PLANS to improve Ashbourne Park are being drawn up following a walk around the grounds.

Friends of Ashbourne Park met at the end of April to consider areas for improvement within the park and Memorial Gardens.

Project leader Sarah Wolfe was joined by representatives from Derbyshire Dales District Council, Ashbourne Partnership and the Royal British Legion Ashbourne Branch in a bid to draw up a plan for improving the facilities and access at the park.

Plans have been drawn up following extensive consultations with individuals and groups across Ashbourne over the past three months.

The two-hour tour of the park has helped to identify priorities for improvement and support for the scheme from the Environment Agency and the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has been offered as both groups pledged to work with Friends of Ashbourne Park for improved facilities and a better use of the whole area.

The need to preserve and enhance the current facilities was agreed, as was improved access and on-site amenities for the townsfolk and visitors.

Now, Friends of Ashbourne Park are investigating ways of funding the proposals and an initial application could be submitted to potential funding bodies within the next month.

Mrs Wolfe said: “We have been delighted at the response to our proposals with offers of help and support, not only from local people but from local businesses keen to contribute to the project.” Ideas for the park currently include improvements to entrances as walkways, with additional landscaping in the Memorial Gardens and a possible jogging route around Fishpond Meadows.

Another idea to be discussed is the installation of Ashbourne Park in iron letters on the controversial brick wall which forms the boundary on Park Road and was built by the Environment Agency last year.

Mrs Wolfe added: “The Friends of Ashbourne Park is a group of local people who work with The Ashbourne Partnership and Derbyshire Dales District Council to improve and promote the Memorial Gardens, recreation ground and fishponds as a vibrant local facility for the whole community.” Anyone interested in joining the Friends of Ashbourne Park scheme can contact Mrs Wolfe by telephoning 01335 301145.

The big news coming out of First Niagara Center today involved Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula and president Ted Black. The team announced plans to complete the landscaping and grooming of the unfinished parcels on the Central Wharf.

Admittedly, things around the newly cobbled section of Canalside have looked pretty grungy since the street grid was completed in 2010. Jersey barriers, toppled over fencing, weeds and construction debris are strewn all over the place, giving the neighborhood an unkempt look. An architect named Charlie Gordon recently laid out some excellent ideas and renderings in this article on Buffalo Rising. Good stuff.

So now that the big announcement, and a commitment of $120,000 of Mr. Pegula’s private contribution has been made, here is what will happen next:

-Do gooders Tim Tielman and Mark Goldman will file an Article 78 proceeding in State Supreme Court, claiming that the planned sod, made of Kentucky Bluegrass, does not conform to the historic accuracy of the grass that existed on this sacrosanct land back in the 1800s, and that only Perennial Ryegrass should be permitted.

-Assemblyman Mickey Kearns will introduce legislation in the Assembly seeking a six month delay in the installation of the landscaping, so that an 11 member commission can be empaneled to make a proper determination on what type of landscaping should be installed at Canalside. “What’s another few months so that we get it right?” the Assemblyman will plead, while searching in vain for a State Senate co sponsor.

-The Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County will file a lawsuit, claiming that this landscaping is a veiled attempt to expand the footprint of the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino further into the Cobblestone District, and will cite the increase in bankruptcies, suicides, potholes, locusts, children’s tooth decay etc to bolster their claims.

-City of Buffalo work crews will begin undertaking the needed work, but will immediately be upended by peer work crews employed by Buffalo Place, who will cite their working contract with the ECHDC as giving them exclusive authority to perform any landscaping and maintenance work at the Central Wharf. The Common Council will pass a memorial resolution transfering the land to the city. The Mayor will hold a news conference.

-Marine Drive tenants and their erstwhile mouthpiece Joe Mascia, former legislature candidate loser and future assembly candidate double loser, will file a lawsuit, claiming the health hazards to the tenants, who will have to endure the drift of lawn pesticides once this new sod is in place.

-Thursday night concert promoters will return their events back to Lafayette Square, since the toppled over eyesore fencing will no longer be in place and the Central Wharf footprint can no longer be secured.

-The ECHDC board will deliberate all these turns of events at their June meeting, and July, then summer recess, then in the fall. Pretty renderings will be unveiled and a press conference scheduled. “We want to fast track this landscaping enhancement, the people in this community are tired of waiting for The Waterfront We Deserve,” will say Tom Dee of the development corporation, while pushing back the construction timetable yet farther into the future..

