City of Destiny: Spotlight on Nevada’s Henderson and Lake Las Vegas

By Andrea Bennett View the full issue. The fledgling city of Henderson, Nevada, had been incorporated for only a decade when President John F. Kennedy visited in 1963 and declared it a “city of destiny.” A prescient statement, since the city—built around a WWII magnesium plant—was under consideration to be sold as a war surplus property by 1947. Flash forward and Henderson is not only the second-largest city in Nevada after Las Vegas but also one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. It has transformed into an oasis of idyllic resort-like neighborhoods, many on golf courses, that take advantage of the area’s year-round temperate climate. And while many people know the master-planned community of Summerlin on the west side of the Las Vegas Valley, the enclaves within Henderson city limits at the valley’s southeastern end offer a level of discreet exclusivity and high design that make them go-to neighborhoods for celebrities and sports figures. For instance, Anthem , situated around the private Anthem Country Club, is a 4,755-acre community that extends up into the Black Mountains. Despite its unpretentious feel, it has one of the highest median household incomes in the valley. Lake Las Vegas (Photo: 4KODIAKISTOCKGETTY) South of Anthem lies the more opulent neighborhood of MacDonald Highlands , a 1,200-acre community in the foothills of the McCullough Range accessible only through gates guarded around the clock. The homes here, many around the 18-hole DragonRidge Country Club, are some of the largest in the valley. (Some exceed 20,000 square feet.) The area will soon feel even more like a resort, as a new Four Seasons Private Residences Las Vegas is being built here in partnership with Azure Resorts & Hotels and Luxus Developments; it is set to open in 2026. The centerpiece of the Seven Hills development, which climbs up into the McCullough Range, is the 18-hole Rees Jones–designed Rio Secco course. MacDonald Highlands DESERT DESTINATION Though Henderson’s most recent developments were planned specifically to depart from the area’s decades-old fascination with European architecture, there is one area, at the edge of Henderson, that continues to celebrate it in style. Developers built the 320-acre manmade Lake Las Vegas in the 1990s, filled it with water diverted from Lake Mead, and surrounded it with Moorish and Mediterranean mansions and hotels. The lake is even traversed by a replica Ponte Vecchio bridge. For years it has been a weekend getaway for locals and a favorite spot for second homes, but more and more people are making the area, with its idyllic Tuscan village and lakeside dining, their home base. And though it has plenty in common with the global architecture and vast artificial water features of its spiritual twin, Las Vegas, you’ll never forget that you are in the desert. Henderson offers ample opportunity to enjoy its desert setting: The city of destiny boasts the biggest trail system in Nevada—more than 184 miles, in fact. This perfect balance between opulence and nature is arguably the most striking of Henderson’s many attributes.