COUNTRY HOME Owner: It's like a reunion

The hot tub is scheduled to be inspected Monday.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HARTFORD -- The adult-only parties that have been taking place for 25 years in Kay Hovis' home are private gatherings of friends, she said, and county officials have no business interfering.
"It is not all sex," Hovis said. "We play the organ; we sing; we do a lot of things."
On Monday, health department officials plan to visit Hovis' home on state Route 7 to inspect a hot tub advertised on a Web site for Hovis' Country Home. The department received an application and $300 fee from Hovis on Wednesday, one week after serving notice that the hot tub inspection is required.
"Without a proper inspection and assured compliance, we'll never know what people could be giving each other in that hot tub," said Jason Earnhart, an assistant county prosecutor.
Hovis said, however, that she should not have to submit to requirements applied to commercial establishments, and that she is being treated unfairly by people who disapprove of her lifestyle.
"They say it is a club. It is not a club," she said. "It is just like a family reunion or a picnic in the back yard of where you work."
She said that Friday and Saturday night parties are by invitation only and that she knows everyone who is invited to her house. The prices listed on her Web site -- $20 for a single woman, $25 for a couple and $75 for a single man -- were only suggested donations, she said.
Web site gone
Hovis said she took down the Internet site last week because she didn't want children who saw it on news reports to check it out on their home computers.
"I wasn't going to contribute to the delinquency of a minor," she said.
She said she put up the site, which had pictures only of the house, not of people, because everyone has a Web site. The site listed a phone number where people could call to interview for an invitation.
She said eight to 10 couples was the typical attendance at a party, although that has suffered from recent publicity.
On its Web site, Hovis advertised a relaxed atmosphere for "open-minded, liberal" individuals over 21 who enjoy an "alternative lifestyle." It featured pictures of various rooms, a dance floor, several bedrooms and a community room with a leather swing.
A couple could go off and have sex at one of the parties, but that's no different from what they could do at a motel, Hovis added.
The health department also is looking into whether the club, which advertised snacks and occasional buffets, should be required to take out a food service license.
The county auditor's office also plans to ask club operators to complete paperwork listing the value of furniture and equipment to determine if it owes a type of property tax due only from businesses.
Hovis says she pays all her taxes.
siff@vindy.com
sinkovich@vindy.com