-Buffalo Riverkeepers will chime in and say that landscape stone and mulch will be so much nicer than grass. ECHDC will form a committee to study.

-With the planned expansion of lawn space, the world famous #ECShack will double their number of picnic tables from two to four. Renderings will be unveiled on Buffalo Rising, prompting 75 or so reader comments debating the merits of the “suburban crap” style of picnic tables and the outrageous fenestration of the Shack.

Finally, after a new $150,000 consulting contract is awarded to Fred Kent and the Project for Public Spaces and they issue their report, and a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement is developed and published, especially concerning the impact of the snail darters indigenous to the Buffalo River and how water runoff from this new lawn space will affect them, the installation of the landscaping can finally begin. Retired columnist Donn Esmonde will publish several articles lauding Goldman and Tielman for their leadership and fine work.

Planned ribbon cutting date for the landscape improvements: MEMORIAL DAY 2017. Messrs Pegula and Black will be on hand to preside over the ceremonies, and the public is invited to take part in the event, with a reception catered by the #ECShack immediately to follow.

Follow Andrew Kulyk on Twitter @akulykUSRT.

Lansdscape lighting is a great way to enhance a property’s value and to get the most out of your home. Even as the days now grow longer and people living in northern New Jersey are able to enjoy more daylight hours in their yards, there is a way for homeowners to enjoy their landscaping and gardens even after the sun goes down. It is as simple as exploring the endless possibilities of outdoor landscape lighting.

Many homeowners remain “in the dark” about the basics of landscape lighting and as a result miss out on the opportunity to enrich their landscape with landscape lighting, which, thanks to modern technology and installation techniques, is much more affordable than many think. Illuminating a property with low-voltage landscape lighting is easy and there are many cost-effective strategies to take to design and install a custom system for any size home.

Before moving forward with design ideas, take a moment to review the advantages of an outdoor lighting system.

* Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits, a well-lit property will enhance security and dissaude potential intruders from coming on to your property.

* Second, a well-lit path will ensure that all visitors feel welcome and are able to make it to your front door safely, also protecting homeowners from potential liability.

* Finally, tasteful landscape lighting can increase the value of a home instantly and allow homeowners to get more mileage out of the investment they have made in their landscape.

Unlike other types of electrical work, low-voltage landscape lighting does not require an electrician, and is safe to install and operate. Plus, as a landscape changes and matures over the years it is easy to change the look and focus of lighting to adapt to the new needs and changes in the property. The lighting layout installed this summer is not set in stone for the years to come.

When the time comes to look at lighting fixtures, don’t be overwhelmed by the vast range of styles and lighting trends that are offered by manufacturers. Choose features that blend with the style of your home and garden and enhance features of your property that you love the most. Venture beyond lighting paths and sidewalks, and consider lighting benches, gates and fences.

A well-designed outdoor lighting system will complement any landscape and add elegance and refinement to a home all year-round. As you flush out your ideas on illuminating your property, you will be pleasantly surprised how this simple component of your landscape can vastly improve the function, value and beauty of your home.

This article was written by By Benjamin Grace, Landscape Designer at Jacobsen Landscape Design and Construction, Midland Park, NJ. For more: www.jacobsenlandscape.com http://www.jacobsenlandscape.com   

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A recent grant will enable Keep the Rez Beautiful to continue its beautification efforts at a vacant site near the Reservoir.

The Lowe’s Charitable and Education Foundation awarded the nonprofit organization a $5,000 community improvement grant, and KRB plans to use the funds to continue landscaping a four-acre site off Scenic Drive.

Native trees and shrubs will be planted to establish a wildlife sanctuary and add aesthetic value to the vacant site.

“We are transforming a vacant site into an asset,” KRB’s executive director Jeannine May. “We are looking forward to working with Lowe’s to improve the Ross Barnett Reservoir and our shoreline communities.”

KRB was one of 120 affiliates of Keep America Beautiful to receive this grant.

“Keep America Beautiful is proud of the positive impact that Keep the Rez Beautiful’s project will have in the Reservoir-area community,” said Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Matt McKenna. “We are truly grateful to Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation for its support and leadership that is being demonstrated in community sustainability.”

The site is located off Scenic Drive between the Turtle Creek and Forest Point subdivision. The site fronts Turtle Creek and is property of the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District.

The state agency worked with KRB to prepare the site for a planting in March, in which 30 trees were planted as the first phase of a multi-phase project planned for the site.

