Business Insider – The Playboy Mansion has a new owner.
The infamous Holmby Hills, California, estate — which listed for a whopping $200 million earlier this year — is now in contract to sell to its next-door neighbor, Daren Metropoulos, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Metropoulos is a principal of the private-equity firm Metropoulos & Co., and a former co-CEO of Pabst Brewing Company. The final selling price for the five-acre property and nearly 20,000-square-foot mansion could not yet be determined.
As part of the terms of the sale, Hugh Hefner must be allowed to stay as long as he desires. The estate was sold by Playboy Enterprises, which leases it back to the 90-year-old Hefner.
Metropoulos purchased the next-door estate from Playboy in 2009, reportedly paying $18 million for it.Once Hefner’s tenancy ends, Metropoulos apparently intends to connect the two properties into a single 7.3-acre estate.

The 20,000-square-foot house is on the edge of the Los Angeles Country Club in the Holmby Hills neighborhood, right between Beverly Hills and Westwood.

The five-acre property includes the main mansion and a four-bedroom guesthouse.

For decades, invitations to Playboy Mansion parties have been highly coveted, and stories of the wild nights here are part of Hollywood legend.

With 29 rooms, the mansion boasts plenty of space to spread out.

Designed in a Gothic Tudor style in 1927, Hugh Hefner has made it the home base of his empire for the last half-century.

Inside, you’ll find a home theater, wine cellar, separate game house, and gym — in addition to all of the usual bedrooms, of course.

There’s also a tennis court, a private redwood forest, a swimming pool, and the infamous, cave-like “grotto,” the setting of many an evening adventure.

If you’re in the mood to create a menagerie, have at it: The mansion is one of the few private Los Angeles residences that has a zoo license.

The company bought the mansion 45 years ago for just over $1 million. It was a historically high price for the area at the time.

But it seems to have been a good investment. The $200 million asking price was one of the highest private-residence prices in the US.

Hefner expects to be given a “life estate” at the mansion, meaning that he’ll be allowed to stay on until his death.

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The mansion has figured heavily in Hollywood lore, making appearances in shows like HBO’s “Entourage” as the ultimate party palace.

It has been used by Playboy as the site of many of its largest parties and events.

Source – Business Insider