Playboy Mansion officially has new owner: Daren Metropoulos, co-owner of Hostess Brands

The charming Gothic-Tudor manse that stands at 10236 Charing Cross Road in Los Angeles’s Holmby Hills is changing hands as the world’s most famous pornographer is selling the property to a business executive whose snack food company makes Twinkies.

Daren Metropoulous, a principal at the private equity firm Metropoulous & Co., announced the $100-million closing on the iconic Playboy Mansion, currently owned and occupied by magazine publisher Hugh Hefner, in a Tuesday news release. Mr. Metropoulos owns and resides at the adjacent property.

Described by a real estate firm as “the crown jewel of L.A.’s ’Platinum Triangle,’” the 20,000 square foot home boasts 29 rooms, a wine cellar and, of course, the infamous Playboy grotto, a cave-like swimming pool.

In his news release, Mr. Metropoulos expressed his plan to re-connnect his estate with Mr. Hefner’s 5-acre manor. Both properties were owned by department store heir Arthur Letts Jr. As a condition of the sale, Mr. Hefner, 90, will live out the rest of his days in the house, which was completed in the height of the Roaring Twenties.

“I feel fortunate and privileged to now own a one-of-a-kind piece of history and art,” Mr. Metropoulos said in the statement. “I look forward to eventually rejoining the two estates and enjoying this beautiful property as my private residence for years to come.”

Hollywood gossip site TMZ.com reported on Tuesday that the final sale, some $10 million lower than the original agreement, came as a compromise was hammered out over Mr. Hefner’s tenancy on the property after the sale.

“Bottom line: Daren can’t pop over whenever he wants. However, as the new landlord … he does get to approve all parties at the mansion,” TMZ said, adding that Mr. Metropoulos “has already given the thumbs-up to Playboy’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Party next Saturday … and the annual Halloween bash.”

Mr. Hefner originally listed the property for $200 million in January.