“Pearl River Valley Water Supply District wants to continue to work with Keep the Rez Beautiful and other organizations to improve our Reservoir region,” said John Sigman, the agency’s executive director. “Landscaping raises land values and makes our area more enticing.”

KRB volunteers organized a public input session last year, gathering ideas from Reservoir-area residents on how to best beautify the site.

These ideas were assembled into a concept by Dave Thompson and other volunteer landscape architects. Thompson, a landscape architect for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, has joined KRB to lead the project.

WSU Extension’s Erica Guttman will discuss gardening and low-impact landscaping ideas during Thurston County Commissioner Sandra Romero’s monthly informal coffee hours set for Monday.

The meetings are at the following times and locations:

Rainier: 9:30-10:30 a.m. at City Hall, 102 Rochester St. W.

Yelm: 11 a.m.-noon at Fadi’s Restaurant (Tahoma Golf Course), 15425 Mosman Ave. S.W.

Lacey: 2-3 p.m. at Olympic Crest Coffee, 4211 Pacific Ave. S.E.

bsandford@theolympian.com

I don’t talk about my sunroom much. That’s because it has mostly been a holding area for the dogs where I dry them off before letting them into the house during bad weather.

Until this summer, there hasn’t been much to look at in the backyard. But now that I’ve been improving the landscaping, I’d like to be able to sit out there on a summer evening and enjoy the hard work I’ve been putting into the yard. That means I should spruce up the sunroom.

I enjoy watching HGTV’s “Design on a Dime.” The premise of the show is that three designers come in and completely transform a room on a budget of $1,000. There’s a lot of upcycling of thrift store furniture, sewing and building pieces from scratch. The results are always really dramatic, and I want to see if I can create a similar transformation for $250.

We already have a nice set of wicker furniture in the sunroom that my boss gave my husband and me when she moved into a home that didn’t have a space for it. But the cushion covers are in a really light print, which is not good considering we never taught the dogs to keep off the furniture. I bought yards and yards of home decor fabric on clearance in a dark print to make new covers and coordinating fabrics for throw pillows and curtains. I’ve also been collecting decor for this room at thrift stores and grabbing other freebies when relatives were getting rid of things around their homes. So far, I’ve spent about $150 on fabric, flower pots, a lamp and renting a van to move the wicker furniture. That leaves $100 for paint and wall coverings.

The room isn’t very large, so I picked up a magazine dedicated to decorating small spaces to get some ideas. The biggest recommendation was to paint the walls a light color and use bright and bold accessories and decor to bring color into the room, without closing it in. Since the biggest feature in the room is the wicker furniture, I’m going to use the colors in my fabric as my color palette for the room. I’ll paint the walls a light version of the hues in the fabric, spray paint the mismatched pots, lamp and curtain rod and use extra fabric to make a new lamp shade.

I’ve also seen some pretty cool ideas online for turning common objects into cheap wall art, and I’m dying to try some of them out. And as always, I’ll write about the transformation and share tutorials so you can try some of these ideas in your home, too.

Week 2 of our “Get Your Summer On” series and backyard makeover contest brings four more finalists, as well as some advice on how to landscape your yard to fit your dreams.

In all, 20 finalists will be featured with ideas for makeovers from our sponsors. Two winners, who will be announced in this section on Sunday, June 10, will each receive about $15,000 worth of prizes donated by our sponsors.

The 20 finalists will receive gift certificates, including $50 from Lurvey Garden Center, $25 from Knupper Nursery, $10 from Binny’s Beverage Depot and $10 from Two Fat Guys Gourmet Barbecue Sauce.

Check online for more photos and ideas from our contest sponsors — everything from patio furniture and grills to outdoor lighting, patios, landscaping and even a pond. Go to dailyherald.com/entlife/homegarden/summer. Don’t forget to check our Food section on Wednesdays for our grilling university featuring advice on how to give your grill a workout this summer.

By Andrew Abramson

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Posted: 7:21 p.m. Sunday, May 13, 2012

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WEST PALM BEACH –

While city commissioners say they’re underwhelmed by a consultant’s ideas for invigorating the south end of town, Mayor Jeri Muoio says they mark the first step in revitalizing the South Dixie Corridor.

The Urban Land Institute, in a study presented to the commission, recommended pedestrian crosswalks, landscaping, wide and attractive sidewalks, public art and bicycle parking.

