Brothels
- Old Bridge Ranch
- Wild Horse Canyon Resort
When you pull off the Interstate 80, you'll follow the road down a hill, as it curves toward the Truckee River, then under a railroad overpass. The original name of the first brothel in the area was, The Mustang-Bridge Ranch. As you emerge from the overpass, you'll drive over the namesake, single lane bridge, which goes over the Truckee River. I was told by a local character, who goes by the moniker of Yellowstone Red, and who's been around as long as the brothels, a fire destroyed the original brothel. Afterwards, in 1971 construction of the ‘new' Mustang Ranch was started on the site where it now stands. I was told that the first structure erected was the guard tower, (Conforte wanted to guard what he called his ‘valley'...he called the Mustang, ‘The Valley of the Dolls') and the rest of the brothel built around it. Until the Mustang was ready for business, trailers were used on the old site. When Joe Conforte moved his operations into the newly built Mustang, the Old Bridge Ranch was built on the site of the original Mustang-Bridge Ranch brothel.
The first buildings one sees, are the locked and no longer maintained, red tiled roof, pink stucco Mustang Ranch buildings. The patina of neglect is painfully evident when you see the exteriors. They remind me of fast aging dowagers, who were once belles of the ball. They are now deteriorating relics, as the people who were the heart and soul of the operation are gone. The buildings stand as melancholy memorials, reminders of their vibrant, times past. For those of us who've had some good times in their parlour, we can still hear the raucous noise made by the sound mix from the cacophony of chattering voices, as the guys and dolls danced their mating dance while the jukebox blared in the background. Who can forget that signature smell which permeates the building, the fumes from cigarette smoke mixed with the musk from three decades of raw sex going on 24/7.
The two Mustangs had a combined line-up that had three to four times the number of ladies to choose from, than the Old Bridge Ranch. Guys usually found a lady to suit his taste in these houses, so there was no need to go even the short distance down the road. The Old Bridge Ranches line-up was limited by having only 26 rooms available. The two Mustang Ranches, with their combined capacity, were able to house approximately 100 or more ladies. The Mustang's Friday and Saturday night line-ups were legendary for that overwhelming wall of female flesh. The ladies had to work a fourteen-hour shift on the weekends, and the three shifts overlapped from 9 PM to 1 AM. Imagine if you will, how awesome it was for a guy walking into the parlour and being presented with the sight of all that exposed cleavage and bared leg. 40 to 50 ladies, tottering on five inch heels which pushed their asses back and thrust their breasts forward, seductively signaling sensual promises, with their lips and eyes, singing their siren's song. All these ladies lined up from one end of the room to the other. All you had to do was pick the one you wanted. Ahhhhh!!! The magnificent mammaries of those daze gone by.
In spite of the Mustang having all those ladies available, being the peripatetic brothel hopper that I am, I always made it a habit to visit the Old Bridge Ranch as my first brothel stop before I went to visit the Mustangs. Nowadays it's reversed, and as I head out of town, the Old Bridge is the last brothel I visit. Paraphrasing Forrest Gump, "A brothel is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to find.", and I don't want to miss out on anything.
In the minds of some, the Old Bridge Ranches claim to fame was it's ‘bad boy' biker connection. Because the parking lot is small, the seemingly ever present Harley motorcycles parked along the fence line stand out. In the three years I've been brothel hopping, in spite of the biker reputation, there was never any evidence of the Old Bridge, being anything other than a friendly, working brothel. If you asked one of the regular patrons what he liked about the Old Bridge Ranch, he'd say, he thought it was a cozier brothel, (read, small) and the Old Bridge was perceived to be a user friendly parlour, compared to the Mustang Ranch with its barn like, cavernous interior.
As you pass through the parking lot, past the now empty buildings, you need to bear toward the right side of the Mustang Ranch, where you'll find a vegetation obscured road that forks off to the right. There used to be a fluorescent lit sign pointing the way for the Old Bridge Ranch at this intersection, but it's been vandalized and useless. I was told the owner of the Old Bridge Ranch can't repair or replace the damaged sign due to legal restrictions (it's on the Mustang Ranches' side of the property line). There are large painted plywood signs, à la Burma Shave, guiding you to the Old Bridge Ranch, but these aren't readily visible until you make the turn and can see the brothel anyway.
