The Playboy Mansion, also known as the Playboy Mansion West, is the former home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner who lived there from 1974 until his death in 2017. Barbi Benton convinced Hefner to buy the home located in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, near Beverly Hills. From the 1970s onward the mansion became as the location of lavish parties held by Hefner which were often attended by celebrities and socialites.[2][3][4][5] It is currently owned by Daren Metropoulos, the son of billionaire investor Dean Metropoulos, and is used for corporate activities. It also serves as a location for television production, magazine photography, charitable events, and civic functions.
Playboy Mansion West
Playboy Mansion North Side 2007.jpg
Playboy Mansion is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan areaPlayboy MansionPlayboy Mansion
Location within the Los Angeles metropolitan area
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General information
Type
House
Architectural style
Gothic Revival
Tudor Revival
Location
10236 Charing Cross Road, Los Angeles, California
Coordinates
34°4′35.0″N 118°25′46.6″W
Construction started
1927
Owner
Daren Metropoulos[1]
Technical details
Floor area
21,987 sq ft (2,042.7 m2)
Design and construction
Architect
Arthur R. Kelly
Other information
Number of rooms
29
Hefner established the original Playboy Mansion in 1959. It was a 70-room brick and limestone residence in Chicago's Gold Coast, which had been built in 1899. Hefner had founded Playboy in Chicago in 1953. After he moved to California, his company eventually let the mansion for a nominal rent to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and then donated it to the school outright. The school later sold the mansion, which was then redeveloped for luxury condominiums.
After Hefner's death in 2017, it began to emerge publicly that sex and drug abuse occurred frequently at the Playboy Mansion during Hefner's lifetime.[6][7][8]