Robin Leach of the 1980s “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”
The upper floor, accessed either by elevator or the ornate staircase, is anchored by the master bedroom suite. The home also features a marble-tiled fireplace and a balcony overlooking the pool and golf course.
The Wackermans converted one bedroom into a music room, and John soundproofed its closet, so Linda can do voice recordings. The room houses a snare drum formerly belonging to John Bonham, drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin.
Linda said she’s really looking forward to bringing her annual show, “Linda Suzanne’s Rockin’ Christmas Vegas” to the Westgate this month because of the fond memories it holds.
Her father, Sparky Gomez, who owned a glass company, contributed to the hotel’s original construction.
“All the mirrors in there were done by my father,” she said, “and in 1969 I was in the front row for Elvis.”
Linda’s great uncle on her mother’s side was Conrad Hilton, the hotel’s second owner, who changed its name from the International Hotel to the Las Vegas Hilton. It became the Westgate in the past decade.
In addition to the singers, dancers from “Chippendales,” “Sexxy” and “Crazy Girls” will perform, backed up by five musicians. Murray SawChuck and Doug “Lefty” Leferovich will be bringing in the magic. Joe Escriba, who has been part of “Legends” for years, is the show’s musical director. The show is scheduled for 8 p.m. Dec. 21 and is suitable for all ages.