The Playboy Mansion, a cultural icon that has stood for years as a sort of male Shangri-La for the fantasy brand, has been put up for sale. But there are two major caveats involved with this era-ending sale: The mansion will cost the buyer a whopping $200 million, and 89-year-old Playboy founder Hugh Hefner gets to stay, according to a report from TMZ.
An official real estate listing for the West Hollywood home will take place sometime in the next month.
Located on a 6 acre estate in the Holmby Hills, the home was first constructed in 1927. The exorbitant price tag for the historic home would make it among the most expensive private residences in the United States. That said, it is definitely worth an insane amount of money, even without its hallowed history. A comparably-sized lot in the area recently sold for $60 million. Playboy reportedly paid just $1 million for the home when it was purchased 45 years ago.
While it may seem odd to buy a place in which the owner gets to stay, the home is such a massive piece of real estate, a buyer might not even notice that Hef still lives there. The compound includes 29 rooms, a home theater, game house, wine cellar, swimming pool with a cave (the famous grotto), and even a hard-to-acquire zoo license.
The news comes as big changes are in the works for the brand. Playboy most recently made headlines when it announced that it will remove nudity from its pages once and for all in 2016, looking to build a more forward-thinking brand in an era where virtually every lewd act is a mouse click away.
The sale of the mansion will aid in the endeavor. According to CEO Scott Flanders, the company would use the money to, “reinvest in the transformation of our business,” while maintaining its facade as an icon of the company’s glory days.
“The Playboy Mansion has been a creative center for Hef as his residence and workplace for the past 40 years,” Flanders said in a statement about the listing, “As it will continue to be if the property is sold.”