When you go down this road toward the brothel, it's not uncommon to encounter loose cattle roaming the pastures around the ranch, so take it slow. The brothel is on the east side of the parking lot, surrounded by a chain link fence. The last year or so, the top of the fence has been festooned with strands of clear, holiday, icicle lights. The entry is through a locked gate, to announce that you want to be let in, you'll have to ring the bell on the fencepost to be buzzed in. There will be a delay after you ring the bell. The parlour manager needs a little time to get the girls out into the parlour and lined up.
As you walk through the double sets of doors into the parlour, to the right, are a couple of loveseat sofas forming a U shaped alcove area by the front window. When not in a line-up or mingling with customers, some of the girls sit by the window to watch who's in the parking lot and at the gate. They'll let the parlour manager know whether you're a new customer or just a 'repeat' customer (someone who's been in earlier and has returned). They won't bother giving a line-up to repeat customers and 'regular' customers. Regular customers are guys who visit the brothel a lot and hang out in the parlour.
The wall to the brothel's business office will be to the left of the doorway. The bar takes up the front wall. It seats around eight people. The Old Bridge's parlour is small compared to the Mustangs, but about the same size as many of the Moundhouse brothels, like the Moonlite Bunny Ranch or Madame Kitty's Fantasy Ranch. Those parlours on a busy weekend night can easily reach SRO capacity with two dozen ladies and all the customers mingling.
When you walk in, the ladies will be standing in a line-up with their backs to the bar and each lady will introduce herself. Depending on the time of day, there will be anywhere from around a dozen (day shift), to two dozen (weekend nights) ladies available. The parlour hostess will greet you and ask you if you see a lady that you want to go on a tour with. You can decline and find yourself a seat at the very well stocked bar, or you can go sit on one of the loveseat sofas. If you decide to pick a gal from the line-up, she will lead you to one of the two hallways to the left of the bar or the other hallway on the right side of the bar. These hallways lead to the ladies' rooms, the jacuzzi room, laundry room and the kitchen.
The decor of the Old Bridge Ranch is distinctive with what can best be described as a melange of art gallery with tacky, holiday lights. Strung overhead, where the girls' line-up, is another string of those clear, dangling like icicles, holiday lights. When I see those ladies dressed to thrill, all gift wrapped, underneath these festive lights, I'm thinking, " OK guys, there are lots of great presents underneath, pick one out to unwrap!!!".
On the dark, burgundy-wine coloured walls, are the requisite framed prints of nude women found in most brothels. These nudes are by a well-known pin up artist named, Olivia De Baradinis. Uncharacteristically for a brothel, there is also a series of framed prints by Salvador Dali on the wall above the bar. If you think about it, the juxtaposition of the surrealistic Dali images is not incongruent in a brothel setting. One of the works prominently displayed, is titled, "The Persistence of Time." You know, the one where the watches and clocks look like they're melting. In a brothel, time is a multifaceted concept on so many levels. On the basic level, time is sold by the ladies, in small increments. On an esthetic level, a good working girl will make time stand still, warp time and space, and the memories of your time with her will persist far into the future.
A working girl spends long hours in the parlour. The smart ones figure out how to use the setting to their advantage. I recall a conversation where I overheard with a gal hustling a customer. He was nervous and shy, so in order to avoid eye contact with any of the ladies, he focused on studying the Dali prints above the bar. This young lady observing his appreciation for fine art, approached him and used as an opening line. "I've been told that I'm a very good artist." . Hearing her voice, he turned to admire the pretty brunette, her ample breasts, spilling out of her low cut gown. Clearing his throat, he replied, "Oh, what kind of art are you into?" She coyly said, " Well, I'm more of a musical artist. I've been told, I'm a virtuoso on the skin flute." *fluttering eyelashes*. As her playful brown eyes flirted with his, she slowly, sensuously used her tempting tongue, slowly wetting her top lip. It was corny, but damned if it didn't work and get a rise out of him. He was charmed by her coquettish playfulness enough to go back to her room to find out if her tongue vibrato technique would get his instrument to spew out a thundering fortissimo climax.
