At ninety, Hugh Heffner sells Playboy Mansion for over $100 million

Hugh Heffner

Hugh Heffner, 90, the owner of the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills California in the Los Angeles area has sold it for a contract that is worth more than $100 million. The buyer is the 32-year old son of a billionaire who already owns the property  next door. Daren Metropoulos is principal at the investment firm Metropolous and Co. and co-owner of Hostess Brands that produces the famous Twinkies. Daren is the son of equity investor Dean Metropoulos 70 who bought the next door property in 2009 for  $18 million as his personal residence. He hopes to eventually join the two properties. The Playboy Mansion was listed earlier in the year for $200 million.

​Daren said that he was pleased to have Mr. Hefner continue as his neighbor and felt it was a privilege to have the opportunity to serve as a steward for the historic property. As part of the deal, Heffner will be allowed to stay at the mansion as long as he lives. The Metropoulos family has owned and sold brands such as Pabst Blue Ribbon, Bumble Bee, Chef Boyardee canned goods, and Duncan Hines Baking Mixes. 

The mansion is roughly 20,000 square feet. Heffner bought it in 1971 for $1.05 million. It includes a 29 room mansion with a catering kitchen, wine cellar, home theater, gym, tennis court, and a swimming pool with a cave-like grotto. It also has a zoo licence. 

Heffner is famous for his Playboy magazine as well as the parties he held at the mansion. The first issue of Playboy which was undated was published in December 1953 and featured Marilyn Munroe nude from her 1949 calendar. Heffner never met Monroe but bought the crypt next to hers at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. Heffner has married three times as well as having a number of affairs. He had a son and a daughter from the first marriage. In 1959 Heffner had a minor stroke which caused him to alter his lifestyle. The following year he married Kimberley Conrad a former year's playmate. They had two sons. For a time the mansion was a family friendly place.  Finally at the ripe age of 86 he married Crystal Harris 26.

Details about the mansion can be found here.  The mansion is actually owned by Playboy Enterprises which leases back parts of it for Heffner's own use.