Wedding photographer wants to transform 30-acre ranch into marriage destination

A wedding photographer wants to create a venue for couples to tie the knot on a property built for quarter horses that’s been sitting empty for years.

Stacy Frick, owner of Frick Photo, said that she wants to transform the 9381 S. Homestead Road location and “put Pahrump on a map” as a wedding destination.

Frick received an approval of a conditional use permit last week from the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission that will allow for a public or private recreation area at the property.

“My current plans are to use the property for wedding ceremonies in the current on-site church, and after the ceremony, I would like to open up the use of the dance hall and the barn for both indoor and outdoor receptions,” Frick said in the documents.

The 30-acre venue was previously used for rodeo-type events, roping, equestrian events, alfalfa harvesting and raising longhorn cattle. It currently has a 20-stable barn, large gazebo, small church, outdoor corral building, indoor dance hall, bleacher seating for 3,500 people and a fenced horse track.

“It has at least five places to not only have the ceremony, but then have the reception indoors or outdoors. And it’s a pristine property, it’s beautiful,” Frick said about the property.

Frick said she doesn’t plan on having more than 150-200 people on site at a time.

“I don’t anticipate more than maximum, probably 200 people at one time. A typical wedding is between 50 and 150 people,” she said.

She also said she plans to bring in horses that would be used for photo shoots for wedding couples. In the future, she said “there may be a day” when she would lease the property to a group that may want to house a live band, since the property “has the offering of a large bleacher seating area.”

She added that she will cease the receptions at 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and at 11 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

As a condition of approval, Frick will have to dedicate up to 40 feet in width across the subject property on Homestead Road to the county for public use.

She also told the commission that she would be amenable to an inspection of a septic tank on the property to determine its capacity within 60 days after the purchase after some of the board members questioned whether the venue has enough water capacity to accommodate all of the guests.

An additional special condition of approval includes the dedication of Squaw Valley Road right of way of 30 feet on the east side of the property to the county.

Frick will also have to get a business license through the town of Pahrump prior to operating the facility, according to the documents.

The town of Pahrump, Pahrump Fire Department, Nye County Sheriff’s Office, Nye County School District or Public Works did not submit comments.

Frick has yet to purchase the property. The property is owned by Agee and Karen Spidle of Sandy, Utah, according to the Nye County Assessor’s office. They acquired the property in 2012. The property was owned by race quarter-horse owners Hugo Lee and Miguel Caro in the late 1990s. The property’s latest assessed value is $452,611 including land and upgrades.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77