Photo Gallery
Just happened to be driving down a street in Las
Vegas when I saw this house with a bunch of "stuff" around it. Pulled into this
rather classy neighborhood and saw that the house was open to the public. I've
known a few pack rats but never a wealthy one. His name is Lonnie Hammargren and
is a prominant neurosurgeon. He was the Lieutenant Governor of the state.
Apparently, there isn't much he won't collect but has a particular fondness
for cars, motorcycles, musical instruments, space items and stuff from casinos. He has
a passion for astronomy and has his own planetarium. He started with one house
and subsequently bought 2 houses next to his. In the museum portion of his
12,500 square foot complex, just about every room is crammed with artifacts.
While some items could be classified as
"junk", many others are definite collectors items. A 19th century gondola, a
stairway from Liberace's home, the uniform of the first cosmonaut to walk in
space, the first fiberglass bodied car.
Click on the thumbnails below
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Some of his transportation items |
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Sharing his political views |
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Some of the inside "stuff" |
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The model for the New York New York Casino |
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Music room from the balcony |
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A Liberace piano in the music room |
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A Morgan on the ceiling!! |
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Some of the junk laying around; a Bentley engine |
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Many folks aren't enamored with him. A newspaper
poll gave him 2 "worst of" awards;
LONNIE HAMMARGREN'S HOUSE
4318 Ridgecrest Drive
Most areas confine their junkyards to industrial areas. But the Paradise
Valley back yard of Lonnie Hammargren -- neurosurgeon, lieutenant governor,
eccentric extraordinaire -- is a notable exception, a Sin City Smithsonian
crammed with space capsules, giant movie props and other oversize souvenirs of
Hammargren's memorabilia mania. That ghostly desert shipwreck on Flamingo Road
at the site of the perpetually unbuilt Caribbean hotel-casino sailed into
second place, pushing last year's winner, the Stratosphere Tower, into third.
I got to meet him on
another occasion and found him a fascinating person. He's clearly doing his
own thing and having a good time. I can fully appreciate why he can't have his
house open to the public but if you're ever in Vegas during Nevada Days, check
it out. While other folks of his income level are building palaces, he's
building a museum and a monument to individuality.
Two links: His
site and
Home and Garden TV