It also suggested branding various areas of the south end, such as creating an arts and culture district anchored by the Norton Museum of Art and Digital Domain Institute; a professional services district anchored by The Palm Beach Post; Antique Row, which is already the term used to identify the antique shops in the south end; a community district that encompasses South Olive Elementary, Phipps Park and St. Juliana Church; and a restaurant row in the far south end.

But the study, which emerged from a day and a half of research in January and cost the city $15,000, did not address Palm Coast Plaza, a struggling shopping plaza that the late Commissioner Bill Moss repeatedly said was the key to revitalizing the south end.

Moss represented the south end for 12 years before dying of a heart attack in March. The study also didn’t address the vacant property just south of Palm Coast Plaza.

Commissioners say the Urban Land Institute report contains little new or helpful information.

“Many of their recommendations – like ‘There’s not enough parking on the street’ – those are things that we already knew as a commission and a community,” Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell said. “What we were looking for was recommendations to fix them, solve them, resolve them. That was what (Moss) kept pushing. I can promise you, if he were alive today, he would have been disappointed.”

Commissioner Shanon Materio, who was appointed to replace Moss, agreed.

“It didn’t shed any new light on anything that I didn’t already know. I was looking for more than that,” Materio said. “In fact, I would go one step further and say I don’t think they actually did their job.”

Materio said the institute left many of the specifics to city’s planners rather than giving the commission recommendations. For example, Materio said, the consultants should have sat down with the private owners of Palm Coast Plaza and discussed how they could better work with the city.

But Muoio defended the report, and said it would have been too costly to do something more detailed.

“If somebody was expecting an in-depth evaluation in a day and a half, I think they were wrong to expect that,” Muoio said. “I think (the institute) definitely made some specific recommendations.”

Muoio agreed that the city needs to focus on Palm Coast Plaza, and she said she is sending the city’s new economic development director to meet with its owners.

The institute, an association of real estate professionals with chapters nationwide, helped conceptualize the city’s $30 million waterfront redesign several years ago. The city subsequently paid $15,000 to have the institute return to evaluate the south end corridor, from Dixie Highway at Okeechobee Boulevard to the city’s southern border with Lake Worth.

What the consultants, commissioners and city staff all agreed on was that the city needs to find a way to generate money to revitalize the area.

Because the south end doesn’t fall under the Community Redevelopment Agency or Downtown Development Authority and can’t receive any funding through them, the consultants suggested creating a business development district.

Rick Greene, the city’s planning manager, said businesses in the corridor are valued at $224 million. If the business were taxed at $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value, that would generate $224,000 in revenue per year for the south end.

Alan Durham, the city’s economic development director, said a similar district was successful in Gwinnett County, Ga., where he previously worked.

“It helped the business owners form a very strong lobby,” Durham said. “They were able to put their money where their mouth was and pull off some pretty substantial improvements in their area and maintain control over the funding.”

Greene said the city will do more community outreach and form a nine-member committee composed of residents, merchants and property owners to figure out how to move forward with the institute’s recommendations. The chamber of commerce has also put together its own six-person task force that will begin meeting today .

The city also will begin meeting with the Florida Department of Transportation to discuss locations and safety studies to provide crosswalks.

“I like the direction they’re heading in. Although, I don’t care what plan you come up with, if you can’t pay for it, it ain’t gonna work,” Commissioner Keith James said. “It looks like there’s a commitment from the mayor and her staff to not just let this die on the shelf somewhere, which is encouraging.”

Dog park proponents want a place they can let their dogs run free without risking their safety (photo by Will Dendis)

A dog park would be a great addition to Saugerties, speakers told the Town Board last week. Rae Stang, the owner of Lucky Chocolates, has long been a supporter of a dog park. She said there appears to be a lot of enthusiasm for the idea. After the question was raised in the Saugerties Times, many people wrote in to express their support.

“It seems as though the town has a lot of things to offer everybody, but dog-owners are kind of getting the short end of the stick,” Stang said.

Supervisor Kelly Myers said the town could certainly look for a suitable space.

“It would be helpful if you could put some ideas together and come up with a proposal,” she said. “Then we could start looking for some property.”

Former councilman Tom Macarille said the Town Board previously explored the idea of a dog park. “We looked around and did a feasibility study on where we could put a dog park. We looked at Cantine Field, we looked at the property down by the Glasco Fire House and we looked at property in Twin Maples. The problem we found was that surrounding neighbors didn’t want it near them. And, by the way, it’s very expensive.”

