Las Vegas Power Couple Lists Home in the Nevada Desert for $19.5 Million

Jenna and Michael Morton have created some of the best-known nightclubs and restaurants in Las Vegas.

But when building a home in the area for their family, they veered away from the glitzy excess of the Strip in favour of a calming, desert retreat.

That’s not to say entertainment was an afterthought: The roughly 2-acre property in the Summerlin neighbourhood has a 60-foot outdoor slide and a DJ booth.

“We are in Las Vegas,” Jenna said. “It’s part of what we do in this town. We do fun.”

Now, after about 20 years of fun, the Mortons’ three children are out of the house, and they are listing the home for $19.5 million.

Michael is a son of Chicago restaurateur Arnie Morton, who founded Morton’s The Steakhouse, which has more than 50 locations nationwide.

His brother Peter Morton co-founded the Hard Rock Cafe, and Michael and Jenna operate restaurants including Crush at the MGM Grand and La Cave Wine and Food Hideaway at Wynn Resorts .

The couple paid $1.25 million for the vacant Summerlin site in 2003. At the time, they were living in Chicago but planning to move to Las Vegas to be closer to their work.

Located in the Ridges, a gated community about 15 minutes from the Strip, the property is at the end of a cul-de-sac abutting the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

“The first time we were there, there were wild burros behind us,” Michael said.

The single-story house spans about 9,400 square feet and curves toward the canyon for privacy and mountain views.

“The curve is an embrace of the mountains,” said Jenna during a video call as she walked outside, the vista framing her face.

In contrast to the over-the-top vibe of Las Vegas hotels and casinos, the couple’s aesthetic at home is what Jenna described as “Japan meets desert,” with clean lines and neutral colours.

The house has seven bedrooms; the primary bath has a soaking tub made out of a boulder.

A wine room has colour-changing Lucite pegs that hold hundreds of bottles. A separate, roughly 530-square-foot guesthouse has a roof deck.

The property is mostly flat, with the exception of a sloped section where the Mortons built the tiled slide, which drops into the pool.

“I looked at it and said, ‘There will be a slide on that hill,’” Michael recalled. It isn’t just children who have enjoyed it—he and Jenna and many of their friends have taken a turn. “A lot of adults hit that slide,” he said.

The Mortons said they entertained frequently, from fundraisers to a birthday party where their son filled an outdoor trampoline with bubbles.

For Jenna’s 40th birthday, the couple hosted a 1960s-themed party that began with a 200-person sit-down dinner, followed by toasts and karaoke.

Michael enlisted the rock band Cheap Trick to make a surprise appearance during karaoke.

As Jenna took the microphone and started belting out their song “I Want You to Want Me,” the band began playing behind her. “We took the rods out of the reactor that night,” he said. undefined

Although selling is bittersweet, the Mortons said they want something smaller now that their children are grown.

The couple—he is 61, she is 59—have a second home in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and they plan to build a smaller house in Las Vegas.

The luxury market in Las Vegas has exploded over the past few years, said listing agent Kristen Routh-Silberman of Douglas Elliman.

There were 76 sales in the Las Vegas area above $10 million in 2025, up from 59 a year prior, she said. The record is held by a home at the Summit Club that traded for $35 million in 2024.

A recent building boom means inventory is finally catching up to demand, according to Routh-Silberman.

The spring market has started early this year, and there seems to be more activity thanks to demand from California and Washington transplants seeking tax advantages, she said.

Australia’s housing crisis will not be solved by first-home buyer incentives or tax changes alone, with leading property figures warning governments must tackle supply constraints if affordability is to improve.

Speaking at the Kanebridge Quarterly Property Leadership Summit in Sydney last week, expert project marketing specialist Sam Elbanna, property investor and fund manager Paul Miron and property consultant Karla McNeice said that a lack of housing supply remained the central issue facing the market.

Elbanna, Director of CPM Realty with more than 30 years’ experience in project sales, argued that successive governments had focused too heavily on stimulating demand rather than addressing the barriers preventing new housing from being delivered.

“The misconception is that politicians think the way to solve the housing crisis is to drive demand,” he said.

“The reality is that’s not the way. This is a supply-side problem, and it needs to be solved on the supply side.”

Drawing on his experience in project sales, Elbanna said policies designed to help first-home buyers often had unintended consequences, pointing to previous grants that ultimately flowed through to higher property prices.

Instead, he said developers were facing increasing red tape, approval delays and rising costs, which were discouraging new housing supply.

“In the absence of stock, demand exceeds supply,” he said.

Miron, a Co-Founder and Fund Manager of Msquared Capital, said the housing debate had become overly focused on tax policy while overlooking broader structural issues.

He argued that affordability challenges stemmed from a combination of factors, including planning constraints, supply shortages, migration levels and interest rates.

“No-one can be 100 per cent certain on the real reason for property prices is going up,” he said.

“The reason why property prices are higher is a combination of interest rates, lack of supply, migration, vacancy rates and maybe taxes play a role.”

Miron was critical of recent federal housing policy changes, warning they could reduce the number of new homes being built and further constrain supply that was even highlighted in the budget.

He also highlighted the importance of the property sector to the broader economy, noting that residential real estate and related industries employed more than one million Australians.

McNeice, who advises developers on sales strategy and market intelligence, said understanding buyers had become increasingly important as affordability pressures intensified.

While affordability remained a major consideration, she said today’s buyers were focused on value rather than simply price.

“People are looking for value for money,” she said.

She said buyers were increasingly evaluating factors such as transport connections, walkability, nearby amenities and flexible living spaces that could accommodate changing family needs.

“What infrastructure is going on? Can I walk to the shops? Can I meet people at the local cafe?” she said.

The panel also discussed the mounting pressures facing developers, with Elbanna arguing that many projects become financially unviable from the moment a site is purchased.

“The viability of a development happens at the moment the site is bought,” he said.

He said rising construction costs, higher interest rates and overly optimistic feasibility assumptions had left some developers exposed as market conditions changed.

While acknowledging the growing number of smaller and first-time developers entering the market, Elbanna said property development required expertise across finance, construction, marketing and legal disciplines.

“It is actually a business that requires a level of expertise,” he said.

Looking ahead, the panel agreed opportunities remained in the market despite current challenges.

Miron said property should continue to be viewed as a long-term investment and cautioned against trying to time short-term market movements.

McNeice said success would increasingly depend on identifying projects that genuinely met changing buyer expectations.

Elbanna said affordable housing remained achievable, but developers needed to deliver more than just homes.

“We can provide affordable housing in this country,” he said.

“But we’ve got to wrap that affordable housing with the things that people want.”

As Australia’s housing affordability debate intensifies, the panellists agreed on one point: without a meaningful increase in housing supply, demand-side measures alone are unlikely to solve the nation’s property challenges.

Las Vegas Power Couple Lists Home in the Nevada Desert for $19.5 Million

Jenna and Michael Morton’s Summerlin home has a 60-foot outdoor slide, a DJ booth and a wine room that holds hundreds of bottles.

Australia’s housing affordability crisis is being fuelled by chronic undersupply, planning delays and rising development costs, as politicians continue to focus on the wrong solutions.