Playboy Mansion sells for $100M to owner of the mansion next door

Jim Bartsch

The sale of the Playboy Mansion for $100 million closed Tuesday, marking the end of an era. The buyer is the co-owner of Hostess Brands, Daren Metropoulos, who already owns the house next door. It's a "sister mansion" to the Playboy estate that was designed by the same architect two years after the Playboy Mansion.

Metropoulos has agreed to let his 90-year-old neighbor remain in the famous party pad for the rest of his life. Hugh Hefner, who has lived in the mansion since Playboy bought it in 1971, will pay $1 million a year for expenses, including rent, to the new owner, sources familiar with the transaction tell Curbed. They say the sale price also included all the statues and arcade games in the mansion.

Metropoulos paid $10 million less for the infamous party pad than originally reported. It's also half of what it listed for in January, but still makes it the second-most expensive property sold in Los Angeles County to date (behind the $102-million sale of the Fleur de Lys, also in Holmby Hills). He bought the neighboring mansion from Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner in 2009 for $18 million. (According to the Wall Street Journal, Metropoulos's mansion, "had been used by Mr. Hefner’s former wife to raise their two children.") Since then, Metropoulos has, "embarked on a significant restoration, making substantial improvements to the property’s formal gardens and expansive grounds," the release says.

Courtesy of Daren Metropoulos

Ultimately, the new owner wants to combine the two properties into one 7.3-acre compound, recreating, "the original vision executed by architect Arthur R. Kelly and its first owner, Arthur Letts, Jr.," a department store mogul whose father developed Holmby Hills.

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

Built in 1927, the Playboy Mansion spans 20,000 square feet and has 29 rooms, 12 bedrooms, and a four-bedroom guesthouse with its own solarium. The property somehow has its own private zoo license, which will carry over to the next owner. (The Playboy zoo includes monkeys and albino peacocks.)

The listing agents were from the Agency and Hilton & Hyland. Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker Previews International represented Mr. Metropoulos.

• $100 Million Sale of Playboy Mansion to Daren Metropoulos Closes [PR Newswire]
• Everything to Know About the Bonkers $200M Playboy Mansion Listing [Curbed LA]
• Playboy Mansion Selling to Its Wealthy Neighbor [Curbed LA]
• The Playboy Mansion sale has fallen through [Curbed LA]