Once the park is opened, there’s a lot of work involved in maintaining it, he said.

“We really did take a hard look at it,” he said. “We had a relatively large committee of dog-owners and it was not feasible – we just couldn’t find the property.”

Resident Bob Davies said these issues shouldn’t deter the effort. “I haven’t found anything worth doing that is not difficult,” he said. Davies said he has been doing search-and-rescue work with dogs for the past five years.

“One thing I’ve found is there is no place for dogs,” he said. “I do a lot of hiking in the mountains, Echo Lake, wherever, and that’s about the only time I ever get to take my dog off lead.”

An incident last summer convinced Davies that it was not safe to walk a dog off lead, even in fairly remote areas. “I had a fellow hiker – I’m not going to call him a gentleman, he was anything but – threatened to shoot my dog the next time he saw my dog off lead. We definitely need a place where dogs can run safely off lead.”

Davies looked up census numbers and found that in 2010 there were about 7,478 households in Saugerties. Thirty nine percent of households in the United States have dogs, so Saugerties should have 2,916 dogs, without accounting for the fact that some households have more than one dog. “I think there’s a definite need, or at least an interest, in pursuing this further,” he said.

Dog parks create more responsible dog ownership, Stang said.

“There also appears to be less fighting among dogs in a park than in other situations. Dogs get aggressive when they are leashed, but if you let them off leash they may be more sociable, play and things like that,” she said.

Stang urged supporters to participate in an online dog park contest at www.petsafe.net/barkforyourpark. While last year, Saugerties fell short of the number of signatures needed to win, many larger cities were in the mix, Stang said. This year, they are judging towns and cities by proportion of population, which would give a small town like Saugerties a better shot.

 

Other parks

Dog park proponents are now looking to neighboring towns to learn how it’s done.

This weekend, the Gardiner dog park will open. It’s located on a half-acre of land behind the Town Hall. The force behind the project is Nancy R. Cass Barrett, who joined the town’s Parks and Recreation Commission last spring and immediately got to work on the idea.

In Saugerties there are worries about cost for town taxpayers. The Gardiner project is coming in at no cost, says Cass Barrett, thanks to several key donors and many volunteers. All the town has to do is mow it.

The fence, worth $10,000, was donated by The Natural Pet Center of Ireland Corners, the pet waste station was donated by the Gardiner Animal Hospital, and the local Girl Scouts Troops #60288 and 60383 donated the arbor (a shade structure), landscaping supplies and girl power.

Fundraising is ongoing for the Gardiner park. Numerous raffles and a silent auction have been held, and memorial plaques in tribute to deceased pets will be sold as a fundraiser. The goal is to make the park totally self-sustaining, said Cass Barrett. Upkeep isn’t expensive but they’d like to add more features to the park, especially water.

A proposed park in Kingston, at Kingston Point, has been authorized by the city. It’s now in the fundraising stage. It’s estimated to cost about $100,000.

The town of Kinderhook recently supported an effort to put in a dog park, councilwoman Leeanne Thornton said. “The town dedicated the land and a water line from a preexisting water supply,” she said. “The citizens’ group raised the funds for fencing and they take care of the mowing and the waste disposal that comes with the park.”

Fran Breitkopf of Woodstock said the town did the original construction of the dog park, which is a town park, and the dog owners put in the labor to keep it clean. After Hurricane Irene damaged the park, the dog owners raised money to repair and refurbish it and continue to hold fundraising events to maintain it, she said.

“We don’t allow food, treats or drinks in the park, that helps to keep it clean,” she said. “The users take care of the park; they clean up after themselves.”

 

Among all the special places inside his sprawling 10,700-square-foot mountaintop home, Daniel Coletti savors the vibe inside the living room most.

It’s a luxury dreamscape distinguished by mammoth walls of glass and Idaho-hewn stone. At night, he gazes out past the blue waters of an indoor-outdoor infinity pool and onto a vast citywide vista capped by the shimmering lights of the Strip.

“It’s like looking at a fire,” his wife, Natalie, said. “You can’t turn your eyes from it.”

The property has another unique feature: Offered at $13.9 million, it’s the most expensive residential listing in Las Vegas.

By California standards, it’s a reasonable price for such a high-end home, but in Vegas’ foreclosure-wracked real estate market — with a median sales price of just over $100,000 — the cost is stratospheric. So, how do sellers dwelling in the rarefied air atop real estate’s Mt. Olympus sell their homes?

