Hugh Hefner Sells Playboy Mansion

Those of you who are Playboy fans will be astounded to hear that Hugh Hefner has sold the Playboy Mansion.

This is the Holmby Hills estate that is the property of Playboy Enterprises. It has been bought by Daren Metropoulos, who lives just next to the area.

The estate had been put up for a sale of $200 million, which was viewed as too expensive. Hence, even though the final sale price is not yet out, there are claims that it has been sold for more than $100 million.

The huge Gothic-Tudor style home is placed on 5.3 acres, a design by Arthur R. Kelly in 1927. The mansion has 22 rooms that include a wine cellar, a screening room, a games room, a tennis and basketball court, a waterfall and a swimming pool area. The Playboy magazine offices are also housed in a separate wing.

The buyer Daren's father, the billionaire C. Dean Metropoulos, had bought the house just near the Playboy mansion in Los Angeles for $18 million in 2009.

The 73-year-old businessman Larry Flynt, owner of Larry Flynt Publications that published pornographic magazine Hustler wanted to bid for the massive mansion but never thought that it could be priced at $200 million.

Harry Mohney, whose company operates the Hustler Club chain, said: "Larry and I have talked about it and are preparing a bid. We feel it is an excellent place for The Hustler Club and Hustler Mansion.

"Hef lost the fact and focus that he was in the sex business and magazine business. He thought he was Vanity Fair and lost that he was in the business of the erotic.

"We are not going to offer half that much. I don't know where he got that figure from. Certainly it would require an appraisal of the value ... We spoke and discussed some figures, and he thought the Hustler Mansion had huge potential."

The 90-year-old media mogul will continue to live in the building until his death, agreed the buyer. At present, Hefner stays in the Los Angeles mansion with wife Crystal Harris, 30.