Magician Lance Burton has reacquired his hilltop Henderson mansion through foreclosure, property records show, and he’s in the process of selling it again.
Burton, who sold the castle-themed luxury home in 2021 for $4 million, foreclosed on the property in February, according to Clark County records.
The former longtime Vegas headliner held a $3.2 million loan to buyer Tarek Tabsh at the time of the sale five years ago, indicating Burton financed the transaction himself, but the loan eventually was deemed delinquent, according to filings with the Clark County recorder’s office.
The compound, located off College Drive south of Interstate 11, was designed to look like a medieval castle.
It sits on a 10-acre plot and, according to a prior report, came with a gym, grotto, home theater, two-story library, 30-foot barrel ceilings, and dining room that seats 18 people.
Las Vegas lawyer Brian Shapiro, who represents Burton, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday that his client is under contract to sell the home to a new buyer.
Listing sites such as Zillow and Redfin do not show the property going up for sale since the foreclosure. Shapiro confirmed that it wasn’t formally listed and that it’s being sold through an off-market transaction.
‘One of the last things he wanted’
The home was built in 2006, county records show, and looks like a U-shaped collection of different structures stitched together. According to Redfin, it spans 14,376 square feet and has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
Shapiro said that he wasn’t involved with the sale in 2021 and that he doesn’t know why the deal was structured with Burton carrying the mortgage.
In general, real estate sellers can effectively act as the lender to their buyers by extending credit for the purchase and collecting monthly mortgage payments, as described by Seascape Capital.
Still, Shapiro said that he was sure Burton wishes he didn’t have to go through the foreclosure process.
“I think that was probably one of the last things he wanted,” Shapiro said.
Tabsh, a Las Vegas businessman who has spent years working in the commercial cannabis industry, put the property on the market for $10 million in 2024, its listing history shows. It didn’t sell.
He declined to comment for this story.
‘It’s kind of an illusion’
Burton arrived in Las Vegas in 1982 to perform as a side act in “Folies Bergere” at the Tropicana. He was 22 at the time.
He spent nine years with “Folies,” then moved to his first headlining production at the Hacienda, called “Lance Burton World Champion Magician.”
Burton signed what was then a record-breaking 13-year contract to headline his own show at his eponymous theater at the Monte Carlo. The show opened in 1996 and ultimately ended in 2010.
He effectively retired from full-time magic performances but has headlined select shows across the country under the “Lance Burton & Friends” banner.
Burton was also the original owner of the home he now owns again, county records show. And it’s all too clear what he wanted the exterior to look like.
“It’s kind of an illusion,” he said in 2021. “From the outside it looks like a castle. You have the cutouts from the top like where the archers would shoot through. Once you get on the inside it’s just a comfortable modern home.”
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Review-Journal staff writer John Katsilometes contributed to this report.
