Dennis Hof October 14, β October 16, was an American brothel owner, television personality, and political candidate. He was best known as the owner of seven legal brothels in Nevada. Several of his brothels are in Moundhouse, Nevada , a few minutes outside Carson City. His best-known brothel is the Moonlite BunnyRanch. He was posthumously elected to the Nevada Assembly less than one month after his death.
Hof owned gas stations, first in Arizona and later in Nevada, before going into the brothel business. On September 8, , it was announced that the Alien Cathouse had been sold to business owner Raman Sharma. In contrast to other Nevada brothel owners, who prefer to keep a low profile, [ citation needed ] and despite Nevada laws banning brothel advertising, [5] Hof maintained a high profile to create publicity for his brothels [ citation needed ].
Hof operated a website; [7] the "working girls" are encouraged to cultivate online relationships with both potential and past clients. Hof employed adult film stars , including Sunset Thomas with whom he also had a romantic relationship.
In early , due to the recession , State Senator Bob Coffin D proposed legalizing prostitution statewide for tax purposes. Hof was prominently featured in a number of media reports saying he would expand into Las Vegas given the opportunity, and was looking at some closed casinos as property.
Hof also was the producer of the Showtime series Working Girls in Bed. Both featured a look at the inner workings of a legal house of prostitution as well as the life of a number of the working girls, borrowing some techniques from reality television , such as camera-only interviews and staged spontaneity.
