Who owned the notorious Nevada Love Ranch? Brothel up for sale with $1.2M price tag
If you want to own a notorious bit of history, the Love Ranch near Las Vegas, Nevada, is up for sale at $1.2 million. The 15-room property is now on the market more than three years after the death of its last owner Dennis Hof who died in 2018 while celebrating his birthday at the property.
Hof died in 2018 well before the Covid pandemic ravaged the adult entertainment industry. In 2020, many brothel owners sought Covid relief funds to keep afloat, but it was a long time before they saw the cheques. Even before the pandemic though, the industry was raising eyebrows after it was reported that human trafficking thrives in Nevada. With the pandemic now firmly waning, it seems like the industry is up and thriving again, which is what makes news of the Love Ranch going on sale all the more interesting.
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Formerly known as the Nevada Sun Rancho and the Las Vegas Sun Club, the property is perhaps most famous for its time under Hof, when it was a 24-hour licensed brothel offering all sorts of experiences. But even before Hof, the property has quite a storied history.
Who owns the Love Ranch?
The last owner of the Ranch was Dennis Hof, who bought the property in 2010 and ran it until his death in 2018. A native of Pheonix, Hof grew up working several meager jobs, including delivering papers and sweeping a parking lot. At 15, he went to work at a gas station, which he continued to do alongside his education. While still in high school, he married his girlfriend Shirley after she got pregnant.
Eventually, he ended up running gas stations in Arizona, before expanding to Nevada. He moved to the silver state and ventured into multiple businesses, including real estate, restaurants, and bars. In 1992, he purchased The Moonlite Bunny Ranch, his first brothel. From there, he expanded, all while becoming something of a local celebrity. Hof appeared on 'The Tyra Banks Show', 'The Howard Stern Show', and 'Brand X with Russell Brand' to name a few. He also made a cameo in the 2014 indie film 'Alongside Night'.
In 2010, Hof bought the Love Ranch, around the same time he started getting actively involved in politics. In 2015, he joined the Libertarian party, before boarding the Trump train in 2016. In 2016 and 2018, Hof ran for the Nevada assembly. While he lost the first race, Hof won the second, even though he was dead by the time. He passed away less than a month before the 2018 general election, but his name was still on the ballot, as per Nevada state law.
Love Ranch's future
The ranch has now been listed for sale, almost four years after Hof passed away. For $1.2 million, the new owner will inherit the property as-is, meaning all 75 acres with 15 rooms sparsely furnished, and with TV sets. Also included are two new kitchens, a new bar, a backhoe, a track hoe, an advertising truck, and Limousine. The price also includes two manufactured homes and another 21 developed lots ready to build on.
However, perhaps most importantly, the new owner will be inheriting the storied history of the property. Hof died in 2018 after celebrating his birthday and was found in the bedroom with a sex toy on the bed by Ron Jeremy, the infamous porn star. Reportedly, Hof died on the same bed where Khloé Kardashian's ex Lamar Odom overdosed in 2015. Odom later claimed that Hof "tried to poison me". Odom's incident is just one of the many tales from the infamous property, which is available cash-only from Coldwell Banker, Hof's real estate agent.