By Mary Thompson
Reno Gazette-Journal
Sunday May 6th, 2001

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Brothel owner Dennis Hof calls himself the Colonel Sanders of prostitution. Never mind that he sells sex, not fried chicken, and that his secret recipe isn�t secret at all.

In fact, Hof�s Moonlite Bunnyranch has been written about in countless adult media publications and has broken into more credible media limelight -- The New Yorker magazine.

In a special April 23 and 30 edition devoted to money, The New Yorker features the burly brothel owner in a headline second only to media magnate Ted Turner. And while their earning powers don�t compare, New Yorker�s staff said personality points do.

�What makes a great story for The New Yorker is a character-driven story about something that is relatively unknown to the world around us,� said The New Yorker�s Perri Dorset. �And Hof is a great character. He�s sort of changing the face of prostitution in America.�

The 11-page feature, written by Rebecca Mead, depicted Hof as an aggressive and skilled salesman of sex -- a description he said is accurate.

�That�s what I am,� said Hof, who got his start as a real estate developer in San Diego. �I�m a salesman with a background in marketing.�

Hof, 54, said he began applying standard sales principles to his not-so-usual brothel business when he bought the Mound House ranch nine years ago. Embracing attention from the media, being a player in the community and standing up for what he does as a legal and valid form of business is part of the Bunnyranch plan, Hof said.

And for that, Hof sees himself as the new breed of brothel owner -- one who pays taxes, keeps drugs and diseases out of his sex shop and treats the women on the premises fairly.

�The old-school mentality is to keep everything quiet,� Hof said. �But why should I keep quiet, I�ve got nothing to hide.�

Mound House Advisory Council Chairman Chuck Roberts said Hof should be hiding.

He said residents in the roughly 2,000 population industrial town are only likely to live with brothels if they are kept low key as they have been in the past.

�It�s absolutely not discreet,� Roberts said, citing Hof�s appearances in national and local media publications. �I think its unfortunate that we sensationalize a pimp. I have no problem with hookers but I�m not really wild about pimps.�

Roberts scoffed at Hof�s quote in The New Yorker about turning the Bunnyranch into an �adult Disneyland� within the next two years.

He said the five-member advisory council, which reports to Lyon County�s supervisors, has recently voted against Hof�s expansion plans, not because of the nature of the business but for zoning.

Hof said he�s looking to expand into the topless entertainment business in other areas, possibly Sacramento and Reno, where adult entertainment already is established. He�s also planning a new adult magazine featuring Bunnyranch prostitutes as its centerfolds, according to The New Yorker.

So far, the selling of sex has worked well for Hof, who told The New Yorker that the Bunnyranch grossed about $6 million last year and is expected to pull in about $7 million this year.

But the sale isn�t always easy.

The New Yorker article showed every step in the transaction -- from the moment when a customer rings the bell at the gate of the ranch, right down to negotiations in the bedroom. It also delved into the sometimes sad, sometimes happy moods of the women who make Hof�s business happen.

At one point, Hof was painted as a sort of Larry Flynt groupie, hovering around Flynt�s gambling table and being brushed off on business ideas pitched during a lunch meeting in Los Angeles.

Seemingly ridiculous marketing strategies -- the hiring of John Wayne Bobbitt as a driver for the ranch and the recruitment of a midget and a wildly tall porn star as prostitutes -- are valid tactics in Hof�s eyes.

And whatever light is shed on Hof�s character is welcome attention, especially from a magazine with 850,000 readers, he said.

�The most powerful people in America read the New Yorker,� Hof said. �This is huge. There�s not a more credible magazine out there. The article just legitimizes everything.�

Dorset said The New Yorker has written about sex-related topics before, recalling one article published about three years ago featuring a New York dominatrix.