David Cassidy on the Web
Casa de Cassidy - 'EFX' star puts down roots in Green Valley
August 25, 1998
www.lvrj.com
When he moved to Las Vegas about two years ago, David Cassidy did what most new residents do: Lead the transitional lifestyle of a renter until he could find someplace a bit more permanent to put down roots.
The exterior of the Cassidy home features a large front yard that's perfect for father-son baseball practice.
Cassidy and his wife, Sue, looked for the things most people look for in a home. A quiet, safe neighborhood. A large yard and an abundance of natural greenery. A good school nearby and readily available playmates for their son, Beau, 7. And, most of all, that undefinable vibe a house hunter experiences when the connection between house and human is just perfect.
Three months and an extended tour of the Las Vegas Valley later, the Cassidys found their dream home in a gated Green Valley community: a spacious, but hardly ostentatious, abode that they since have remodeled extensively.
Actually, when Cassidy came to Las Vegas to replace Michael Crawford as the star of "EFX" at the MGM Grand in 1996, his employment prospects were hardly assured.
"We were selling just 300 seats a night," a barefooted Cassidy recalls while relaxing on his backyard patio. "I knew I could come in and make a significant difference in the quality of the show because I saw the potential and I think (hotel executives) did, too, but you don't really know until you come in."
And while Cassidy knew his job at the MGM Grand was still "very tenuous," he also knew the lifestyle of a perpetual renter wasn't for him.
"The truth is I bought this house not knowing how long I was going to be here," he explains. "But I wanted, while I was here, to live in a really nice place -- not a place that was imposing or made a statement, but a place that was really comfortable."
However, on house-hunting travels around the valley during a period of about three months, "I just couldn't find one that I felt reflected a little bit about who I am," Cassidy says.
Until they found their current neighborhood, anyway. It's an older one by Green Valley standards and, compared to much of Southern Nevada, brimming with nicely landscaped lawns, mature trees along the curbsides and colorful front-yard gardens.
The neighborhood looks like "it could be anywhere," Cassidy says. "It doesn't scream, `This is desert.' I think the desert is beautiful, but (the neighborhood has) more of a lush appearance."
And it turned out buying the house wasn't a serious financial risk for Cassidy after all. Since taking over "EFX" in November 1996, he's received critical praise for his work in the show and it has become one of the most successful in town. And in much the same way Cassidy helped to rebuild the show to make it his own, he and his wife have remade the home they bought in December 1996 to make it their own.
"I gutted the whole house," he says, in a renovation that took about six months. "But, in the end, I had a place I felt I could be comfortable and casual in."
Remodeling isn't anything new for the couple. Cassidy says this was the 11th house they've bought and renovated since 1986.
"I love to do it," he says. "I like houses. I like playing in them. It's a nice feeling to create an environment you like."
In fact, the work has been so extensive that Cassidy occasionally admits to forgetting what some rooms were before being remodeled.
David Cassidy relaxes on his backyard patio.
In the back yard, a spacious patio sitting area leads out to a pool where, on this afternoon, a high-powered water rifle lies. ("It's mine," Cassidy jokes. "I keep it out there just so you think it's my son's.")
A fountain rests in the center of a circular garden plot, while, on the other side of the pool, plants, flowers and shrubbery effectively shield a boundary wall.
Thanks to an overhang that the Cassidys extended onto the patio from the house, the patio is a pleasant, shady spot to sit and converse. Cassidy says the yard was designed with an eye toward taking advantage of both Las Vegas' climate and his own love of being outdoors.
"Because of the climate, you can be outdoors six or seven months of the year," he says. "You know, what's nice is in the early morning. I like the breeze."
Tile, wood and the strategic positioning of furniture groupings help to create a cozy feel in the Cassidy living room.
Light also is important to Cassidy, as evidenced by the line of French doors that separate the patio from the living room. Cassidy describes the decor inside as Spanish Mediterranean. It's a casual, comfortable mix of tile, wood, earth-toned furniture and artwork.
The layout feels less like discrete rooms -- kitchen, living room, media room -- than a single, large room subtly separated by furniture, cabinets and tables into separate areas for cooking, sitting or conversing.
Cassidy estimates the home's size at about 5,000 square feet, but, thanks to the earth-toned colors, abundance of wood, comfortable furniture and artwork, and framed family photos positioned everywhere, its living spaces feel comfortable and even cozy.
On the wall of an office area are framed gold records awarded to both Cassidy and his wife, a songwriter.
"I don't sit behind a desk very often," Cassidy concedes, smiling. "Just to sign checks and things.
"I actually never hung up any of my stuff. She did this, I guess, because she wanted people to come in and see them."
Nope, Cassidy's treasures hang on facing walls. On one wall, a framed collection of baseball autographs surrounds a photo of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.
"Mantle and Maris in '61," Cassidy explains. "I went to the game and I saw Mickey hit a home run. And, yeah, this is my idea."
On an adjacent wall is a signed photo of Mantle from his rookie days. Stuck into the bottom right corner of the frame is a dugout pass from a Yankees game last season.
"I took Beau out to Yankee Stadium," Cassidy explains. "I'm telling you, it was like the first time I played Madison Square Garden. It was magical, because I was there as a kid to see the circus and stuff. That's where I grew up.
"So what was really killer about it was walking out on the field, and Joe Torre was there saying, `Hey, David, how are you doing? Come meet all the guys.' "
Yet more evidence of Cassidy's love of baseball -- thoroughbred horses, which he breeds, are his other sporting passion -- also can be seen on a coffee table by a living room big-screen TV: A baseball signed by Mantle.
"The interesting thing about this is he signed it `Mickey Charles Mantle.' That's his middle name. So I keep this here during baseball season as a kind of shrine."
The master bathroom features a double-shower and a sauna.
Artwork of various sorts -- framed paintings, family photos, a 3-D photo collage given to Cassidy on his 40th birthday -- are everywhere, primarily, thanks to Sue, Cassidy says.
"I take no credit for the art," he says, smiling.
"You can see I'm a real homey guy," Cassidy says. "There are no pretences here."
Only one room of the house -- a guest bedroom that, while nice, seems boring compared to the look everywhere else -- remains as it was before the renovation project. But Cassidy figures that he and Sue have gotten things the way they want them to be.
And, considering the work that's gone into the home, it's fortunate he plans to stick around here awhile, even as his schedule of recording, TV appearances and concerts keeps him increasingly busy.
"I think I'm gonna stay here whether I stay with 'EFX' or not," Cassidy says. "I believe this is the entertainment capital of the world, and I'm an entertainer. I could say about myself that I'm an actor, a singer, a songwriter, a producer. But I'm an entertainer, and that's what I do.
"I don't do a whole lot of things well," he adds with a broad, self-effacing smile. "Thank God I was fortunate enough to grab the brass ring. I don't think I'd have been very successful doing anything else."
Cassidy enters his bedroom.