Do you advertise for buyers in Los Angeles, New York and London? How do you determine who gets inside your mansion-sweet-mansion? If you’re Coletti, the answer is simple: You advertise locally, assured that the right buyer will eventually emerge in this city of high-rollers and blank checks.

You also describe it with an appropriate Vegas flourish. Coletti writes online that the residence “blurs the lines between the interior and exterior spaces leaving one to wonder where a room ends and the outside begins.”

Coletti, who designed and built the home through his company, Sun West Custom Homes, advertised the expansive windows, porte-cochere, double-island kitchen, wine and theater room — all illustrated by photographs that cost him thousands.

If F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby owned a house in Las Vegas, Coletti’s home might be it. The five-bedroom, two-story residence sits on 25,000 acres, one of the last prized parcels of rugged desert terrain purchased by Howard Hughes in the 1950s.

The garage can house 17 cars. At 2,700 square feet, the pool is bigger than most people’s homes. To reach Coletti’s front door, a visitor must pass through four security gates, giving the exclusive aura of not just the nation’s 1%, but maybe its 0.01%. Even the two family dogs have a room of their own.

But such top-end sellers also take precautions, such as conducting financial background checks on any buyer before rolling out the red carpet for a personal home tour, real estate experts say.

With hundreds of elite homes here, the market has remained steady: In December 2006, 21 single-family homes valued at $5 million or more were up for sale. A year later, there were 27.

Coletti’s home serves as a reminder that, for all the city’s troubles, Las Vegas is still a showcase for the glamorous. His firm has designed, built and sold 497 properties here since he moved to Las Vegas in 1989. But his own residence is more than just another real estate transaction.

The home is his personal masterpiece, an earth-toned chameleon that blends into the desert landscape around it. Coletti, 48, learned his design sensibilities from his mother, Cindy, a home builder who encouraged him to follow in her footsteps.

Coletti later earned a degree in building construction technology and has received architecture training, but like his mother, takes an intuitive, rather than a textbook, approach to his work.

In 2008, he said, he became captivated by the undeveloped hillside property 10 miles west of the Strip. The tract is owned by Summerlin Corp., a firm developing the acreage Hughes once envisioned as a site of a supersonic airport.

“I stood on this piece of property every other day for a couple of weeks, at different times of the day,” Coletti said. “Slowly an image came to me.”

His unconventional design included an open floor plan with oversized motorized glass doors that allowed for expansive views of the mountain, city and nearby golf course from every major room. Glass walls pulled aside, many of the rooms are left open-air during temperate months.

His wife’s favorite feature: a dining room that juts out into the pool like a peninsula. “Oh man,” she said. “When you open the doors and eat at night, it’s crazy. The water is right there at your feet.”

The residence observes few class distinctions: Despite its size, there are no maid’s quarters because the family does its own housework. Coletti’s 20-year-old son, Chris, maintains the 68,000-gallon pool, and the outside desert landscaping takes little maintenance.

Still, the home builder is restless. That’s why he’s selling. Coletti has ideas for a new residence with a few design twists that will better suit his family after the two eldest of his four children leave home in the next few years.

But Coletti discovered that high-end buyers’ tastes can be finicky. He first offered his home for sale a year ago at $16 million, but scaled back the price, sensing that $1,200 a square-foot would be more competitive.

Still, real estate agents here say, seller beware. People just can’t be too cautious when making their multimillion-dollar dream home available to the public.

“There are security systems inside a home that scam artists could get visual access to,” said Kolleen Kelley, president of the Greater Las Vegas Assn. of Realtors. “You don’t want to make it easy for people to walk in and set up a theft plan.”

Coletti guesses some people may be watching too many elaborate heist films. (Does the Vegas-set “Ocean’s Eleven” come to mind?)

“Home security systems these days are too sophisticated for someone to merely walk through and scope them all out,” he said. “There are too many cameras. You couldn’t possibly know where they all are.”

In the last 12 months, Coletti has shown the home to half a dozen carefully screened potential buyers, sometimes taking hours to show buyers every rolling wall of glass and exotic stone. He knows that buyers at this level are not easily wowed. “Many have knowledge of the nicer features in homes and so they expect to see them,” he said.

And so Coletti waits for the buyer of his dreams. So far there have been no takers.

john.glionna@latimes.com