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Hugh Hefner Puts Playboy Mansion For Sale For $200M, But There’s A Catch

By Val Powell
Published on: 21:35 PST, Jan 11, 2016

The Playboy Mansion, which is home to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and his bunnies, is now on sale and costs $200 million.

Hefner, the 89-year-old business tycoon that spearheaded the rise of Playboy as one of the most popular brands in the world, has lived in the mansion since 1971, and has used it as his residence and workplace.

According to the report, the mansion is now the most expensive home in the U.S., and for the asking price, the buyer would get the 20,000 square-foot mansion, plus five acres of land in Holmby Hills in California.

However, there is one condition that the buyer should agree with in case he or she wishes to purchase the Playboy Mansion – the house comes with Hefner himself.

“The Playboy Mansion has been a creative center for Hef as his residence and workplace for the past 40 years, as it will continue to be if the property is sold,” said Scott Flanders, who is the CEO of Playboy, in a statement.

A representative for one of the brokers managing the sale of the estate said that Hugh Hefner refuses to leave the mansion. He added that the adult magazine publisher is “very frail.”

The estate is considered to be an entire community in itself, as it comes with various amenities such as a gymnasium, tennis court, swimming pool, a four-bedroom guesthouse, gardens, and even aviaries filled with birds. It has a zoo license, making it among the few Los Angeles homes to have one. There is also a pet cemetery nearby.

For buyers looking for more interesting things to see, the estate also has its own artificial cave, called the Playboy Grotto that comes with a whirlpool spa. This is where Hugh Hefner holds most of his events and parties.

Naturally, the Playboy Mansion itself is the main highlight of the estate, as it is composed of 29 rooms that can house hundreds of people.

Some of the rooms in the mansion include a game room, a home theater, a catering kitchen, a wine cellar, and a two-floor master suite where Hugh Hefner stays. This room will most likely be his personal space even after someone buys the mansion.

Unfortunately, it seems the actual mansion has lost its former glory, which might be because Hefner has refused to change things in the famed house.

“The whole place feels like it’s stuck in the 1980s,” according to British model Carla Howe.

In addition, Hefner’s former girlfriend, Izabella St. James, wrote in her 2010 book, that “everything in the Mansion felt old and stale.”

She even said that Archie, the house dog, often “relieves himself” on the hallway curtains throughout the house. This, according to St. James, contributes to the “scent of decay” in the house.

The massive estate, which was built in 1927 and is located in a neighborhood that is part of the Los Angeles Platinum Triangle, has been Hefner’s home for over 40 years since he bought it for $1.1 million.

After he bought the property, he commuted between the Playboy Mansion and his Chicago mansion in the 1970s. Later on, Hugh Hefner made the Gothic-Tudor estate his primary home.

In spite of its age, the mansion has been shown in the TV reality series, The Girls Next Door. The E! series aired from 2005 up to 2010.

‘The Girls Next Door’ Was Filmed at the Playboy Mansion

Hugh Hefner has continuously held parties in the estate. Last year, Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Naomi Campbell attended a party at the mansion.

In addition to holding wild parties, the Playboy Mansion has also been subject to some controversies, including a time when more than 100 people fell ill after visiting the underground cave, as well as allegations that it was the place where Bill Cosby abused some of his victims.

[Image by Frazer Harrison, Getty Images]

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