Sheri's Ranch is a legal
brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
in
Pahrump, Nevada. Unlike other brothels in the state, it styles itself as a resort, with upscale rooms and furnishings,
sports bar, tennis courts, a spa and outdoor swimming pool.
In January 2001, the business was purchased by Chuck Lee, a retired Chicago homicide detective of 20 years, former owner of an
AT&T retail store, and car dealership owner from
Las Vegas, Nevada.
Author Lora Shaner, a former
madam
Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...
of the brothel, wrote a 1998 book about her experiences, ''Madam: Chronicles of a Nevada Cathouse'', reissued and extended in 2001 as ''Madam: Inside a Nevada Brothel''.
The brothel raised $7,000 in 2004 towards a senior citizens center so that they could still receive their "Meals on Wheels".
In 2005, Sheri's Ranch sought local zoning changes in Pahrump to build a 700-plus home residential subdivision known as Mountain Shadows Resort.
Sheri's Ranch is adjacent to another legal brothel, the
Chicken Ranch.
Media mentions
Sheri's Ranch was featured in the
BBC series ''
Panorama
A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...
'' about the importance of safe sex, preventative measures taken to avoid the contraction of
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...
, and other
STD
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral sex ...
/STIs by Nevada brothel sex workers.
Sheri's Ranch was featured on the
A&E show, ''
Gene Simmons Family Jewels'' while
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...
was performing research for an upcoming novel. He interviewed Scarlett and Tawny Brie there as part of his research.
The brothel was featured in the ''
Business Insider'' article "Inside a Nevada Brothel" by Dylan Love.
''
The Guardian'' featured Sheri's Ranch in a 2015 piece about the current state of the Nevada brothel industry written by Daniel Hernandez.
Sheri's Ranch was featured in the
CMT documentary ''Morgan Spurlock Presents Freedom! The Movie''.
An episode of the ''Vital Vegas Podcast'' featured a room-by-room walk-through of Sheri's Ranch, including an interview with a madam and a sex worker.
The popular
podcast ''Let Me Tell You About'' featured the brothel in an hour long episode, in which one of the hosts details losing his virginity to one of the sex workers.
Sheri's Ranch was featured in the Showtime original series ''Ray Donovan'' in the episode "Las Vegas."
Awards
Sheri's Ranch won CWMC's Brothel of the Year award in 2011 and 2012.
See also
*
Prostitution in Nevada
*
List of brothels in Nevada
References
External links
*
Sheri's Ranch Official Blog
{{Prostitution in the United States, state=collapsed
Brothels in Nevada
Pahrump, Nevada
Buildings and structures in Nye County, Nevada