Neighbour pays US$100m for Playboy Mansion

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Aug 18, 2016

Neighbour pays US$100m for Playboy Mansion

Hugh Hefner's compound in Los Angeles has been sold for US$100 million, half the original listing price.

Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles has been sold to next door neighbour Daren Metropoulos for US$100 million (around A$130 million). Though selling for only half the original listing price, the property is still the most expensive ever sold in Los Angeles County.

The deal was announced in early June, though the exact price was not disclosed then. TMS reported earlier in the month that the deal had fallen through, but those reports eventually proved to be false.

CNN Money is now reporting the deal is closed, the US term for settled, and a statement from Metropoulos has confirmed the sale price.

Metropoulos, a 33-year-old principal at private-equity firm Metropoulos & Co. and a current co-owner of Hostess Brands, bought the house next door from Hefner in 2009 for US$18 million. The home had been used by Hefner's former wife to raise their two children.

The Playboy Mansion was listed for US$200 million. Hefner will continue to occupy the 29-room mansion for his lifetime.

A spokesman for Metropoulos told The Wall Street Journal that he intends to connect the two estates after Hefner’s tenancy ends, creating a 7.3-acre compound.

"I look forward to eventually rejoining the two estates and enjoying this beautiful property as my private residence for years to come," he said in a statement.

Hefner's company Playboy Enterprises purchased the home in 1971 for $US1.05 million. It was built in the 1920s, and is one of the few private residences in Los Angeles with a zoo license.