If you have a few million lying around, Hugh Hefner’s iconic Playboy Mansion could be yours.
Sale negotiations have broken down between the 90-year-old pornographer and prospective buyer Daren Metropoulous, son of a billionaire businessman, Hollywood gossip site TMZ reported Friday.
A condition of the sale was that Mr. Hefner remain as a tenant in the mansion until he dies, but Mr. Metropoulos wanted a significant amount of access during Mr. Hefner’s time there post-sale to improve the property, which proved to be a sticking point, TMZ reported.
But in an email to The Washington Times, Hannah Arnold of New York-based LAK Public Relations, which represents Metropoulos & Co., insisted that the deal is “moving forward as planned.”
“Concluding this complicated transaction is clearly in the interest of the sellers as well as Mr. Metropoulos, who has worked to respect Mr. Hefner’s wishes in this unusual situation, as both a neighbor and friend, and continues to look forward to serving as the next steward of this iconic property,” Ms. Arnold added.
According to his biography at the official Metropoulous & Co. website, Mr. Metropoulos, who resides next door to Mr. Hefner, envisions “reconnecting the two estates — returning the combined 7.3-acre compound to the original vision executed by noted architect Arthur R. Kelly and its first owner, Arthur Letts Jr.”
The purchase price for the property is $110 million. When Mr. Hefner first put the house on the market in January, the asking price was $200 million. The Playboy founder purchased the property in the 1970s for a little more than $1 million.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.