So long, Shenandoah? Wayne Newton expects to move into newly purchased home by month’s end

This is an aerial view of Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah estate Monday, May 21, 2012.

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Wayne Newton addresses the media Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010, after Clark County Commissioners approved an application that would open up his Las Vegas ranch to the public.

Wayne Newton's House

A view of the wall at the corner of property owned by entertainer Wayne Newton in Las Vegas Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. Moving vans accompanied by official-looking vehicles arrived at the home of Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton this morning but left soon after without removing anything. Metro Police said they weren't commenting on the case. Launch slideshow »

After buying a lavish nearby mansion, Wayne Newton is moving out of the bitterly contested Casa de Shenandoah — and he’s taking his Arabian horses with him.

The famed crooner, who has lived at the iconic Las Vegas estate since the 1960s, plans to leave by month’s end with his wife, Kathleen, and their daughter, Lauren, a person familiar with the matter told the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday.

Wayne Newton's Lovebirds

Two of the 200 rescued lovebirds hang out inside their new home, one of them a Fischer's lovebird, left, and the other a black-masked blue lovebird, inside a bird sanctuary at Wayne Newton's Casa de Shenandoah in Las Vegas Thursday, June 9, 2011. The birds were rescued from a home featured on the Animal Planet series Launch slideshow »

They plan to take their animal collection with them, the person said.

“Mr. Las Vegas” is apparently moving to a two-story, 9,145-square-foot mansion that he and his wife bought last month for $3 million. The sale included an adjacent parcel.

The mansion, at the corner of East Oquendo and South Gateway roads, is about two miles from Shenandoah and features a wine cellar, a movie theater and a front door flanked by lion statues. When they bought it, property records show, the Newtons also picked up a nearby one-story, 2,377-square-foot house on South Lamb Boulevard for $150,000.

Property records indicate that Norbert Aleman, creator of the “Crazy Girls” topless show at the Riviera hotel-casino, sold them the properties.

Newton could not be reached for comment. Aleman acknowledged that he sold the Oquendo estate but claimed he did not know the famed entertainer bought it.

The buyers of both homes are listed in property records as “Wayne Newton and Kathleen Newton, trustees of the Newton Living Trust.”

“I only know that I sold (the mansion) to a corporation,” Aleman said.

The Newtons bought the properties amid the ongoing bankruptcy case of CSD LLC, a company that was formed to purchase Casa de Shenandoah and turn it into a museum dedicated to the performer, similar to Elvis Presley’s “Graceland.”

The Newtons own 20 percent of CSD, while Texas businessman Lacy Harber and his wife, Dorothy, own 70 percent, court papers say. Project manager Steven Kennedy and his partner, Geneva Clark, own the remaining 10 percent.

The property’s main house, where the Newtons lived, was slated to become the museum’s centerpiece. The Newtons were supposed to receive up to $2 million to help them build a new residence on the Shenandoah property.

Wayne Newton in Court

Wayne Newton speaks to reporters after a court hearing on Thursday, May 31, 2012. Launch slideshow »

The museum was supposed to open in February 2011. Instead, the project spiraled into heated legal disputes, with claims of fraud, animal abuse and sexual harassment — not to mention supposed death threats.

The project went bankrupt last October, and the museum has not yet been built.

An auction of the South Pecos Road estate reportedly was scheduled to be held May 31. However, the property has a “For Sale” sign outside and is still owned by the CSD company, according to Clark County records.

“We stay here until we choose to leave. We have that right,” Kathleen Newton told The Associated Press in an article published in March. “Even if at some point the property gets sold, it gets sold with us here.”

In one lawsuit, filed in February by CSD but dismissed in May, the Newtons were portrayed as micromanagers who repeatedly obstructed the museum project.

According to the lawsuit, they allegedly demanded that the location of the new house be moved “several feet in one direction, and then several feet in another,” and began requesting $5 million for its construction, well above the agreed-upon figure.

The singer allegedly refused to provide a crucial element of the planned museum — his personal property. Also, he and his wife “repeatedly complained” about the contractors and subcontractors who were picked to work on the project, the suit alleged.

Las Vegas attorney Lars Evensen, who represented the Newtons in the case, did not respond to requests for comment.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Lacy Harber said the bankruptcy case should soon be worked out, though he would not go into detail. He said he’s been talking with the Newtons, and “we’re getting along really good.”

He did not say if the museum would be built.

Jim Greene, an attorney for CSD, said Wednesday that he knew the Newtons are leaving Casa de Shenandoah, though he did not know why.

However, as part of CSD's proposed bankruptcy reorganization, Greene said Harber would own the entire company, giving him full control of Shenandoah.

Meanwhile, the numerous lawsuits filed in connection with the case have been resolved.

According to a bankruptcy court filing April 5, the Newtons, Harbers, Kennedy and others reached a "comprehensive global settlement of virtually all issues existing between them."

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bruce A. Markell approved the agreement April 22.

The settlement is sealed from public view, and its terms are confidential, said Joseph “Sid” Kistler, an attorney for Kennedy.

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Las Vegas Sun editor-at-large John Katsilometes contributed to this report.

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