The walls in the hallways to the ladies rooms are a gallery displaying framed art. They are lined with framed, fine art prints by artists, like Gottfried Helnwein. You know, the guy who uses dead Hollywood legends as the subjects of his air brush paintings. One of his works is, 'Nighthawks', subtitled, 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', which depicts Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Humphrey Bogart being served in an all night diner by Elvis. Perhaps, if you think about the habitues of a brothel, it's another one of those subliminal metaphoric messages on the human condition.
I don't know the reason, but there always seems to be an elaborate floral arrangement with some quite exotic botanical specimens in a vase behind the bar. I don't know if there's an admiring customer who's sending it to his favorite lady or if the owner of the house just likes a nice botanical display. One day, I got into a conversation with the bartender, who looked like a stereotypical ‘biker dude'. Nice guy though, friendly, talkative, and no attitude.
While I was hanging out at the bar, a delivery guy dropped off one of these floral arrangements. As he placed it on the shelf, the bartender noted, they'd done a good job arranging all the floral elements. He told me he'd once worked in a florist shop, where he learned, Ikebana, the art of stylized Japanese flower arranging. Because of that, he'd learned the Latin nomenclature of the plants, he used in the arrangements. He then proved it by pointing to the plants in the arrangement, "See those? They're Strelitza reginae. And this one with the small red berries. These are Gaultheria procumbens." Oy!!! Here I was sitting in a brothel, and a guy was giving me a show'n tell lesson about exotic horticulture, when what I really wanted, was a tell'n show lesson in erotic whore-do-culture.
Since the Mustangs closed, the Old Bridge Ranch is now home for some of its displaced ladies. Before the Mustangs closed, due to competitive forces, the Old Bridge Ranch didn't attract the same 'quality' of ladies, as it does now. The better looking, younger ladies preferred to work in the Mustangs because of simple economics. The Mustang's parlour had more customers cumming in for a visit. More customers meant more opportunities to make more money.
Although the number of ladies in the line-up is still limited by the availability of rooms, the quality doesn't suffer in any way, and is considered excellent and varied. In my opinion, the eye candy index, compares favorably with any that I've seen in the nearby Moundhouse brothels. This little brothel is now the only and closest one to Reno and wants to capitalize on its status. Even without the competition from the Mustangs, it's trying to cater to any and all preferences. They don't want you to leave their house without spending some money.
The last time I was there, I saw some very, very lovely ladies in the parlour. It seemed that tall, statuesque blondes were in the majority that day. A couple of them were expatriate Mustang ladies, such as, Shayla and Courtney (Justice), who have been described as living, breathing, long legged, busty, ‘Barbie Dolls' in field reports. Another lady who works at the Old Bridge Ranch, with a devoted fan following from her days at the Mustang, is a very sweet, lovely lady named Holly. A petite, brunette noted for her heart warming smile and perky personality. Unfortunately, by her choice, she's been working only as a week day girl.
No matter what some customer's preferences are, there is a wide enough variety of ladies of all ages, shapes, sizes and price ranges available in the house to suit most mens fancies. The parlour will have, bikinied, blonde, beach babes. Sultry, statuesque brunettes. Tempting, torrid redheads. Exotic, doe-eyed Asians. And you'll always be able to find a couple of tasty, chocolate delights.
As you hang out in the Old Bridge's parlour, you can scan the room and make eye contact with someone you'd like to meet and walk up to her and chat with her. If you're the shy type, one of the ladies will approach you and start a conversation with you. She'll pick up whether you're interested in her, and if you're not, she'll move on to give another gal a chance to talk to you. The ladies are professional, so relax, always be courteous, smile a lot, and you're sure to have a good time.