Architecture

Haunts of the Rich and Famous

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

Haunted Storefront

 For a high res split tone version, please click on the image

(Though the following history of the property is quoted directly from Wikipedia, it is definitely interesting and worth reading.)

Lake Las Vegas is a 320-acre man made lake surrounded by 3,592 acres developed by 5 companies.

When first opened in 2003, the area included several hotels and casinos including the Monte Lago Village Resort, the Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort, the Hilton Lake Las Vegas, and Casino MonteLago.

Lake at Las Vegas Joint Venture, LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 17, 2008. Debts were estimated at between $500 million and $1 billion.

Lake Las Vegas emerged from bankruptcy in July 2010. The creditors have filed a lawsuit against the former insiders. In a related action, resort property owners are suing lender Credit Suisse as part of a multi-billion dollar lawsuit claiming the bankruptcy was caused by a scheme between the bank and resort developers.

The golf course was purchased by Nevada South Shore LLC, a Hawaii based corporation for $4.5 million on February 17, 2011.

The Ritz Carlton, Lake Las Vegas, closed after 8 years of operation on May 2, 2010.

The former Ritz Carlton was reopened on February 11, 2011. The property was renamed Ravella at Lake Las Vegas. On April 30, 2013, Kam Sang Co. announced that the Ravella would be renamed the Hilton Lake Las Vegas. The Hilton opened June 6, 2013. The casino closed in October 2013, as a result of a lease dispute between Kam Sang and the casino’s operators.  

From a TripAdvisor.com review dated October 18, 2014:
“Ghost Town”
The golf course is closed, the casino is closed (“seeking a buyer”), the village is eerie and empty. There are “For Sale” signs on several properties around the area. Everything shut down when the economy crashed in 2008. Will not return any time soon.

Venetian Gothic

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

Venice

Please click on the image above to see a high res version

Whenever I had a paper due in school I would plagiarize from the World Book Encyclopedia. Not much has changed except Wikipedia has replace the World Book. So let me just dive in as if I actually know what I’m talking about.

Venetian Gothic is a term given to an architectural style that originated in 14th century Venice with the confluence (I would have substituted a plain, ordinary, everyday word here because no one I know talks like that. Confluence? What the…?) of Byzantine styles from Constantinople, Arab, and early Gothic forms from mainland Italy. The most iconic Venetian Gothic structure, the Doge’s Palace, includes traits of Gothic, Moorish, and Renaissance architectural styles.

None of the above has anything to do with the image above, as the image above is a photo taken a few weeks ago in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The new world! We in the new world have a habit of duplicating and replicating and basically just plagiarizing every other culture in the world. But it’s not our fault. See, as a nation, we are made up of a lot of different ethnic type people from every other culture in the world. So it’s understandable! At least to me.

Maybe I should run for congress.

While I decide what my platform will be, please visit Photos By Emilio. We have images in every color to suit every mood!

Nine

Black And White Photography, Elina, Photography

nine_ElinaK

I have a hard time taking travel photos that would actually show the place. I end up taking lots of photos like this one, of details. So let it be, a photo from my vacation in Tartu, Estonia. A beautiful brick wall that I felt had to be photographed.