Hugh Hefrner’s Playboy Mansion, once the celebrated center of salacious celebrity shenanigans, has been sold for $100 million—half of its listed price.
According to a Business Insider report, five-acre property that hosts a 29-room mansion and four-bedroom guesthouse was originally listed in January for $200 million, but was purchased for half of that price by Daren Metropoulos, a principal of the private-equity firm Metropoulos & Co. and a former co-CEO of Pabst Brewing Company. Earlier this year, Playboy CEO Scott Flanders said the sale of the mansion will help the financially struggling company "reinvest in the transformation of our business," although it is not clear why the property could not attract a buyer closer to its original listing price.
However, there is a considerable caveat to this transaction: the 90-year-old Hefner—and, we assume, his bouncy Playmates—must be allowed to retain his residency in the estate for as long as he desires. Metropoulos is no stranger to the property: He purchased the neighboring estate in 2009 for $18 million, and he is planning to connect the properties into a single 7.3-acre estate after Hefner’s residency comes to a conclusion.
"I feel fortunate and privileged to now own a one-of-a-kind piece of history and art," Metropoulos said in a press statement. "I look forward to eventually rejoining the two estates and enjoying this beautiful property as my private residence for years to come."
Hefner purchased the property 45 years ago for a then-princely sum of $1 million, which also includes three buildings devoted to a private zoo and aviary (along with a pet cemetery for the deceased animals of the collection), and a waterfall and swimming pool that was used in numerous Playboy photo shoots.
