Where does a porn newbie at the footsteps of a booming new career, with nothing more than a suitcase of clothes and unchecked youthful enthusiasm, spend their nights? For most out-of-towners, an agent-recommended “model house” is the way to go. A residence inhabited by XXX models, usually female only, these model houses (often owned by adult agents, though directors and producers have been known to dabble in the profit-turning market) provide a temporary place for women in the porn industry to stay while they’re in town working. Most have a “no boys allowed” policy. Keeps the drama down.
Growing up watching porn, you might envision a Beverly Hills mansion complete with lush landscaping and a gated private entrance, but those are merely paid location shoots. In fact, some of these model houses aren’t even houses but an agent’s apartment that he rents out two to three girls per room, if possible. Think: a porn dorm. Some feature bunk beds, others are packed tightly with twin mattresses and little walking space. Some agents even live on the premises.
After living in a few model houses, Aurielee Summers still questions the etiquette between agent and live-in client. “Is it normal or weird for an agent to be hooking up with one of the models or is it considered unprofessional?” she wonders.
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In the sex business those lines are increasingly blurry.
Getting intimate with your agent while under his roof is optional—but he may indicate otherwise. Even if you do go for it, you won’t be getting any discounted room rates. These places aren’t free though they are cheaper than a hotel, and these days potential porn stars have to maximize their profits any way they can.
“It was an apartment with a couple of rooms and it was about $15 to $20 a night,” recalls Summers. As a nubile young woman just entering the business, her stay at the model house was surprisingly educational. She learned how the business really worked—not from her agent, but from talking to fellow female boarders. By sharing their experiences, Summers realized early on just how trustworthy her agent was. “He knew the girl had genital warts but wanted her to do the scene anyway… she told me she didn’t want to do it, she had an outbreak at the time,” says Summers. “Clearly he didn’t have our best interests in mind but he booked good scenes… he was helpful but I couldn’t trust him with my safety.”
Profits are a motivating factor for agents or anyone else with a house full of models. Having your clients in one location doesn’t hurt either—especially when it’s time to collect. One of my first introductions to a model house was through my agent. He bragged about living in the midst of so many women, which he jokingly referred to as his harem. I think he enjoyed the large profit margin almost as much. For several hundred dollars a week, women paid to share a room with one to two others. No maid was included in that price. They were expected to keep the kitchen and bathroom tidy in addition to cleaning up after themselves. Not everyone did.
With the revolving door of transient performers, problems arose. With no locks on the doors, jewelry, shoes, clothes, cigarettes, and sometimes money would disappear. Girls who had experienced this before started locking their suitcases. There was little recourse for theft. After a few weeks or months in the business, some of these performers disappeared back into the real world never to be heard from again. Petty theft wasn’t the only problem.
No one cleaned the hair out of the shower drain, few volunteered to vacuum, and no one wanted to scrub the thick layer of grime off the stove either. No matter how many times food was discovered rotting in the refrigerator, no one scrubbed it. Occasionally the agent would get lucky and one of the girls would be a “clean freak” and spend her free time scrubbing away the massive amounts of filth. The proprietor should have had a maid come in at least once a week, but he didn’t see the point. This wasn’t about comfort or sanitariness.
Despite the issues with the place, it was centrally located. One could walk just about anywhere they might need to go, as banks, shopping centers, and restaurants were nearby. Location is key—especially when it comes to keeping a model house booked up.
Belle Noire has stayed at a number of model houses and can recall only one bad experience. “It was the worst. Too far out in the middle of nowhere, and with no other girls staying there I was all by myself,” she recalls. “I had to Uber everywhere and put up with ridiculous rules. I couldn’t change the thermostat, had a curfew, and no alcohol was allowed. I’m almost 28!” says Noire. “I was paying $300 a week, and average rates are $250 to $350 a week.”
Since then Noire has discovered what some consider the Shangri-la of model houses: “Campo House.” A centrally located home with ample space, locking doors (so uncommon it’s considered a luxury), TVs in every room, and a hot tub she can relax in while sipping champagne after work without breaking any house rules.
Four years into performing adult scenes, Noire still loves staying at model houses when she’s in town. The model house camaraderie makes the work trip less lonely—especially at Campo House, where it’s not an agent but another woman who lives on the premises.
For the last year and a half, Tracy DeMarcus has run the producer-owned model house that women in the business can’t stop gushing about. It’s not just the locking doors that are a big deal— it’s the game room with pinball and arcade machines, the one girl per room max, and a hygienic environment. Cleanliness shouldn’t be a perk, but it is. “I had a girl tell me that this is the only model house she felt comfortable not wearing her shoes in the shower,” says Tracy. “I’m very OCD about cleaning… the girls are required to clean up after themselves but any other cleaning is done by me.”
More than a live-in maid, she’s a guidance counselor for newbies, a friendly face for returning models, a shoulder to cry on, and also the enforcer. “I come from corporate and worked in HR. I started doing the house mom stuff at 35 and I don’t have a reason to want to be cool so I lay down the rules,” says Tracy.
She’s the reason this model house is so unusual.
“Respect my home and your housemates and you’ll be fine. Break the rules, you’re out,” says Tracy. So far she’s only had to kick out half a dozen girls, mostly for drug related offenses (alcohol and marijuana are not offenses in her book): “I’ve never had a girl not want to come back, and that says a lot.”
There are a lot of misconceptions and some false advertising swirling in the mind of a young woman considering a career in porn. Agents won’t always tell newbies what they’re really getting into, but if you’re lucky, someone at a model house just might.
