RENO, Nev. — The identity of a man who submitted the winning bid for the trademark pink stucco main building of Nevada’s best known bordello remains a mystery.
Bureau of Land Management officials said the man who offered to pay $145,100 in an eBay auction for the Mustang Ranch in northern Nevada appears to be a legitimate bidder.

They said they won’t identify him until after payment is made.
The man, who requested anonymity, faces a noon Oct. 27 payment deadline.

A total of 85 offers from 29 bidders were submitted in the 10-day auction that concluded Thursday.

“The buyer has been in contact with us and payment arrangements have been made,” said Cindy Becker of Oregon’s Department of Administrative Services, which handled the auction for the BLM. “We expect the deal to go through.”

The Mustang Ranch was the state’s first legal brothel, but was shut down in 1999 after years of tax problems. The BLM, which obtained the property 15 miles east of Reno, wants the buildings moved or razed because they are unsafe and in a flood plain.

BLM officials said they were amazed by a final flurry of bidding that pushed the brothel’s selling price from $20,500 to $145,100 on the auction’s final day. In June, the building drew only eight offers and a high bid of $15,090 — far below the government’s minimum asking price. This time, the building was sold along with the “World-Famous Mustang Ranch” trademark and logo to sweeten the pot.

“That [trademark] obviously had a major effect on it,” said Terry Randolph, BLM project manager. “There’s been international interest in it. We’ve had press on this over the last six months clear across the country.” After making payment, the winning bidder faces a 90-day deadline to remove the building from the site.

The ranch land was not offered for sale. The BLM intends to restore the site to its natural condition and use it for flood control and recreation.
Dennis Hof, owner of the nearby Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel, failed in his bid to acquire the main building and trademark. He stopped bidding at $96,000.

Earlier in the week, Hof submitted a $8,101 winning bid for other buildings remaining at the Mustang Ranch site. He plans to use them for a museum next to his brothel.

“Absolutely, the trademark had something to do with driving up the price,” he said. “It has value because that name is known worldwide.” Hof, who said he filed with the federal government to obtain the trademark last year, pledged a legal fight.

“We will aggressively pursue our trademark at all cost,” he said. “He [the winning bidder] just bought into a quarter-million-dollar legal battle over the name.” Another losing bidder also pledged a fight over the name. Oscar Williams’ Ambient Entertainment Inc. has a Reno business license for the Mustang Ranch name.

Alf Brandt, assistant BLM solicitor, said the government has defended its right to the trademark. “The federal government owns the trademark because it received all the assets of the Mustang Ranch” through criminal forfeiture proceedings against former owner Joe Conforte and later owners, Brandt said.

The government seized the property after guilty verdicts against the Mustang Ranch’s parent companies and manager in a federal fraud and racketeering trial.