Roma Hills area has European feel

     By Lynn Collier
     View staff writer
      Rick Salter takes quite seriously the old adage about how people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks.
      That's because he's building a house of glass.
      At least one entire wall of it is glass. His new home at Roma Hills, a planned community with a European theme off Green Valley Parkway and Horizon Ridge Drive, will have a back wall made of glass, which will be 22 feet tall and 22 feet wide. The lower half will open to the pool area, overlooking the community's park.
      It's kind of like using the outdoors as wallpaper.
      "During the day we'll set out on the patio by the pool area and look over the park," he said. "At night, we'll be able to enjoy the city lights."
      The owner of Century Manufacturing, a Las Vegas-based community specializing in mobile and stationary glass walls and custom windows and railings for luxury hotels and custom homes, said people who pay the extra money for a lot with a view will spend even more money so they can see that view.
      "I have a 190 degree view of the city," he said. "It's like bringing the outside inside."
      Salter, 42, said he's designed and implemented "monster glass walls," or total visual systems as it's called in his business, in several custom homes in Las Vegas and Hawaii.
      A 25-year Las Vegas resident, this new home at Roma Hills is Salter's first custom home. He spent a year looking for the right location and planning his dream house.
      Roma Hills held its grand opening last weekend and home construction will begin in January, said Steve Green, vice president of residential construction for Triple Five Nevada Development Corp., which is building the 144-lot development.
      The lots sell for between $130,000 and $300,000. Homes range from $700,000 to more than $2 million. Home associations fees to pay for the common area and the security guards are $200 monthly. So far, 43 lots have been sold, he said. It's expected the development will be completed in about four years.
      "We have amenities that are every bit as nice as other exclusive communities," he said. "But we're trying to keep the lot prices affordable."
      People from a wide spectrum of ages and backgrounds are buying the lots to build their houses, he added. Some are retired while others are young families, like Salter's, going from upscale tract homes to their first custom home.
      For Salter and others, their home is an expression of their individuality. He's been working with interior designer Shirley Rankin and architect David Heintz to get just the right look.
      His house isn't a sprawling mansion -- it's only about 4,000 square feet. But he thinks it's the little details that make it special and will make it a showcase for those working on it.
      "We're not building a monument or a mansion," he said. "It's not very large but it will be breathtaking."
      It's a Tudor house from the front view with several columns inside and lots of open spaces and high ceilings, ranging from 10 to 20 feet high.
      Though he purchased the lot for $160,000, he didn't want to disclose the value of the house. But he said it was a good deal for such a special spot.
      "I'm really excited about Roma," he said. "It's gorgeous and unique to Las Vegas with lots of dramatic terraced gorgeous views."
      He said the exclusive gated community offered the seclusion and cushion from the city's sharp, nervous, edgy side laced with noise and smog.
      Roma Hills is nestled against the high Black Mountain hills and abuts Sun City McDonald Ranch.
      Its Roman style entrance is flanked by two huge water falls and its sprawling 2-acre parks trail through the community. It smacks of wealth and privilege and, in fact, the 65-acre community sells lots only for costume homes and has no tract housing.
      The exclusivity is what draws people to the area, Green said.
      "People want to get away from the city," he said. "They don't want everybody knocking at their door selling them patio furniture, pools, brushes, their religion."
      Green moved to Las Vegas more than four years ago from Southern California, where he spent more than two decades developing custom home communities.
      He said he believes the custom home market is growing in Las Vegas and will continue to grow for the next five years because more people are moving to the area and more people are making more money.
      Canadian-based Triple Five is currently building 20 residential and commercial projects in Las Vegas Valley. They've developed the Village Square shopping center at Fort Apache Road and Sahara Avenue.
     The company is most famous for creating the Mall of America in Minnesota and the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada.