Hugh Hefner Dies, So Too Does The Playboy Mansion

Hugh Hefner, founder of the iconic Playboy magazine, died Wednesday at the age of 91 at the Playboy Mansion near Beverly Hills, California. With Hefner’s death also comes the death of Playboy Mansion.

The mansion was acquired by Playboy in 1971 for $1.1 million but was acquired by Hefner’s neighbor, Daren Metropoulos, in 2016 for $100 million. When Metropoulos bought the house it came with the stipulation that Hefner and his wife, Crystal Harris, 30, could live there until Hefner died.

Metropoulos had announced that he planned to combine Hefner’s former property with his own upon his death to make a combined 7.3-acre plot. He said he would restore the mansion to its original condition form the 1920s, according to the New York Times last year.

Metropoulos, 33, is the co-owner of Hostess Brands and the heir to his father, Dean Metropoulos’ fortune, built on buying and improving brands before reselling them. Their portfolio included Pinnacle Foods, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, International Home Foods and Pabst Brewing Company.

The mansion itself has 22 rooms including a movie screening room and wine cellar. It was built in 1927. The property also contains a pool, zoo and aviary buildings, a game room and the famed cave grotto.

The house is also famed for its Playboy parties, including the Midsummer Night's Dream Party, which was held on the first Saturdays in August. The mansion was featured in an episode of now President Donald Trump’s show “The Apprentice,” and the E! Channel show “ The Girls Next Door.”

Hefner published the first issue of Playboy in 1953 at the age of 27. Known for helping usher in the sexual revolution, Hefner built Playboy into an internationally recognized brand and lifestyle. The prominence of Playboy has waned, and tell-all books by former girlfriends depict the mansion as falling into disrepair.

The house was also rented out for charity and corporate events including movie screenings.

Hefner will be buried in Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles where he bought the mausoleum drawer next to Marilyn Monroe.